Knowing I would be in my car for a few hours when I drove to New Hampshire, I decided to download a book for the trip. This one has been on my TBR for a while, so figuring it was time to take it off that pile, I listened to it and finished over the weekend trip. Here is my review of Ted Nolan's memoir.
Title/Author:
“Life in Two Worlds: A Coach’s Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back” by Ted Nolan with Meg Masters, narrated by James Malloch
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review:
In 1997, Ted Nolan was named the Jack Adams Award winner which goes to the Coach of the Year in the NHL. He guided the Buffalo Sabres to a surprise division title and made it to the second round of that year’s playoffs. But in the offseason, the team offered a contract that he (and everyone else) felt was an insult and he did not return to the team. His story of his life in the NHL as both a player and a coach, as well as his life growing up in a First Nation reserve, is told in this great memoir narrated by James Malloch.
I usually prefer memoirs narrated by the author/subject, but in this case, Malloch gave a strong performance and while I knew this was not Nolan speaking, it certainly felt like it was Nolan describing not only the cruelty and racism (some subtle, some not so subtle) while playing or coaching hockey, but also of the pride he had in his heritage. While this did include some well-known bad treatment of students at schools on reserves, this only strengthened his resolve to live his life the way his heritage taught him and to show that he and other indigenous people belonged in the world of hockey.
Nolan frequently mentions that it is important for those who have been affected by racism to tell their stories and it is just as important for those who haven’t been affected to listen. This was the biggest takeaway of the book for me, as he did this without the same type of stories that other activists share. Instead, he blended this with his hockey career. First with his playing days for the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (where he later coached after the NHL and was very happy with that job) and later the NHL Detroit Red Wings, then in his coaching career where he had two stints with the Sabres sandwiched around a stint with the New York Islanders, Nolan’s message never was far away.
This was one of the better hockey memoirs that I have read or listened to, and I do recommend this for any hockey fan. From outposts like Glens Falls, New York to the bright lights of cities like New York and Detroit, Ted Nolan (and his two sons who also played in the NHL) have brought pride and hockey schools to the First Nation in efforts to bring the game to underserved populations.
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