Top-shelf tales

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2020 (2078 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

James Duthie’s Beauties: Hockey’s Greatest Untold Stories is a collection of 57 stories and anecdotes from the world of hockey. It includes the recollections of NHL superstars, coaches at all levels, agents, executives, minor leaguers and other assorted folks from around the game.

In hockey slang, believe it or not, there is a whole lexicon of hockey language available with dictionary explanations; a “beauty” is described as “a player that is talented, both on and off the ice and loved by his teammates.”

If you go back far enough, the first time you might have heard the term was from now-banished hockey commentator Don Cherry — or maybe Bob and Doug McKenzie in the ultimate portrayal of Canadians as hosers and hockey fans on SCTV. So right away credit author James Duthie with insider cred for the title of Beauties and for a great idea, well executed and brought to market in a timely fashion.

While Duthie is better known for his day job on TSN as a popular NHL hockey broadcast host and interviewer than he is for his work as a writer, he is the author of three other hockey books (They Call Me Killer, The Guy On The Left, and The Day I (Almost) Killed Two Gretzkys).

For the fan suffering from hockey withdrawal, with the protracted postponement of the NHL schedule (and most other leagues) for obvious community health concerns during these COVID-19 times, Beauties should provide quick-read entertainment and distraction from reality.

While there’s some off-colour language in Beauties, it’s nothing outrageous by today’s standards. And while there’s “rebellious” behaviour described, it’s mostly confined to the boys sneaking out after curfew for a few beers. If Beauties were a movie, it would likely garner a PG-13 rating; the book will likely appeal more to (and is aimed at) the current younger super-fans of the game.

Who else really cares What Bobby Orr thought of Connor McDavid when he first saw him at age 14 (“I’m watching him skate circles around everyone and I’m saying, ‘Holy mackerel, who is he?’”)? How Sidney Crosby got the nickname “Darryl” in Junior (”’I’m pretty happy with that nickname,’ Crosby laughs. ‘For a sixteen year old in junior, I’m sure they could have come up with much worse’”)? What it was like for beer-league goalie (and accountant by day) Scott Foster to be pressed into a real NHL game as an emergency back-up for the Chicago Blackhawks (“I got a chance to live my dream”)?

So, it’s a given that this book manages to play out most of the tropes associated with writing and reporting on the game of hockey today. The chapters could quite easily have been titled Tear Jerkers, Heart-warmers, Tough Guys, Funny Memories, Teachable Moments.

Duthie does recognize that in life — even in the world of grown men playing a kid’s sport — things are not always fun and games. Definitely the most moving story is that of Laila Anderson, a nine-year-old St. Louis Blues super-fan battling cancer who became a cause célèbre of the entire Blues team. Players like Alexander Steen and Colton Parayko practically adopted Laila, and the club attributes their 2019 Stanley Cup win in part to her inspiring courage in dealing with a bone marrow transplant and months of chemotherapy and sickness to regain a chance to live a healthy life.

The game of professional hockey is, first and foremost, big business. As such, it has its own set of internal political rules and codes of conduct which are reflected in the way the game is portrayed, particularly on television. “The whole business has become much more academic, much more numbers-oriented,” outspoken NHL player agent Allan Walsh is quoted as saying at one point. “There just aren’t the personalities anymore.” That fact is reflected in the pages of Beauties.

For a hockey book, there’s not much mention of Winnipeg or Manitoba in these pages. The most telling aside — and it’s not even central to the story — comes from Garth Butcher, recalling when he was playing for the St. Louis Blues and they had a night off in Winnipeg before flying out the next morning. “Most teams seem to get extra days off in L.A. but the Blues always seem to get them in Winnipeg. Oh well.”

That “oh well” pretty much describes the prevailing attitude toward our town, despite the fact that 26 Manitoba players skated in the NHL last year and we have a pretty talented squad known as the Jets playing out of our city.

There have been hundreds of books written about hockey — the game is deeply ingrained in Canadian culture and life. Most of this year’s hardcover hockey books will find their way into bookstore sale bins before the Stanley Cup is next awarded. But, before that happens, Beauties would seem to fit nicely into the category of thoughtful gift for the hockey fan (make that super-fan) in the family. Christmas is just around the corner. No in-person shopping required.

Jim Millican is a former CEO of the Manitoba Moose Hockey Club and vice president of communications for True North Sports and Entertainment.