Saturday, July 1, 2017

Review of "Home Ice"

Here's to wishing a happy Canada Day to all of our Canadian friends celebrating the 150th anniversary of their independence.  While it worked out to be a nice coincidence, the book reviewed on this holiday is a book on hockey.  This is a terrific memoir of a big Chicago Blackhawks fan.  Here is my review of "Home Ice."


Title/Author:
Home Ice :Confessions of a Blackhawks Fan” by Kevin Cunningham
Tags:
Ice Hockey, Professional, Blackhawks, memoir
Publish date:
August 15, 2017
Length:
190 pages

Rating: 
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
Most sports fans will follow a team or teams beginning in their childhood.  That was the case for author Kevin Cunningham as he began to follow the Chicago Blackhawks when he was eight years old. His subsequent obsession with the team is chronicled in this entertaining memoir about his love for the team and the game.

The humor that is plentiful throughout the pages is what sets this memoir apart from most sports memoirs.  No matter what stage of life Cunningham is writing about and no matter how well or poorly the Blackhawks are playing, he never fails to drop in something humorous, even if the actual events are melancholy. A good example is the chapter on when he went to a Blackhawks game against Winnipeg on a first date with a woman who later became a girlfriend.  The way he talks about the ticket stub he kept from that game for many years made me laugh several times. That is just one of the many passages that will leave a reader laughing.

Hockey fans, even those who are not Blackhawk fans, will enjoy all of Cunningham’s recollection of important games and rivalries from the 1980’s to the Stanley Cup championships of the current decade.  Being a fan of the Minnesota North Stars before the team relocated to Dallas, I was especially enjoying the writing about the great rivalry between the North Stars and Blackhawks – even if Cunningham had a strong dislike for Dino Ciccarelli.  While I may have been on the “wrong” side of that rivalry according to him, his memes about it brought back some great memories.

Fellow Blackhawk fans will especially enjoy this explanation of an obsession with a hockey team since that is their team.  But for fans of the game, this book is recommended for them as well as it just may provide a little insight into the loyalty and passion any fan has for his or her team. 

I wish to thank University of Iowa Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609384784/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1609384784&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2


2 comments:

  1. Nothing like a good sense of humour to improve a hockey book! Sounds like a good read.

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  2. I am not necessarily a hockey fan, just a Kevin Cunningham fan (since his last book, "Constellations"). This was a totally different read than "Constellations," but just as great a book.

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