Ice Time: A Canadian Hockey Journey

Al Stray is manager of the Port Credit Public Library.

Scott Russell of Hockey Night in Canada traveled from Cape Breton to
Kamloops interviewing men and women whose passion for the game epitomize
what is good about our national pastime. Each of the 10 readable
chapters focuses on a specific aspect of hockey at the nonprofessional
level, from scouting the juniors to the emergence of woman’s hockey at
the Nagano Olympics.

In the book, we meet scout Lorne Davis on a windswept stretch of
prairie highway; Medicine Hat Tiger Bob Ridley behind the wheel of the
team bus; Andy Sullivan, the Newfoundland player who chose a career in a
fish plant over a chance to play professional hockey; the Crawford
hockey clan; women’s hockey pioneer Angela James; and junior coach
Brian Kilrea. Russell captures the disappointment Angela James felt at
being dropped from the women’s Olympic team; the commitment a scout
needs to survive the rigors of his job; the importance of a home away
from home (the billet) for the junior player; the integral role of a
team in fostering a sense of community; and the need for juniors (only a
handful of whom make it to the big league) to receive a good education.
It is disappointing to read that a coach who treats his players as human
beings jeopardizes his chance of coaching professionally, but reassuring
to learn that love of the game is flourishing at the grass-roots level.

Though an index would have enhanced Ice Time, the book is a must-read
for hockey fans. Recommended for public library collections.