Review of "Life in Two Worlds"

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. 

Link: Amazon.com: Life in Two Worlds: A Coach's Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back (Audible Audio Edition): Ted Nolan, Meg Masters - contributor, James Malloch, Viking: Books

Review of "All Roads Home"

 Those of a certain age will certainly remember the New York Islanders when they won 4 consecutive Stanley Cups and became one of the great dynasties in hockey history.  A key member of those teams was Bryan Trottier and his story is told in this memoir.  Here is my review of "All Roads Home."

Title/Author:

“All Roads Home: A Life On and Off the Ice” written by Bryan Trottier and Steven Brunt, and narrated by Shelden Elter

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (Very good)

Review: As a member of the New York Islanders in the early 1980’s, Bryan Trottier was a key member of their teams who won four consecutive Stanley Cups.  He won two more in the early 1990’s as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins and one more in 2001 as an assistant coach for the Colorado Avalanche.  He was named as one of the 100 greatest NHL players during the league’s centennial anniversary in 2017 and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.  However, his family member are never far from his mind and this memoir show what family means to him.

Throughout the book, it is clear to the reader or listener that Trottier is very much a positive person and that family is most important in his life.  He talks lovingly about all of his children and how they are living successful lives.  Even though he was divorced twice, there is never a bitter or mean word said about either of ex-wives.  His tributes to his parents, both during their lives and at their deaths, are very touching.  It was quite different to read such a memoir.

It was also clear he was proud of his Indigenous heritage.  Many others looked to him for inspiration and while he was not outspoken about the struggles of his people, he would make them proud and never forgot that he was representing them.

This positivity is not limited to family.  No matter what part of his hockey career he talks about – junior hockey, his time with the Islanders and Penguins, his coaching in the AHL and in Colorado and even as head coach of the New York Rangers (a job he held less than one full season) he NEVER talked in the negative.  The last job was the one that really surprise me in how he did not have one iota of bitterness toward the team or its GM Glen Sather.  It’s a consistent theme through the book – Trottier was very grateful for all of his opportunities

Of course, the best passages are about his time with the Islanders and his roommate on those teams, another Hall of Fame player, Mike Bossy.  It was fun to listen to the stories about the back and forth between these two all time greats and just as great to hear the description of their play on the ice.  Having the good fortune to have seen these two and their team produce one of hockey’s greatest dynasties was a treat and listening to this audio book was almost as good.

Link: All Roads Home: A Life On and Off the Ice: Trottier, Bryan, Brunt, Stephen, Thistle, Jesse: 9780771084478: Amazon.com: Books

 

Review of "We Want Fish Sticks"

What better way to resume reading by picking up a review copy of a book I have been anxious to read since learning about its upcoming publication last spring.  This book on the fisherman logo used briefly by the New York Islanders was just as good as I hoped - if nothing else, the title says it all on why this marketing project was a huge failure.  Here is my review of "We Want Fish Sticks"

Title/Author:

“We Want Fish Sticks: The Bizarre and Infamous Rebranding of the New York Islanders” by Nicholas Hirshon

Tags:

Ice Hockey, professional, management, Islanders

Publish date:

December 1, 2018

Length:

312 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

During the 1990’s, twenty-five professional sports teams went through a rebranding process in which they changed their team logo, uniform, colors, or any combination of these. One team that undertook this rebranding, the New York Islanders, saw disastrous results from this endeavor. The team’s failures are well chronicled in this book by Nicholas Hirshon.  Through numerous interviews with people in many positions with the Islanders at that time, Hirshon tells the sad tale of this failed adventure with intricate detail and writing that is a pleasure to read.

At the time of the rebranding, which began in the 1995-96 season, the Islanders were experiencing trouble both on and off the ice. Despite making the playoffs in the 1993-94 season (where they were eliminated by their arch rivals, the New York Rangers, who went on to win the Stanley Cup that year), the team was long past its glory days of the early 1980’s when they won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships. Their arena, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, was in disrepair and was one of the poorer rinks in the NHL for amenities, and the team ownership was led by an absentee owner in Florida and run by his associates nicknamed the “Gang of Four.” 

