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windingdot's review against another edition
4.0
This was better than I'd expected. I'd been aware of this book for several years, having seen it on the shelves in bookstores. But I'd never bothered to read it until I found a copy at Half Price Books during the 20% off sale. I expected a fairly cliche book about a team overcoming obstacles to win a championship for their beloved coach before he retired. But that's not what this was at all.
Rather, it was a fairly cynical look inside an elite Minnesota high school hockey program -- the beloved coach comes across as a jerk, many of the players as arrogant, entitled jocks, and many of the hockey parents as overbearing stage parents. Yes, there are good kids and good parents in here, but it's not a whitewash. Rosengren also delves into issues like the use of dangerous stimulants by the players, the risks of injury, the decline of Iron Range hockey and rise of suburban dominance (and now the growing dominance of private schools over the suburban comprehensives), the growth of girls' hockey, etc. All in all, it's a fascinating warts-and-all picture of "the State of Hockey."
Rather, it was a fairly cynical look inside an elite Minnesota high school hockey program -- the beloved coach comes across as a jerk, many of the players as arrogant, entitled jocks, and many of the hockey parents as overbearing stage parents. Yes, there are good kids and good parents in here, but it's not a whitewash. Rosengren also delves into issues like the use of dangerous stimulants by the players, the risks of injury, the decline of Iron Range hockey and rise of suburban dominance (and now the growing dominance of private schools over the suburban comprehensives), the growth of girls' hockey, etc. All in all, it's a fascinating warts-and-all picture of "the State of Hockey."
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