Title/Author:
“The Grim Reaper: The
Life and Career of a Reluctant Warrior” by Stu Grimson
Tags:
Ice Hockey, memoir, professional,
Blackhawks, Red Wings, Ducks, Kings, Flames, Whalers, Predators
Publish date:
October 15, 2019
Length:
324 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
The life of a hockey player who is called
an “enforcer”, a “fighter” or a “goon” is quite different than the life of
other hockey players. They play fewer minutes, are asked to perform a duty in
which they face great risk of injury, their careers can be much shorter than
those of other players, they can play in relative anonymity and they also
switch teams frequently. Aside from a
short career, this is pretty accurate for Stu Grimson who has written a very
good memoir about his time as an enforcer.
Having read good books on other enforcers
such as Bob Probert and Derek Boogardt, I picked this one up with high
expectations and it did not disappoint.
It did not follow the usual format from youth to college or junior hockey
to the pros to life after hockey. While all of these life cycle events are
covered by Grimson with many great stories, the book does skip around at times,
especially when he is discussing his life after hockey.
Despite that, reading about important
events in his life other than hockey was very enjoyable, something that usually
isn’t the case with sports memoirs. His time working as an attorney for the NHL
Players Association was very intriguing, especially when he was fired from the
position by the person whom he helped attain the director position of the
union. He also talks about meeting his birth parents (he and his sister were
adopted) and the fact that his birth father was also a professional athlete
(played football in the Canadian Football League) and became a lawyer after his
playing days were over is just an amazing coincidence.
Readers who prefer to read about his
hockey career will also be happy as he shares many stories of his fights on the
ice, his trouble with rules during junior hockey and through it all, he always wondered
if this was the best path to make a career in the sport. He repeatedly states at
every stop in his professional career (there were many, as he played for seven
different NHL teams, including two stints with the Anaheim Ducks) he states he
would do whatever he needed to do in order to contribute to the success of his
team. From the descriptions of some of
his actions, there was no reason to believe otherwise.
His description of fights, especially
one in which Dave Brown broke the orbital bone of Grimson early in his career
when he played on the Blackhawks. It was almost gruesome to read the details of
not only the injury but how Brown threw the punches. However, there was no hard feelings between
the two players and Brown did show concern.
That is part of the code present among enforcers in the NHL and Grimson talks
often about that and displays much respect for his fellow fighters who obey these
unwritten rules.
Whether or not one enjoys fighting
as part of the game, hockey fans should pick up this book and get a very good
perspective into the life and mind of those players whose main job is not to
score goals or keep the puck out of the net, but instead have to use their
fists to provide value to their teams.
I wish to thank Penguin Random House
Canada for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest
review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
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