While the reading volume has slowed down as I get busy with the holiday season and work at my full time job picking up, that doesn't mean that the books I do get to read are any less interesting. This one is a good example - the memoir of former hockey enforcer Dave Schultz.
Title/Author:
“Hammered: The Fight of My Life” by Dave Schultz with Dan Robson
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review:
Hockey fans will recognize the name Dave Schultz, even if they were not around to witness his legendary fights on the ice. He was one of the early “enforcers” in hockey, who would often fight or cause other ruckus on the ice. This was usually done to protect star players or to send a message to the other team that our team will not back down. His record of 472 penalty minutes in the 1974-75 season still stands. He tells his story in this memoir written with Dan Robson.
The book starts off very dark, with Schultz sharing a scenario where he is in a fight – but it is not on the ice. Instead, he talks about provoking a fight with a bartender. That was an attention grabber, and it worked to grab the attention of this reader. It was a good metaphor about his fight against his alcoholism. He would fight (argue and resist, not with fists like the metaphor) those who tried to help him such as ex-teammate Bill Clement. He would fight while in treatment. Once done, he would fight (and still is fighting) to try to stay clean.
There are other fights he talks about, such as trying to suppress the memory of
being sexually assaulted when he was a child.
He never shared that with family, his wife nor others until
recently. He was also fighting off
depression over his losses, especially those of his brother and father, as well
as his divorce.
While this sounds like an unhappy book, it really isn’t as bad as this
description sounds. It is clear that he is
working his way through them. He talks
about many happy memories with family and especially while in hockey. His best days in the NHL were with the
Philadelphia Flyers and he shares excellent accounts of not only his play, but
that of his team when the Flyers won consecutive Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975.
What is also notable about this part of the book is how he recalls the Flyers
and himself in particular drawing the ire of NHL President Clarence Campbell
for the rough style of play that helped the Flyers win.
Schultz did not end his career with the Flyers, as he also played for the Los
Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. He did not find the same joy with those teams
like he did with the Flyers and like his other battles mentioned above, he was
fighting off bouts of anger when playing for those teams. While the book overall is not a happy one nor
is it one where Schultz comes off as looking for sympathy or redemption, I
found it an interesting read as someone who is realizing what life has thrown
at him and his way of addressing it as he enters the latter stages of
life. It made for an interesting read.
I wish to thank Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
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