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