Dropping the Gloves: Inside the Fiercely Combative World of Professional Hockey

by Barry Melrose, Roger Vaughan, Gary Bettman (Foreword)

Dropping the Gloves candidly tracks Barry Melrose's career in hockey—a road that has not changed substantially for today's aspiring players. Not many have Melrose's credentials or his breadth of experience in professional hockey. He's played and coached in Junior Hockey, the American Hockey League, and the NHL. As he says, he's been hired and fired, and had his share of disappointments and failures. He's also had successes at every level. Now an ESPN broadcaster and one of the most respected NHL analysts on television. With his trademark hair, custom suits and energetic style, Melrose is applauded for offering fans his honest—tell it like it is opinion.

Written in Barry's voice and style, the narrative follows his career in hockey, from its start in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, through his years in Junior, the WHA, and finally, the NHL. Along the way, Barry muses on the state of the game, what makes some teams work and other fail, and how he worked to instill a winning attitude in all the teams he coached.

Filled with behind-the-scene stories of all the legendary players Barry played with or coached—Gretzky, Yzerman, Messier, Bobby Hull, and Brad Park—Dropping the Gloves is a true to life, insiders account of the world of professional hockey and an absolute must read for fans of the game.

Genres: Hockey, Sports, Nonfiction, Biography

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Barry Melrose (born 15 July 1956) is one of the few athletes who has played and coached in all three major organizations within the sport of hockey: Junior Hockey, the American Hockey League, and the National Hockey League. As NHL coach he took the Los Angeles Kings—and Wayne Gretzky—to the Stanley Cup finals. For the past fifteen years, Melrose has been commentator and hockey analyst for ESPN TV.

Reviews

[Teebz Hbic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Dropping the Gloves can be found on Hockey Blog In Canada.

[Payne Family · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barry!!!

Loved how he told the story of his hockey life. He played when hockey was so fun to watch...talking about hos minor league experiences was also great...Thanks Barry

[Peter Cimino · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Barry Melrose scores a “hat trick” for hockey purists!”

For my official review of the awesome behind the scenes look into the world of professional hockey, by the one and only Barry Melrose, which I wrote for the New York Journal of Books, click on this URL or copy and paste it into your web browser.

http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/revie...

This book is truly one of a kind and told in a way that only Barry Melrose can tell it - brutally honest and raw!

Great stuff!

[Benn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, I found the "new chapter", to be a little sloppy eg Tampa Bay Devil Rays?!! should be the Lightning, and Eric Staal should be Marc Staal. Picky I know, but you'd expect a Hockey guy to get these things right.

[Nick Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much better than I ever thought it would be. Great insight into hockey starting with a youngster moving throughout career. Really enjoyed the book.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interest insight into the world of hockey starting from youth hockey and up through the ranks.

[Brent Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read for fans of hockey that are relatively new to the sport. By reading it I got some insight on aspects of the game that I didn't know much about.