Having seen the remarkable rise in fortunes for the Los Angeles Kings when they rebranded their franchise after acquiring Wayne Gretzky, the Islanders decided to undergo a similar transformation. They hired a consulting group, SME, who had a proven track record of success with such projects, to design a new logo for the team. While the agency did some research into Long Island history and looked at some marketing strategies, the lack of other research would prove to be the wrong move. Their review of the fishing industry of Long Island, coupled with the popularity of the Billy Joel song “Downeaster Alexa” (Joel was a Long Island native), resulted in the creation of a new logo for the Islanders.

This logo was a drawing of a fisherman with an angry look dressed in a raincoat holding a hockey stick. Forgoing the traditional “NY” logo with a hockey stick forming the “Y” on top of a map of Long Island, the Islanders were looking to market such a logo and mascot to younger fans. They even hired a young man to appear in a costume resembling the fisherman as a mascot during the team’s home games.

What they didn’t count on was the backlash the team would receive from the fans and the media about the new logo. Islander fans were upset about the removal of the old logo and the connection they felt it had with the team’s glory days. The media was unrelenting with its criticism and sarcastic barbs about the new logo, comparing it to the mascot of the Gorton’s frozen food company. Gorton’s is most noted for its frozen seafood, including fish sticks. That lead to the derisive chant by opposing fans “We Want Fish Sticks!” Naturally, that chant was started by Rangers fans the first time the Islanders played in Madison Square Garden wearing the new uniform.

This was just the beginning of a long two years in which the team posted the third-worst combined record in the league. There was plenty of controversy in the front office when general manager Don Maloney was fired in December 1995 and Mike Milbury was named the general manager. While Maloney was believed to have been too inexperienced to have made good player personnel decisions, Milbury’s moves were also questioned despite having had experience with the Boston Bruins.  To further muddy the situation, Milbury also named himself head coach in 1995 and had tumultuous relations with many of the players. 

Speaking of players, the book has plenty of information on their role for the Islanders’ woes during these seasons. The author talks about the players who were supposed to be key contributors to the success of the team and why they fell short.  Anything from injury (Brent Lindros) to lack of promotion of good players (Ziggy Palffy) to the player just not wanting to play for the team (Kirk Muller).  Readers who want to read more about the action on the ice instead of just about the front office or marketing will also enjoy this book.

It should also be noted that during the end of the “fisherman era” (as the author calls this time frame repeatedly through the book), the club had one more embarrassment in the front office. Desparate to be rid of the Gang of Four, the fans and media were excited when a potential buyer of the team was announced in 1996.  John Spano, a Dallas resident who had connections to Long Island, was going to not only purchase the team but was going to invest in the required upgrades to the arena and acquire players to bring a championship back to Long Island. However, investigation revealed that Spano’s fortune was non-existent as he had defaulted on several loans and eventually was convicted on charges of fraud. The euphoria that had briefly enveloped the team and its fans was quickly deflated as the era quietly came to an end when the Islanders went back to wearing the traditional logo on its jerseys to start the 1997-98 season.

One more note about the book is that it took an unusual action by providing the entire transcript of an interview with one of the key people in designing the uniform. Pat McDarby was the graphic designer whose sketches inspired the logo. Because McDarby died one year after the interview and his high profile in the sports branding business, it was decided to print the entire interview. This was one of the best add-ons to a book I have read as McDarby’s insight into what went into the logo and some of the possible reasons for its failure made for great reading, especially after reading the entire story in the body of the book.

For readers who are interested in sports branding as well as hockey history, this is a must read.  I hesitate to recommend this to any Islander fans, unless they liked the fisherman logo, as it may bring back some painful memories of a short but painful era.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska 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.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9781496206534/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1496206533/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1496206533&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2