Book Review: Kelly Hrudey Calling The Shots

[Adam Cooper]

This is a Video Book Review: Kelly Hrudey Calling The Shots with Kristie McLellan Day. I picked this book up because it was about a hockey goalie who I knew and watched as a kid and currently watch today as an Analyst for Hockey Night In Canada.

So let me start off with my initial biases of Kelly Hrudey because I think that is important to be open about. First of all, I never like him as a goalie. In fact I hated him, with his underwear bandanna, his brutally ugly box Jofa helmet and the fact he played for the Islanders and dreaded LA Kings who dispatched my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1993 Stanley Cup Conference Finals Game 7 Playoffs. Still one of the biggest emotional scars that Leaf fans have from the 90's.

So I put those emotions aside and jumped right into this book and I have to say it's really really good. So who would like this book?

1.) If you are a goalie who likes hearing NHL history it's a great read.

2.) You are a fan of history of the New York Islanders, LA Kings or San Jose Sharks each of the key teams where he played.

3.) You are a general hockey fan and want to learn more about some of the teams from the 80's and 90's.

As Goalie: I found it so fascinating how he built relationships with the greats from the 80's of the New York Islander like Al Arbour, Nystrom, Bossy,Trottier, Gilles, Billy Smith, Duane Sutter, Denis Potvin etc. The story of the 1987 Easter Epic 6 hours 18 minutes Playoff Game vs. Washington Capitals. Great stories from when he was traded to LA, all the Celebrities, Gretzky, etc. He was on Team Canada one year which I was stunned by.  Details on how he had to battle and what he had to do to stay on top when other goalies challenged him for #1.

As a Leaf Fan: I have new appreciation for who Kelly was as a player and his personality. He provided more insights on the Leaf's series he won and how fans still bug him about it. Overall, really well written by Kelly and Kristine McLellan Day and a quick read.

[MTH]

Good review. I'll pick it up for sure. Thanks for doing this.

I pick up so many sports player books expecting cool details about playing and all and it's anything but that. Sounds like I'll dig this book.

[Adam Cooper]

This one is a good balance.  There are not many good goalie books out there and I found I was engaged throughout and read it quickly.   I'm looking forward to Cujo's book that's coming out soon as well. I read Ken Dryden's book The Game which was very well written but I had a hard time getting engaged because I'm not a fan of the Habs and I barely knew most of the players from that era.   

[MTH]

Same issue with Dryden's book. I tried. Meh.

One of the worst was Marty Brodeur's book. Sadly. I looked foward to it thinking it would be chock full of game stuff and details about playing. Wasn't.

Would be rad if a current goalie just logged every detail and wrote a book with them all in it. I guess with twitter and facebook they do that now. Not really though as it's all 'look how cool I am' rather than lame details us nerds would love to read about.

[coopaloop1234]

Clint Malarchuck's book was a good read. Not very hockey/goalie related, but definitely give a good insight to how messed up of an individual he is/was.

[raucebyalien]

The overriding memory I have of the Brodeur book is him being a massive piss-pants about not winning the Conn Smyth in 2003!

I mean I'm no Brodeur fan anyways, but I think Giguere's 2003 playoffs is the best performance I've ever seen a goalie have, and for Brodeur not too even grant him that after he won the cup in game 7 with a much better team in front of him...stinks of pettiness!

[MTH]

27 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Clint Malarchuck's book was a good read. Not very hockey/goalie related, but definitely give a good insight to how messed up of an individual he is/was.

Yeah, I'm good on the people's bad life stories for now. Pass.

[MTH]

6 minutes ago, raucebyalien said:

The overriding memory I have of the Brodeur book is him being a massive piss-pants about not winning the Conn Smyth in 2003!

I mean I'm no Brodeur fan anyways, but I think Giguere's 2003 playoffs is the best performance I've ever seen a goalie have, and for Brodeur not too even grant him that after he won the cup in game 7 with a much better team in front of him...stinks of pettiness!

I only recall it was contract discussion for 85% of the book. Kill me.

[raucebyalien]

Oh yes..  

The phrase 'company man' came up quite a lot...yes yes Marty we get it, you're a much better person than all those other nasty, greedy goalies with their agents...

[bunnyman666]

What I have found with autobiographical books is that in so many cases, they are self-serving with the desire to try to justify their douche baggery. So many times, there is revisionist history in those book, as well. There is usually a mission to boost their public image and it generally backfires.

I try to avoid autobiographies for the mere fact that 99/100 times, I am less of a fan of said person due to their biography; Hrudey’s book sounds like it could be less of the self-serving, revisionist history, PR improvment vehicles (which backfire) that I have found many autobiographies to be.

Hopefully, I can find it in the library.

[MTH]

Some gems I read that were not d-bag like:

Mankind. Phenomenal read. Wrestler guys are some tough dudes. Mankind tells you all about it. New respect for the guys who do this.

Dennis Rodman's book. While an odd dude, his book is better than you'd expect. It was so interesting that I read this book in about a day. Dennis didn't write this to win any awards, it reads like he's telling you stories (while sober, so they make sense). From battles with other players to stuff his did in games. Good book.

