Hockey Card Stories: True Tales from Your Favorite Players

Early in his love letter to the hockey cards of his youth, Sportsnet anchor Reid gets the scoop on a 1981-82 Paul Baxter card%E2%80%94how he lead the NHL in penalty minutes, and why he looks so ornery on the card itself. It turns out the book is as much for the author as the reader: "I, for one, understand why I've always been obsessed with this simple-looking hockey card. It turns out there is quite a story behind it." There are few rabbit holes that Reid didn't go down, hunting some incredibly obscure names (hello Chuck Luska!) and some big game (Orr, Potvin, both Esposito brothers). Readers will find themselves continually flipping back to the page with the reproduction of the hockey card. What the reader won't do is plunk down on the couch and read it in one sitting, as the stories, while well-written and entertaining, are repetitive consumed one after another. Another flaw can be solved with a sequel%E2%80%94these are all players from the 1970s to the early 1990s, leaving open the question whether or not today's NHLers love their cards the way their predecessors did. Agent: Brian Wood. (Oct.)