"Hockey: A People's History"

A coffee table hockey book might not be entirely comfortable on a coffee table that isn't in living room in Flin Flon or a sun porch in Moose Jaw...assuming anybody in Moose Jaw has any use for a sun porch.

That's a risk Michael McKinley was willing to take, which is a good thing, because his book will delight hockey fans wherever they are."Hockey: A People's History" is the companion to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's history of the game Canada still calls its own, though today's stars are as likely to come from Sweden, Russia, or the U.S. as they are from Manitoba or Medicine Hat. There are some wonderful photographs in the book...one especially goofy one of Phil Esposito falling on his backside before a game begins. Actually, there's an even goofier one of Esposito shouting at Alexander Ragulin during a game in the '72 series between Canada and Russia. What do you suppose led Esposito to think Ragulin could understand a word Phil was saying?