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Please welcome back, once again, our 2015 Toronto Book Awards blogger, Kim MacMullen! Kim has been reading and reviewing the finalists for this year\u2019s Toronto Book Awards<\/a>, which will be awarded on October 15, 2015.<\/p>\n The next review is of\u00a0The Last Hockey Game<\/i>\u00a0by Bruce McDougall<\/a> (Goose Lane Editions). Bruce McDougall\u00a0will be reading at The Word On The Street at Harbourfront Centre on September 27th, at 1:00 PM<\/a>\u00a0and again at 5:00 PM<\/a>\u00a0at the Toronto Book Awards Tent.<\/p>\n On the surface, Bruce McDougall\u2019s <\/span>The Last Hockey Game<\/span><\/i> is a detailed play-by-play account of game six of the Stanley Cup Finals in 1967. At its core, it\u2019s a detailed history of the past and present state of Canada\u2019s game, presented via a compelling narrative that is exhaustively researched and filled with the captivating memories of the players, families, owners, and employees of the National Hockey League. <\/span><\/p>\n When the Toronto Maple Leafs faced off against the Montreal Canadiens on that Tuesday night in May of 1967, change was looming over the NHL\u2014the players would unionize under the NHLPA in June, the establishment of the World Hockey Association was just around the corner, and the NHL itself would expand from six teams to twelve the following year, forever altering the nature of the game itself. McDougall examines the origins and results of those changes, neither condemning nor condoning them, and successfully avoids the common idealization and idolization of the Original Six era. Refusing to shy away from the darker aspects of the league and the game at the time, McDougall leaves no unpleasant stone unturned\u2014from the crooked dealings and racism of some owners to players\u2019 adultery and substance abuse, and the Maple Leafs Gardens sex abuse scandal, McDougall unflinchingly removes the rose-tinted glasses with which many view the centennial-era league, which ultimately serves to show a far more human side of those involved. These were real people with real problems, and it\u2019s not only okay to talk about it\u2014it\u2019s responsible. <\/span><\/p>\n But as much as <\/span>The Last Hockey Game<\/span><\/i> brings a much-needed reality check to a game that has been elevated in the minds and hearts of fans for almost a century, it also celebrates the game and its place in our past and present. The players weren\u2019t and aren\u2019t perfect and jacking up ticket prices was just as lousy in the Ballard era as it is now, but hockey still thrills its fans, whose love of these storied franchises is passed down from generation to generation. By telling the truth of the lives of the players and owners and families and staff, McDougall demystifies the game and lets fans connect with their heroes on an even more human level, understanding what they put themselves through to be part of Canada\u2019s game. And while the level of detail may be rather in-depth for casual readers, <\/span>The Last Hockey Game <\/span><\/i>is filled with the kind of minutiae that will please hockey fans and trivia buffs alike (Rogie Vachon drank tea from a thermos in the lockeroom before games; Bobby Rousseau didn\u2019t wear socks when he played because he wanted to feel the ice through his skates; Allan Stanley was supposed to accompany Bill Barilko on his fatal fishing trip in 1955). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n True to the book\u2019s title, May 2, 1967 would be the last time the Leafs and the Habs would face each other in the Stanley Cup Finals (with the Leafs\u2019 failure to reappear in the Finals notwithstanding)\u2014after several expansions and conference realignments (plus one high-sticking call that never was), Toronto and Montreal can no longer meet any later in the playoffs than the semi-finals. This on its own separates the modern game from its golden-era version of itself, as do the massive changes the league underwent after the end of the 1967 season, but McDougall doesn\u2019t despair for hockey\u2014he just tells us how it got to where it is. And, armed with these stories and the lessons of the past 100 years of professional hockey, where it goes next might just be up to us.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kim MacMullen<\/strong> is a copywriter from Barrie, ON. She has a degree in English Literature from Laurentian University, and, after spending two years in Toronto, she now lives in Barrie with her husband and their substantial collections of books, sports memorabilia, and video games.<\/p>\n According to The Last Hockey Game<\/em>‘s description, who is quoted with saying “Hello, Canada and hockey fans in the United States<\/strong>?”<\/strong> Check out our website<\/a>, and send the answer to toronto@thewordonthestreet.ca to be entered in a draw to win a prize pack of all the shortlisted\u00a0Toronto Book Awards books<\/a>, signed by the authors!<\/em><\/p>\n Keep an eye out for our final\u00a0Toronto Book Awards review, and one more chance to enter! Coming up next:\u00a0Station Eleven\u00a0<\/em>by Emily St. John Mandel.<\/p>\n Contest closes September 23, 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Please welcome back, once again, our 2015 Toronto Book Awards blogger, Kim MacMullen! Kim has been reading and reviewing the finalists for this year\u2019s Toronto Book Awards, which will be awarded on October 15, 2015. The next review is of\u00a0The Last Hockey Game\u00a0by Bruce McDougall (Goose Lane Editions). Bruce McDougall\u00a0will be reading at The Word […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3641"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3641"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3644,"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3641\/revisions\/3644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordonthestreet.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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