Discover a diplomacy mission like no other in Ice War Diplomat, the behind-the-scenes story of the historic 1972 Summit Series. Amid the tension of the Cold War, caught between capitalism and communism, Canada and the Soviet Union, young Canadian diplomat Gary J. Smith must navigate the rink, melting the ice between two nations skating a dangerous path.On his first overseas assignment, Smith is tasked with finding common ground and building friendships bet...

Tasked with finding common ground and building friendships between the world's two largest countries and arctic neighbors, a young Canadian diplomat finds himself on his first overseas assignment in Moscow, the Soviet capital. It's the early 1970s and a Cold War between communism and capitalism, the west and the east, is simmering—while the ice rink is just starting to heat up. Smith opts for sports diplomacy, throwing off his embassy black tie dress codes and donning the blue and white sw...

Blue Monday: one of the most unforgettable days in Canadian baseball history.Danny Gallagher leads readers up to that infamous day in October 1981 when Rick Monday of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit a home run off of Montreal Expos pitcher Steve Rogers in the ninth inning, giving the Dodgers a berth in the World Series. Readers will be taken back to 1976 when a five-year plan for winning the National League championship was set in place by the Expos with the hiring of ...

An honest memoir about life, family, and baseball from the longtime, legendary Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcasterFor 36 years, Jerry Howarth ushered in eternal hope each spring and thrived in the drive of each fall as the voice of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1982, the lifelong avid sports fan joined Tom Cheek as full-time play-by-play radio announcer for the Blue Jays, and for the next 23 years, “Tom and Jerry” were the voices of the franchise. Jerry became part of ...

The series you thought you knew: the first book written with the complete co-operation of the whole team“They’d stolen our beer and our steaks, and then to make it worse . . . they give us this Russian beer—the warm, skunky sh*t, and not the good, cold Labatts our sponsor sent. I remember thinking, ‘These pricks will never beat us again! They are not going to win another f*cking game.’”—Rod GilbertWhen the Summit Series began on September 2, 1972, Cold War ...

In July 2020, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif sent shockwaves through the sports world by becoming the first NFL player to opt out of the upcoming season during the global pandemicAs plans for the 2020 NFL season ramped up and daily cases of Covid-19 continued to skyrocket, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, a fixture on the offensive line of the Kansas City Chiefs, stepped away from the game he loved. Not only an active player but also a medical school graduate, Laurent withdrew wh...

#1 BESTSELLERThe legacy of the greatest hockey series ever played, fifty years later, with stories from the players that shed new light on those incredible games and times.“Cournoyer has it on that wing. Here’s a shot. Henderson made a wild stab for it and fell. Here’s another shot. Right in front...they score! Henderson has scored for Canada!”These immortal words, spoken to hockey fans around the world by the legendary broadcaster ...

The series you thought you knew: the first book written with the complete co-operation of the whole team“They’d stolen our beer and our steaks, and then to make it worse . . . they give us this Russian beer—the warm, skunky sh*t, and not the good, cold Labatts our sponsor sent. I remember thinking, ‘These pricks will never beat us again! They are not going to win another f*cking game.’”—Rod GilbertWhen the Summit Series began on September 2, 1972, Cold War ...

Doug MacLean, former NHL coach, general manager, team president, and one of the game’s biggest personalities, reveals how teams build for greatness—or fail to—on hockey’s most anticipated day. A Moneyball for hockey.The NHL draft is a critical time for teams, when the foundation for future championships is laid—or when championship dreams die. Only time will tell if a draft is successful, but a failed draft can severely set teams back for seasons, much to ...

From Sportsnet Central host and broadcaster Ken Reid comes an inspiring and entertaining new collection of hockey stories about local legends who define the game and its values.In many communities across Canada, hockey lives in the nearby arenas and leagues that forge both decades-long rivalries and unbreakable friendships. Fans show up to cheer not for distant NHL superstars, but for the homegrown heroes who define their ...

INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLERThe legendary Hall of Fame hockey player and six-time Stanley Cup champion tells his inspiring story for the first time, sharing the lessons about leadership and teamwork that defined his career.Mark Messier is one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of professional sports. He was a fierce competitor with a well-earned reputation as a winner. But few people know his real story, not only of the asto...

**#1 BESTSELLERIn 1997 Ted Nolan won the Jack Adams Award for best coach in the NHL. But he wouldn’t work in pro hockey again for almost a decade. What happened?**Growing up on a First Nation reserve, young Ted Nolan built his own backyard hockey rink and wore skates many sizes too big. But poverty wasn’t his biggest challenge. Playing the game meant spending his life in two worlds: one in which he was loved and accepted and one where he was often told he didn’t belong....