[MTH]

Another one that was full of hockey details was Keith Jones' book. 

[Adam Cooper]

Thanks for the other book recommendations @MTH  I have not read either book but I hear Mankind was excellent.  @coopaloop1234 regarding the Clint Malarchuk book I had heard mixed reviews as like you said it was a lot about stuff outside of hockey which I'm not interested in especially when it's a player I did not really follow.  

If you guys like other Sports Biographies/Novels/Manuals two books I would highly recommend would be Andre Agassi's biography called Open.  I love tennis and was  big fan of his and it's a great read and he gets right into all the crap that happened in his crazy career that you did not hear much about.  I learned much more about this player and he did have an interesting career.  

The second book which I couldn't put down was Into Thin Air about Mountain Climbers and tragedy on Mount Everest. Definitely on my top 10 list of reads.

Stay tuned for my next video book review where I'll be reviewing how the Baseball book titled The Mental ABC's of Pitching can be applied to Goaltenders and managing the mental ABC's of stopping the puck.  

[SaveByRichter35]

On 9/14/2018 at 11:36 AM, MTH said:

Some gems I read that were not d-bag like:

Mankind. Phenomenal read. Wrestler guys are some tough dudes. Mankind tells you all about it. New respect for the guys who do this.

Dennis Rodman's book. While an odd dude, his book is better than you'd expect. It was so interesting that I read this book in about a day. Dennis didn't write this to win any awards, it reads like he's telling you stories (while sober, so they make sense). From battles with other players to stuff his did in games. Good book.

I still wanna read Have A Nice Day.  I read The Rock Says way back in the day when it came out.  Never got around to Mick's though.  Thank you for reminding me, I'm gonna try to find a copy.

[Imperative]

Agassi’s book was great! I also enjoyed Hrudey’s book. Overall I like reading guys stories what it was like to play at that level, the highs and lows they go through. 

[MTH]

I did pick up Grant Fuhr's book the other day cheap. Figure I'd read that. He's pretty rad.

[aircanuck]

6 hours ago, MTH said:

I did pick up Grant Fuhr's book the other day cheap. Figure I'd read that. He's pretty rad.

I liked Hrudey's book better than Fuhr's and Grant was my ultimate childhood hero. It was a little too basic and lacking in detail for me, but still a neat read. His new documentary "Making Coco" looks incredible though.

[Adam Cooper]

Hi Guys,

I just finished Tie Domi's recent book called Shift Work and it was a great read.  Some awesome stories about his time with the NY Rangers, Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs.  It's amazing how many NHL legends he played with:  Messier, Leetch, Richter, Graves, Sundin, Probert (epic fights), Quinn, Burns, Selanne, Cujo, Belfour (epic story about him), Amonte, Weight, etc.  He gets into some great details about his role in the locker room and helping lead the culture of the team.  This book had a lot of research done by Jim Lang to conduct interviews with many players and other media.

Definitely worth a read if you are a Leaf fan, NY Rangers fan or Jets fan. I thought it was better than Gilmour's book Killer and it was comparable to Kelly Hrudey's book but more engaging locker room details.

[bunnyman666]

I used to write the St. Louis Blues General Manager Ron Caron to trade Hull for Domi. Domi was a GREAT fighter, which the likes need to be drafted TODAY to fix the Boris Bettman-ruined game of NHL hockey.

Domi was one of the GREATEST players to EVER put on an NHL sweater.

It is a TRAVESTY that Tie Domi is NOT in the Hall of Fame, yet Boris Bettman put himself in the hall. Boris should be executed for the HORRENDOUS  way he has screwed up the NHL; Domi should be SAINTED for how he upheld the integrity of the enforcer. Domi, along with Probert, Twist, Kocur, Mc Sorley, Chase, etc., etc. NEED to be in the Hall of Fame, Boris Bettman needs to have his head on a spike for what he is doing to the game. 

I need to get his book.

Long Live Tie Domi!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[Adam Cooper]

You'll love this book @bunnyman666 I was a massive Messier fan and Domi has some great stories about him in this book.  What I like is that he did not retire that long ago so I can remember many of the games and situations that are talked about. 

[bunnyman666]

7 hours ago, Adam Cooper said:

You'll love this book @bunnyman666 I was a massive Messier fan and Domi has some great stories about him in this book.  What I like is that he did not retire that long ago so I can remember many of the games and situations that are talked about. 

Thanks for the recommendation AND indulging me on my tirade!

[MTH]

It was already on my Amazon list. 

I can't read so fast.

[Matt35]

I would also recommend Jamie McLennan’s book, The Best Seat in the House. A lot of great stories from a guy who appreciated and enjoyed his time in the show. 

[MTH]

So far, I only read like 12 pages of Fuhr's book. 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[aircanuck]

1 hour ago, MTH said:

So far, I only read like 12 pages of Fuhr's book. 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I don't know if we were expecting too much or what. Wait for Making Coco to come out, far better than the book. 

The Crazy Game by Clint Malarchuck was a brilliant, but hard read for me. Hits a little close to home. Cujo is next on my list.