Stick A History, a Celebration, an Elegy Book

The literary sports title of the season

Pick up a hockey stick and you hold an iconic symbol of the country that gave it birth, a tangible piece of our culture, a link to Canada's past. From the earliest one-piece sticks, carved out of tree roots by the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia, to the two- and three-piece models turned out in small towns in Ontario and Quebec, to the graphite models now produced with scientific precision by Easton, the stick has always reflected something distinctly Canadian. Today, the stick has become "cyber-product," globally sourced, anonymously produced, and expertly marketed. The stick's history, Bruce Dowbiggin shows, is in many ways the history of the country.

NHL stars, past and present, talk about their sticks, including Stan Mikita, who invented the curved blade; Jeremy Roenick, who never lets anyone else touch his stick; Adam Oates, who uses a stubby, cut-off blade; and Eric Lindros, whose stick is so stiff most people can't even bend it. We meet unforgettable off-ice characters: The London schoolteacher whose basement is a treasure trove of old sticks. The Calgary handyman who turns broken sticks into children's furniture. The NHL owner who had his basement floor made out of sticks.

This is a quirky, unexpected book full of fascinating detail, lore, and history, destined to become as treasured as an autographed, game-used, Wayne Gretzky Titan 1002.

Author Biography: Bruce Dowbiggin has twice won the Gemini Award for excellence in sports broadcasting. Author of The Defense Never Rests (1993) and Of Ice and Men (1998), he is currently sports columnist for the Calgary Herald. He lives inCalgary.