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December
2001 Feature
BOOK
Pavel Bure - The Riddle of the Russian Rocket
by
Kerry Banks
This 286 page unauthorised biography offers a glimpse into the
world of one of hockey's enigmas.
Controversy and scandal have dogged his career in recent years and Kerry Banks, an award-winning journalist,
tries to get close to the man behind the image with little or no co-operation
from those close to Bure, Bure's former coaches or former teammates. The book
reads like a novel in places but that just adds to the intrigue
which includes allegations of involvement with the Russian
Mafia, his troubled relationship with his father, feuds with the media and with the
Vancouver Canucks' management and his ambivalent attitude towards his intensely adoring fans.
To buy this book, visit the A
to Z Bookshop.
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November
2001 Feature
BOOK
 Hockey the NHL Way -
Hockey Tips from the Pros
by Sean Rossiter & Paul Carson
We have featured several books in this series and the latest is a collection of
tips from the players - giving their thoughts on goal scoring, speed &
agility, consistency, hockey smarts, playing big and teamwork.
There are lots of big names giving their views on the game and how they approach
various aspects of the game.
Some comments are a little vague - like Pavel Bure's comment on the
one-on-one "On a
breakaway, you just react. You don't really decide whether to shoot or to deke.
It happens so quickly - you just react".
Others, like Rob Blake's comment, in the hockey smarts section, is a
helpful hint on the first rule of defence - "In
your own end, it's important to keep your body between the player and the net.
If the puck gets behind you, don't let the player get behind you".
As with the rest of the series, we are happy to recommend these books to all hockey
fans.
To buy this book, visit the A to
Z Bookshop.
 We
recently added a Visitors
Comments page to the site and were pleased to receive the following
comments from Paul Palmer of ESPN.
"Just wanted to send a huge thank you to you for a great site! It is an
amazing collection of all things hockey. I do not think there is a topic in
there that you missed. I produce a nightly hockey show in the States and
find myself stopping by A-Z each day looking for some little bit of
information that I can pickup. It is a great educational tool and a very
neat site for hockey freaks like myself."
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October
2001 Feature
BOOKS
Two new hockey trivia books
by Don Weekes.
Explosive Hockey
Trivia and Superstar
Hockey Trivia - the 17th & 18th
books in the series.
Can there be this many trivia questions about the NHL? Well, the answer is
yes.
Don Weekes,
a television producer and writer with TV station CFCF12
in Montreal, yet
again provides some interesting angles and insights to top level hockey.
The explanations, statistics and background information provided in his books
are a history lesson themselves.
Greystone
Books officially release these 122 page paperbacks in November
but they can be ordered now from the trivia
section of our A
to Z Bookshop.
COMPETITION
A good friend of the A to Z,
Glen Foll, has told us about
Australia's First Ever Ice & In-line Logo
Competition.
For info on how to enter your team or association logo - go to www.eteamz.com/adelaidetigers
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September
2001 Feature
You may have noticed that this button
appeared on our front page during August. We would like to formally invite
you to let us know what you think of the A to Z by responding to our questionnaire.
It will only take a few minutes and you can answer as many or as few questions
as you like.
Knowing what you think about our pages will help us improve those sections that
need it or introduce new sections based on your suggestions.
Any response you give will NOT result in you appearing on email lists of
any kind.
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August
2001 Feature
COACHING
SITE
hotHOCKEY.com
have introduced Coach's Planner, a drills
software that includes drills for every level of hockey, from the NHL to amateur levels. Drills are explained through
animation, text and audio presentations. Each animation allows the user to see the exact player movement.
For more information visit their web site at www.hothockey.com.
EVENT Garden City Old Timers
Tournament
Entries are invited for the next Garden City Old Timers
Tournament in Christchurch, New Zealand to be held 9th
- 16th March 2003. Contact Paul Collison
by email at tanker@xtra.co.nz.
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July
2001 Feature
MOVING
HOUSE The
A to Z has out-grown its current server and during July we will be moving to
a server with six times the existing capacity.
The new server will also have several redundant high speed connections which
should improve availability and access times when you visit the A to Z.
We hope the transfer is smooth but there may be periods during July when our
pages are not available - please bear with us and remember, the web address
is unchanged and we can always be found at - www.azhockey.com
EVENT Lévis International Atom Hockey Tournament
The 33rd event in the Lévis International Atom Hockey Tournament
series is to be held from January 28 to February 10
2002. It is the largest Atom (Squirt) tournament in
North America. For 2002 they will be accepting 100 teams from Europe, USA and Canada.
