The Home Team: Fathers, Sons & Hockey

by Roy MacGregor

Book Overview

Shortlisted for the Governor General's Award "A truly magnificent book."-- Calgary Herald It's the great Canadian icon: a frozen creek, a backyard rink, a father passing something precious on to his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670858811
• ISBN13: 9780670858811
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 325 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

My Review

The Home Game is absolutely the best book that I have ever read. I'm a huge hockey fan and this book really brings it home. It covers the family aspect, the Dineens, the Hornungs, the Odjick as well as the individual skill that is essential for succes like Brett Hull and his absent father. Being a hockey player myself, one of my greatest fears is breaking my neck when crashing into the boards. The chapter on Brad Hornung has taught me to be even more careful when hitting a player. There are many lessons that can be learned from this book and I believe I am a better person having read this book. Sincerely, Anonymous.

Perhaps the best hockey book I've ever read.

I purchased this book in Toronto several years back and read it on the 8-hour train ride back to New York. One of the longer and more riveting chapters in the book deals with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, and Marty McSorley, who are accompanied on a hockey exhibition throughout Europe with their respective fathers. We also hear the story of Brett Hull, who relates how his very famous father, Bobby -- the Golden Jet -- was absent from his childhood. Macgregor also explores the families Dineen, Dryden, and Howe, as well as Beliveau and Lafleur, and a number of European players who met with success in the NHL (Odzick, Yashin, Daigle). It also tells the story of Brad Hornung, a junior star whose neck is broken during a game, and of Troy Edwards, who delivered the check. "The Home Team" captures hockey on a very personal, human level that I've not seen done elsewhere. It helps that Macgregor is himself a Canadian and writes about it with an insider's view of not just a game but a culture. It's an absolute shame that the book is out of print. If you can find it used, grab it.