This is the first in what I hope will become a rather large collection of hockey book reviews.

Here's one to start everyone out with:

Book review for today: Gretzky's Tears: Hockey, America, and the Day Everything Changed by Stephen Brunt.

I was a big fan of Gretzky back in his prime in Edmonton. I loved the way he could do almost anything, practically at will on the ice. It was amazing to watch as a budding hockey fan. I figured he'd play forever in Edmonton, and retire with the Oilers.

To my shock and disbelief, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9th, 1988. I believed everything that was printed at that point, not having the internet or NHL-market papers to read. Who would have the nerve to trade The Great One? What in the world happened that made him want to leave?

This book answers all those questions and more. You get a feeling for how Gretzky was slowly being pushed to the side and edged out, so that Peter Pocklington, the Oilers owner, could get some new, younger blood back and make another pile of money.

The inside information is exquisite, and easy to follow even if you don't know anything about the game. From the beginning of Gretzky's career in Edmonton, to the days of the trade and following his arrival in Los Angeles, everything is not as it seems. The reader begins to see that not all was well in Edmonton, and Pocklington was to blame for much of that.

To purchase this book through the website of Powells City of Books, located in Portland, OR:

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781600783043-0