The Art of Scouting: How The Hockey Experts Really Watch The Game and Decide Who Makes It

by Shane Malloy, Brian Burke (Foreword)

The Art of Scouting delves into the secretive world of hockey prospecting, a world more akin to Cold War-era spying than a casual day in the stands. Scouts decide whether a player has the talent to make the final step to the NHL-or not-but what they do and how they do it are a mystery to most fans. Shane Malloy is one of the first media personalities to be welcomed into the world of scouting and brings to hockey fans an enlightening and fascinating narrative that explains the culture, history, science and art of hockey scouting. Malloy's unique experience-combined with interviews featuring scouts, coaches and hockey executives- will give readers a true understanding and appreciation for what scouts do and how they do it, what it really takes to make it to the NHL, and how to watch the game like a scout. Praise for The Art of Scouting : "If you love hockey but wonder how teams are built and what goes into scouting, then this book is a gem."
— Kelly Hrudey, Hockey Night in Canada Analyst "The work that Shane has done is based on knowledge and diligence. We have great respect for this project as it has tremendous substance to it. An excellent source of information." 
—Doug Wilson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, San Jose Sharks "If you have ever been at a hockey game and seen the scouts in the corner and wondered what they do, how they do it and why they do it , The Art of Scouting by Shane Malloy will take you inside their world."
—Bob McKenzie, TSN Hockey Insider "For anyone fascinated by player evaluation and what goes into it, this is a must-read. Interesting perspectives and a good cast of characters. Thought-provoking and entertaining."
—Peter Loubardias, Hockey Broadcaster,Rogers Sportsnet " The Art of Scouting provides readers with a behind-the-scenes view of the sport's lifeblood...scouting and the people that do it...A great read for any hockey fan."
—Brad Treliving, Vice President and Assistant General Manager, Phoenix Coyotes

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Hockey

272 pages, Hardcover

First published February 11, 2011

Reviews

[Rebecca Dobrinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shane Malloy’s foray into the fraternity of hockey scouts resulted in the well-researched book, The Art of Scouting. His narrative was, mostly, well-written and incredibly informative. Readers will come away from the book feeling as though they have gained new insight into the hows and whys of selecting players for the NHL.

The extensive quotes showed Malloy’s research in the form of interviews with current and former scouts. The majority of the book focused on how amateur players are scouted. The work that scouts and teams put into finding and developing these young men into elite NHLers goes beyond what most fans probably expect. Scouting, as Malloy showed, is as much nuance as it is mechanics...

Read the rest of my review at The Hockey Writers.

[Yamato · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read and much insight into the things that are looked at. I was hoping for more technical viewpoints to scouting, so it would have been better if the chapter summaries of what scouts looks for were very specific. They were only general questions to ask. A scouting template with specifics from each chapter added as an appendix would have been great!

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are very few books written on this subject. I think this one provides the perfect balance of general explanation and anecdote to make its points. It's the best material I've come across so far on hockey scouting.

[Bradley Proctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to any parent who has a kid trying to make it as a hockey player. Although, not necessarily a ‘page-turner’, the book is filled with many useful insights as to what scouts look for in a prospect.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amazing amount of detail on the scouting process. I particularly liked the quotes, stories and insight into the life of a scout.

[Scott Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the real hardcore hockey fan. An enjoyable read. A bit dated since now the technology is crazy advanced.

[Kb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure what I expected here, but as a hockey fan and future educator, I've always been taken with the idea of potential. How is it identified and cultivated? What explains unfulfilled potential? This book might answer those questions but only in very hockey-specific ways, which was disappointing. The most interesting point made in this book is that sometimes coaching and, by extension, being a very coachable player can get in the way of fully realizing one's potential. Sometimes, a player looks good because they must accept the role given to them by a coach and dilligently work at fulfilling that role in the exact way the coach says. When the player is removed from that context, however, he appears to regress and become lost without the firm sense of direction and purpose he is used to, regardless of how much talent he may have. The author takes the position that this exposes the player's true level of talent; systems make players appear better than they actually are. This would be considered successful coaching. I think it has more to do with the player being limited and complacent in the relative safety of his assigned role. This is important for educators to rember because we must always challenge students and expose them to "unsafe" scenarios so as not to limit their potential. We avoid setting our students up for failure by providong the proper scaffolding at first and removing it as neccesary. Only then will we know a student's true limits.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I had ben hoping someone would write for the longest time and I was not disappointed.A great behind the scenes look at what professional hockey scouts look for in prospects.