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Straight Shooter: The Brad Park Story
The official biography of an NHL legend By the time he retired, Brad Park had surpassed the great Bobby Orr in career assists by a defenseman. Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame the first year he was eligible, and later named one of the Top 100 NHL players of all time by The Hockey News , Park will forever be remembered as one of the greatest men ever to take the ice. The first and only authorized biography of Park's life and career, Straight The Brad Park Story , delves deeper into his legendary success than any book has before, bringing together exclusive, candid insights from Park himself, as well as interviews with dozens of players, family members, and key figures from the hockey world. Covering Park's early years growing up in Toronto, to his first exposure to the NHL with the New York Rangers and his stellar performance with the Boston Bruins, through the twilight of his career and retirement, the book examines every aspect of his remarkable life in unprecedented detail. Giving hockey fans a full, frank look at the career of an NHL legend—including the challenges Park faced in his personal life, including caring for his physically handicapped son— Straight Shooter is a fascinating look at one of the game's true greats. Working closely with Park himself, writer and researcher Thom Sears has created a thorough, authorized biography of one of the NHL's greatest legends and an essential read for hockey fans everywhere.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 7, 2012
A thorough and detailed bio of the Bruins/Rangers star. Obviously well-researched, this is not a typical hockey star bio. Brad's story is told through numerous interview quotes (most of them new for this book), but we also get new interview quotes from many of his teammates, coaches, opponents and family members. You need to be a committed fan of 70s NHL hockey to get the most out of this, but it's all woven together into a strong, engaging narrative.
October 22, 2018
A very enjoyable hockey book about one of the more underrated stars of the game.
June 8, 2013
When someone offers you a book, it is rude not to read it. Otherwise, I would not have read this book. I deliberately avoid autobiographies and authorized biographies because they are inherently self-serving. There should be rule that no one's life can be chronicled until after he's dead. I certainly don't want Brad Park to die. I enjoyed reading about his life, his family and his career both on and off the ice.
However, this book was too often a dull recitation of 17 years worth of game scores. According to the dust jacket, Thom Sears wrote his first hockey book when he was twelve years old, and that it included illustrations, namely cut-up hockey cards. If that was his first book, then Straight Shooter must be his second book. It seemed as if Sears inserted Brad Park's written responses to questions into the text. I didn't get the feeling that he actually sat down for weeks with Brad Park and asked him probing questions. It read like the paperback hockey books I got from Scholastic Book Services when I was in grammar school, such as Stan Fischler's Hockey Stars of 1972.
Somehow Sears managed to capture enough of the charming side of Brad Park's life to keep me reading. It is actually the first book I've ever read that describes an event at which I was present: The 2010 Legends hockey game at Fenway Park on January 2, 2010. That year Boston hosted the Winter Classic hockey game, an outdoor NHL game. The rink was set up in Fenway Park, and for a few days the baseball park was the site for hockey events. One was the Legends game, in which retired NHL players played against celebrities for charity. Brad Park was among the legends who played. As I read the description of the game it occurred to me that I had gone to it with my family.
Now that was an exciting ending to a mediocre book.
However, this book was too often a dull recitation of 17 years worth of game scores. According to the dust jacket, Thom Sears wrote his first hockey book when he was twelve years old, and that it included illustrations, namely cut-up hockey cards. If that was his first book, then Straight Shooter must be his second book. It seemed as if Sears inserted Brad Park's written responses to questions into the text. I didn't get the feeling that he actually sat down for weeks with Brad Park and asked him probing questions. It read like the paperback hockey books I got from Scholastic Book Services when I was in grammar school, such as Stan Fischler's Hockey Stars of 1972.
Somehow Sears managed to capture enough of the charming side of Brad Park's life to keep me reading. It is actually the first book I've ever read that describes an event at which I was present: The 2010 Legends hockey game at Fenway Park on January 2, 2010. That year Boston hosted the Winter Classic hockey game, an outdoor NHL game. The rink was set up in Fenway Park, and for a few days the baseball park was the site for hockey events. One was the Legends game, in which retired NHL players played against celebrities for charity. Brad Park was among the legends who played. As I read the description of the game it occurred to me that I had gone to it with my family.
Now that was an exciting ending to a mediocre book.
November 3, 2020
Brad has an interesting story - he's that awesome hockey player that played around the same time as Bobby Orr, which is why you rarely hear about him.
Add this to your library - https://amzn.to/2I3Zi4N
Add this to your library - https://amzn.to/2I3Zi4N
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews