Description

pp. 308, “Why does hockey cast such a spell on our nation? In Grace Under Fire , Lawrence Scanlan scrutinizes the game he loves, past and present, and looks into his own heart for answers. Probing the light and dark sides of hockey, he observes that poet Al Purdy was right when he called the game a blend of “ballet and murder.”

In his quest to achieve a deeper understanding, Scanlan talks to players — professional and amateur, male and female, young and old — about our sweet and savage game. Weaving personal anecdote, incisive reporting and historical research, he concludes that those who excel at hockey display extraordinary courage and grace under fire. But such grace — for all kinds of reasons — has long been under siege.

Scanlan interviews NHL veterans like ninety-three-year-old Red Horner, contemporary enforcers such as the infamous Marty McSorley, and philosophical, gentlemanly players like Ken Dryden. He attends the Women’s World Hockey Championship in Minnesota and, in Halifax, an unprecedented world symposium on hockey. He invites luminaries from literature, science and medicine to shed their own light on a sport that fuses hot adrenalin and coolheadedness to create its own special magic. Grace Under Fire is a heartfelt and wide-ranging look at the physics and metaphysics of hockey, offering both a strong defence and a bold critique of the game that Canada dares to call its own.”