Mike Commito - Hockey 365: Daily Stories from the Ice

Copyright Mike Commito, 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purpose of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Cover design: Laura Boyle and Ron Beltrame
Printer: Webcom

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Commito, Mike Anthony, author
Hockey 365 : daily stories from the ice / Mike Commito.

Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-4597-4184-3 (softcover).--ISBN 978-1-4597-4185-0 (PDF).-
ISBN 978-1-4597-4186-7 (EPUB)

1. National Hockey League--Anecdotes. 2. Hockey players-
Anecdotes. 3. Hockey--Anecdotes. 4. National Hockey League-
Miscellanea. 5. Hockey players--Miscellanea. 6. Hockey--Miscellanea.
I. Title. II. Title: Hockey three sixty-five. III. Title: Hockey three hundred sixty-five.

1 2 3 4 5 22 21 20 19 18

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Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. Lan dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de lart dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

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B ehind every great hockey play is a piece of history. Every milestone goal, point, or shutout is measured and contextualized by how it compares to the feats achieved by players from previous eras. Understanding the history of hockey is important because it highlights the sports most significant athletes and how the game has evolved and situates the contemporary game within its rich heritage. You may not think youre a hockey historian just yet, but every time you watch a game, youre invariably comparing the accomplishments of the current players on the ice with those of their predecessors.

Having a better understanding of hockeys history gives you a better appreciation of the sport and how far it has come from its early days on frozen ponds and rivers when the game was played with a block of wood instead of a puck to the riveting crescendo of the NHLs three-on-three overtime and it also makes you a better fan. Knowing the history of the sport gives you an insiders knowledge of the game, both on and off the ice. Moreover, sharing in these moments engages you with the game on an intimate level and connects you in a way that transcends the outcome on the scoresheet. For example, understanding how Bobby Orrs career revolutionized the role of defencemen not only properly situates him as one of the greatest players of all time but also provides you with a better appreciation for what players such as Erik Karlsson do on the blue line in todays NHL. While knowing the dates that Bobby Orr rewrote the leagues record books may not help you make sense of why your favourite teams defence corps is currently struggling, it will help you better understand why he was such a special player and how his impact is still felt throughout the league today.

But Bobby Orr is just one example of the historical snapshots you will find in the pages of Hockey 365: Daily Stories from the Ice. As the title suggests, youre about to embark on a journey through hockey history, highlighted by 366 different stories (dont forget leap years), each one representing a significant hockey moment for every day of the year. Think of it as a Word of the Day calendar that packs a punch. Now, visualize that calendar barrelling down the ice and wallpapering you into the boards. Thats Hockey 365. With every flip of the page, youre introduced to a new episode in hockey history. Although there are some familiar names throughout the book it would be rather difficult not to mention Wayne Gretzky more than a few times each entry captures a unique moment in the game.

As you might have guessed, there are 12 chapters, one for every month of the year. While there are threads that link some of the stories together throughout the narrative, Hockey 365 is not your standard hockey book. Much like the game itself, there is no linear flow. You can read it from cover to cover (and hopefully you do), or you can pick it up at any point and start from there. It begins with Willie ORees first goal on January 1, 1961, but you dont have to follow the puck to the next day. Instead, you can jump to September 23, 1992, when Manon Rheaume became the first woman to suit up for NHL action, without missing a beat. Theres no penalty for skipping ahead. However you want to read the book is up to you. Read it in your bathroom. Read it to your daughter. Read it during intermission. Theres no wrong way for you to read Hockey 365.

While Hockey 365 traces the sport from the first indoor matchup in Montreal in 1875 to Auston Matthewss electrifying debut in 2016, it is not a definitive account of the game. Although Ive tried to pack in as many details as I could, it is not meant to be a comprehensive hockey history. Moreover, while the book touches on some notable moments in womens hockey and international hockey, most of the inspiration is drawn from the NHL, where the sport is played at its highest level.

At this point, youre probably wondering how I selected these 366 stories. I wish I could tell you I developed a complex algorithm that calculated the most historically significant hockey moment for each day of the year, but that wasnt the case. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, I carefully chose moments I felt were entertaining and important enough to merit analysis. Sometimes this process was painstaking. There were a few instances where I found some anecdotal information for a story but could not corroborate it with a primary source, so I had to scrap it and go with the next one. Occasionally, I opted to explore some of the games lesser known moments rather than focus on an event that has been covered extensively. For example, Wayne Gretzky became the NHLs all-time leading goal scorer on March 23, 1994, but instead I wrote about how Chicagos Bill Mosienko scored a hat trick in 21 seconds on that day 42 years earlier. Part of the reason behind that decision was because racking up three goals in 21 seconds is pretty darn impressive, but also because Wayne Gretzky looms so large in hockey history. Even though I didnt dedicate an entire section to his 802nd career goal, it was brought up in other ways as he is a recurring figure throughout the book. That being said, I also took great care to avoid this book turning into