Icelands

Al Stray is manager of the Port Credit Public Library.

Set in the world of minor-league hockey in Toronto in the 1990s, this
gripping novel explores the politics of minor-league hockey in general
and the dynamics of hockey families in particular.

Vince is a mail carrier and Lina is a high-school vice-principal. When
her sense of superiority drives the couple apart, Vince turns first to a
waitress and then to Paula, the divorced mother of Mike, a hockey
phenomenon. The story, which spans a 13-year period, centres on
Vince’s attempts to live variously through his stepson’s
accomplishments and Mike’s gradual recognition that his dreams and his
Vince’s dreams are not one and the same.

Readers not familiar with the world of minor-league hockey may have
trouble negotiating the terminology (novice, bantam, peewee, Double A,
Triple A, the OMHA, MTHL, etc.). Nevertheless, Paci presents a
convincing portrait of minor hockey; his book is a must-reader for
hockey parents.