For more information visit Roger Dumont's web site at www.atome.qc.ca
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June
2001 Feature
COACHING
TOOL  The
software suppliers call Play
ManagerTM 3.0
"revolutionary software for hockey coaches"
and we are inclined to agree with them.
The software allows coaches to show players exactly what the play looks like with powerful animated play representations.
The plays and drills are stored on a PC and can be viewed on the PC screen, through a TV or printed as a hand-outs
- allowing players to visualize the play or drill.
CT Technologies, who have a tie-in with
USA Hockey, have also created a web based version.
Find out more at www.playmanager.com
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May
2001 Feature
BOOK
 Author
Shelley Lazarus has produced a readable, well researched biography on Steve Yzerman
that is aimed at younger fans of the Detroit Red Wings captain.
It's an authorised biography and as Steve Yzerman was generous with his time
and co-operation throughout you get to go behind the scenes; of his junior career, the
NHL Entry Draft, his rookie year, scoring highs, injury lows and Stanley Cup
triumphs.
Although the book is aimed at the youth market,
it has enough interesting anecdotes and insights into the player and the man, to
be of interest to most Detroit fans.
With the Wings unexpectedly falling at the first play-off hurdle on this year's
Stanley Cup trail,
those fans will have time on their hands and getting hold of a copy of "Hockeytown
Hero : The Steve Yzerman Story" will help pass a few interesting hours.
See the A to Z Bookshop
EVENT
Hockey Ultrathon
a Colorado hockey event to set
a world record for the longest game. To find out more about this fund raiser for the
non-profit Breckenridge
Outdoor Education Center - go
to www.boec.org.
PRIZE
WINNER
The copy of Jeff Nicholson's CD album BANG goes to
Iain Davis
who was selected at random from those who gave the correct answer to our
competition. Our thanks to all those who took part.
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April 2001 Feature
Win
this
 13
track
CD
This
is not an April Fool gag -
Last April we featured a song called HOCKEY,
by Canadian singer-songwriter
Jeff Nicholson.
We held a FREE giveaway competition in June for his 13 track
CD called BANG!
which featured the "Hockey" song.
We have another copy of the CD to give away. Just email us at BANG@graphyle.com
telling us the title of the track on his CD that is the name of a Canadian Province ( find the answer at this web
site).
Put the title of the Province in the subject line of your email and include
your
name & email address
in the text area. At the end of
April we will pick the winner at random from those with the correct
answer. We will then email the winner to obtain a mailing
address.
Good Luck !
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March
2001 Feature
Hockey
Pros or Hockey Prose
click on
image to order from Amazon
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We often review books about playing hockey, hockey players or hockey
teams. We don't often review books on hockey poems, essays and short
stories.
Edited by
Dale Jacobs, this book is
called ICE
and includes 50 pieces of new
writing on hockey
- which also happens to be the sub-title.
National Post reviewer
Roy MacGregor
called it "... a charming little collection ... there is some wonderful stuff here, words to be read aloud, words to be read silently, words to remind us what the game is still all about for a great many of us ...".
It is "wonderful stuff", it's a book to dip into
when the mood takes you - with stories about what it's like to
be the coach's son, how the new
hockey mum gradually gets drawn into the game to become a real
fanatic and of course the glass-eyed winger.
If you want something different - here it is!
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February
2001 Feature
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Two new books in the NHL’s Hockey Heroes series hit the bookshelves this month.
Peter Forsberg
by Michael Harling and
Paul Kariya
by Andrew Podnieks are both worthy additions to the series.
These books are filled with full-colour first rate photos illustrating the careers-to-date of these established stars. They are well written comprehensive mini-biographies and although they are primarily aimed at teenagers, they are just the thing for adults who want the facts without the padding.
Both books do a great job of covering the outstanding moments of the player’s careers up to the end of the 1999-00 season - as they move through junior hockey, Olympic tournaments, the NHL draft and in Forsberg’s case - the Stanley Cup final.
Forsberg and Kariya’s individual highs and lows are all there - Olympic triumphs, awards, trophies, contract disputes, injuries but what the books express, above all else, is their desire, and undoubted talent, to play exceptional hockey at the highest level.
We are happy to recommend these books to all hockey fans.
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