Hockey Books, Part 2

So way back when, I promised a part 2 to my brief thoughts on a few hockey books.  Maybe I should follow up on that!

Journeyman - Sean Pronger
Here's a pretty fun book by Chris's older brother.  It's hard to keep track of Sean's career, from being a 2nd round pick in 1991, to playing for 7 NHL teams, and also appearing in AHL, IHL, ECHL and DEL.  Sean has the kind of sense of humor I appreciate, pretty dry and sarcastic, which make the book enjoyable.  I knew I needed to read this book when I saw a Q&A he was doing on the internet to promote the book, and to the question "what is your favorite hockey memento from your career?", he responded "the puck my brother stole in the Stanley Cup finals against Chicago."  It's interesting to journey with Sean across all his career stops, remembering his highs (getting his first one-way NHL contract, secondary assist on series clinching goal in game 7 in the first round of the NHL playoffs), and lows (too many to list or remember).  There is also a little Forrest Gump factor to things, like hearing him conclude his career with a season in Germany and playing with Doug Weight (my favorite player) there during the NHL lockout.

The Final Call - Kerry Fraser
If I'm reading player books, I had to read one by a referee.  First, it was remarkable to read from Fraser's perspective.  Reading this book, I definitely got the image of him being a hockey Ned Flanders.  Perfectly (impossibly?) polite, wholesome, fair minded, religious, and with a brood of children like the Brady Brunch.  From a higher level perspective, it's also interesting to hear how officials approach their job.  The physical training they do, the idea of managing a game and participants rather than just calling penalties as they happen, and having good and bad games.  To that end, Fraser also laments taking names off referee shirts, and how that harmed communication between the players and referees.  Fans don't see that side of things in a thankless job.

This is Russia - Life in the KHL - Bernd Bruckler
Bruckler is a former Flyers prospect, and a book about the bizarre world of the KHL was a temptation I couldn't resist.  "This is Russia," is a fitting title, as that's a recurring theme is this book when bizarre or ghetto things happen, and even Russian veterans just shrug and say, "hey, this is Russia."  Part of this book for me was confirming suspicions I had about the sketchy nature of the KHL (ghetto transportation, greased palms of police officers, going into a room of strangers and receiving wads of cash in a garbage bag after late paychecks, etc...).  I also learned new things, like bazas, which are basically "bases" teams require players to stay at as a relic of the Soviet era control over life and people, complete with shoddy, spartan facilities.  The writing isn't particularly vivid, which is what you get with a book written in English by an Austrian player and a Finnish hockey-writer, but it wasn't a hindrance either.

I dare not promise Hockey Books part 3 at this time, as there's not anything I'm too anxious to read.  I may eventually read books like Jonesy by Keith Jones, Gordie Howe's Son by Mark Howe, or find some others.