When British soldiers began settling in early Canada, their sporting traditions blended with a Mi’kmaq game to create a new sport that evolved into hockey. A History of Hockey in Canada traces hockey’s roots from those first steps on the frozen ponds of eastern Canada to the modern game we know and love:

• Games that were the precursors to modern hockey were oochamkunutk (Mi’kmaq), shinty (Scottish), hurling (Irish) and bandy (English)
• From the ponds of Windsor, Nova Scotia, to Kingston, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, a new game evolved, and in March 1875, the first organized game of hockey was played in Montreal
• The Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia were the first popular craftsmen of sticks; their MicMac brand was the stick of choice for professional hockey players until the early 20th century
• Referees first used cowbells to call plays, and only switched to whistles when people began bringing their own cowbells to games
• Goalie Jacques Plante was the first to use a mask regularly after taking a puck to the face on November 1, 1959
• A must for the hockey fan. Anyone fascinated by Canada’s sports history will want to have this book.

Arpon Basu had said since the age of eight that he would one day make the National Hockey League. Any chance of that happening, came to a crashing halt when, at 15 when he realized he was completely devoid of any talent. He earned a graduate journalism degree from Concordia University and went straight to a sports-writing job with the Canadian Press. The first time he walked into the Montréal Canadiens dressing room as a giddy cub reporter, Basu nearly fell over as it dawned on him that, despite his ineptitude on the ice, he had in fact been telling the truth as a dreamy-eyed eight-year-old.Basu covers sports for the Canadian Press in Montréal and writes a weekly sports column for the Montréal Gazette. He is also editor of Montréal’s South Shore, The St-Lambert Journal.

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