Title/Author:
“Don't Call Me Goon:
Hockey's Greatest Enforcers, Gunslingers and Bad Boys” by Greg Oliver and
Richard Kamchen
Tags:
Ice Hockey, professional,
history, biography
Publish date:
September 1, 2013
Length:
288 pages
Rating: to
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
While fighting and
bench clearing brawls may not be as prevalent in the National Hockey League
(NHL) today as it was in previous decades, players who are considered
"enforcers" because of their fighting ability are still just as
important to a team and just as popular with the fans as ever. This book by Greg Oliver and Richard Kamchen provides
the reader with a look at some of the more famous players who have had that designation
for their teams.
Dividing up the book
into sections based on the eras in which these men played the game, Oliver and
Kamchen covers the entire history of the league and the various men whose
fisticuffs were as much a part of their game as their skating and puck
handling. In the early days, the
"pioneers of mayhem" included Red Horner and Jean Pusie. Moving to
the Original Six era of the league, tough guys like Reggie Fleming and John
Ferguson are portrayed. Once the league
expanded, so did the opportunities for players with this type of game,
highlighted by the two Stanley Cup championships won in the 1970's by the Philadelphia
Flyers. Their rough and physical style
of play, led by tough players like Dave Schultz and Andre "Moose"
Dupont, gave opponents nightmares and led to many opponents wanting to skip a
game against the Flyers, one of the better anecdotes in the book.
After writing about
several players from the modern era, the book turns toward grouping enforcers
into other subgroups – some would score goals as well as fight, some were very
good on defense and as mentioned before, many were fan favorites. Those types of players are profiled in the
book as well. Each player highlighted in
the book is given a short biography of a few pages and some description of the
types of scraps he would usually encounter on the ice.
The book finishes with
a description of the reduction in fighting in today's professional hockey, a trend
that doesn't sit well with many of the players highlighted in the book. There
is also a discussion on concussions and the increased awareness of CTE in the
game and also a final chapter about the "requiem for a gunslinger." While the book is certainly not an exhaustive
look at the life of a hockey enforcer, it tells about many entertaining players
who filled that role. Any hockey fan who
is a fan of some of these players or the type of hockey that was played in the
era of the aforementioned Flyers teams will enjoy this book.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
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