Edmonton Oilers Penalty Box Book Club: Book #3

Hey everyone, today I am recommending another book for the Edmonton Oilers Penalty Box Book Club. I reviewed/highly recommended Boys on the Bus last time around and today I would like to talk about Bob McKenzie’s most recent book: Hockey Confidential.

About Hockey Confidential

Hockey Confidential is Bob McKenzie’s second book that he has published. His first book was Hockey Dad: True Confessions of A (Crazy) Hockey Parent. Surprisingly, it was not a book about his life behind the scenes in Hockey but rather an intimate take on how it’s like being a hockey parent and the pressures of having two sons trying to play the game as they grow older.

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Still, back when I ordered McKenzie’s second book, I did not really do much research. I assumed based on the title, it was going to be that golden book based on Bob’s life behind the scenes of how he breaks trades or some crazy stories of how trades or free agent signings came to be.

Yet, Hockey Confidential was not that. Rather, it was eleven chapters, each containing a different story behind the scenes for certain individuals. The list of chapters/stories were:

1- Colin Campbell’s near-death accident
2- Mark Lindsay’s “magical” chiropractics
3- John & John Tavares– lacross and hockey uncle/nephew superstars
4- Advanced statistics
5- Don Cherry, unplugged
6- Connor McDavid – the next Crosby?
7- Brandon Prust and the role of fighting in hockey
8- The Subban family
9- Gord Downie- life as a Bruins fan
10- Sheldon Keefe’s road to redemption
11- Jari Byrski’s road to skills coach

A quick summary:

There were some stories in there that I did not know about. For example, the Colin Campbell near death accident took place on Campbell’s farm where his tractor fell into a pond and he nearly drowned. This was news to me! Mark Lindsay is a well known chiropractor that deals with high end athletes. The two John Tavares is a interview like format of both Tavares talking about their respective sport. Advanced Statistics/Fancy Stats was an in-depth look about the analytics side of hockey and the rise of the fancy stats from their humble roots. Don Cherry, unplugged, was about Don Cherry away from his Coach’s Corner and how he watches minor hockey with his son. Brandon Prust talks about his career and what it is like to be a fighter in the NHL. Connor McDavid’s story is about his pressures of growing up exceptional. The Subban Family looks at the background of all three Subban brothers and their father who is a recently retired inner school principal. Gord Downie is best known for being part of the Tragically Hip and gives some insight of how he became a Bruins fan. Sheldon Keefe was part of a trouble group of players who redeemed himself in the coaching ranks and finally, Jari Byrski is a skating coach who was on the brink of suicide until he found the light of hockey and grasped onto hope.

Now obviously, some chapters to me at least, where much more interesting than others. My top three chapters were:

The Sheldon Keefe story. It was interesting because I did not really know who Sheldon Keefe was. He was in a bad crowd as a junior player and that seemed to tarnish his image as he went. Yet, as a junior coach, he redeemed himself. The Subban Family was really interesting because I was interested in Karl Subban’s story as a hockey parent and as a principal of an inner city school. I’ll be a school teacher some day, so I always dig educational stories that I can find. Finally, the best chapter (also the longest) was the Connor McDavid story. It was a great in-depth look of how McDavid had to play against players constantly older than him and the importance of family. It revealed quite a bit about his character, which you do not really get to see in television interviews.

However, there were some chapters that did not really interest me. The most notable one was Mark Lindsay’s abilities as a chiropractor. Maybe some people with sports injury backgrounds will find it fascinating but I found pretty dry to the point where I was glad the chapter was over. I would not say it was an awful chapter: it was more like it was not my cup of tea.

Stars

Following my Stars rating from before: 1 is a pretty bad book. 3 is a good book if not spectacular while 5 is the gold standard of hockey books.

Bob McKenzie’s Hockey Confidential is an entertaining read. There is bound to be some chapters that are really thrilling to a hockey fan of different backgrounds. On the other hand, there were also some chapters I had struggled to maintain interest in. It was an interesting look behind the scenes, although in a way that I was not familiar with. I’ve read the book at least once and am currently reading it again.

I would give the book 4/5 stars. It’s definitely worth a read.

Oil Rating

When it comes to Oilers related content, when the book release, it would be low/none. However, post April 18th 2015, it became firmly on the low end and possibly medium side due to Connor McDavid’s chapter. It was one of the better chapters, if not one of my favorites. That opinion was formed prior to the draft lottery and I’d still recommend checking it out if you cannot get your McDavid fix.

Next: Edmonton Oilers Power Previews: Jordan Eberle

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