Sunday, November 17, 2013

 Today, I'm reviewing Dave Hanson's book, Slap Shot Original. It's subtitled The Man, The Foil, The Legend.

Yes, it's THAT Dave Hanson, who, with Jeff and Steve Carlson, reached the pinnacle of hockey fame as The Hanson Brothers in Slap Shot.

But, as this book goes to show, there's so much more to Dave Hanson's career than just a couple of movies. He speaks candidly about growing up in Minnesota, playing football and hockey. He would play three seasons early in his career with the Johnstown Jets, of the North American Hockey League. It's hard to believe that, after watching Slap Shot, much of that movie was actually based on the real life NAHL, and real people. He points out the real and the fictitious. There's an entire chapter about the filming of the movie, in which he goes into great behind-the-scenes detail about life on the set, meeting people like Paul Newman, and just horsing around to pass the time.

He talks about the WHA, and how the rival league was changing things on the professional hockey scene. He played a total of 33 NHL games, and when he finally finished, he had a brief 3 game session as a head coach in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League.

All in all, it's quite a story from a person who's got a lot to tell about the rough and tumble life of professional hockey in the 1970s.

Dave Hanson has a lot to tell, and this is the perfect way to tell it all; a humorous, light-hearted style that keeps the reader moving along.



Special thanks to Triumph Books for making this title available for reviewing purposes!




Link to Powell's City of Books: http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781600788758-0





Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)