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The Next One: Hockey Scouts, Remote Rinks and Hidden Talent
Behind the scenes to hockey’s hidden superstars, the scouts who chase teenage prodigies and might-never-bes across North America and around the world.
If you attend any junior, minor, or professional hockey game and you’ll spot them, often up in the rafters, alone, busily taking notes and calling their general managers. These are the scouts, the men and women who have made the job into a lifestyle, chasing players across borders, working the locals, chatting with retired hockey people, and visiting remote communities in hopes of finding “the next one.” Yes, they scout the likes of Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard and even Wayne Gretzky, but scouts really make their mark by finding players who will fit in up and down the the scorer having trouble finding the net; the goalie who stands on her head to keep her team in the game; the quiet winger who arrives at the rink first and leaves last. Scouts don’t just birddog talent, they evaluate character and grit and drive, looking for players who can play even a handful of games in the bigs.
Hockey’s favourite raconteur, Ken Reid, tells us all about this secret club. One scout found himself squeezed into a small car with a bunch of other scouts, including Hall of Fame goalie Glenn Hall. Former NHLer and pro scout Rick Knickle followed Jordin Tootoo of remote Rankin Inlet, even though Tootoo didn’t start playing the game until he was eleven years old. One scout worked at a maximum-security prison, only to find himself as a pro scout. Another scout went from a farmer who tried his hand at scouting to being a scout who happened to own a farm. And Reid takes us behind the scenes at the nascent PWHL, where teams furiously scouted their starting lineups with only a few weeks before the season began.
Always entertaining, often illuminating, and sometimes hilarious, The Next One is the ideal book for anyone who wants to understand hockey beyond the ice.
If you attend any junior, minor, or professional hockey game and you’ll spot them, often up in the rafters, alone, busily taking notes and calling their general managers. These are the scouts, the men and women who have made the job into a lifestyle, chasing players across borders, working the locals, chatting with retired hockey people, and visiting remote communities in hopes of finding “the next one.” Yes, they scout the likes of Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard and even Wayne Gretzky, but scouts really make their mark by finding players who will fit in up and down the the scorer having trouble finding the net; the goalie who stands on her head to keep her team in the game; the quiet winger who arrives at the rink first and leaves last. Scouts don’t just birddog talent, they evaluate character and grit and drive, looking for players who can play even a handful of games in the bigs.
Hockey’s favourite raconteur, Ken Reid, tells us all about this secret club. One scout found himself squeezed into a small car with a bunch of other scouts, including Hall of Fame goalie Glenn Hall. Former NHLer and pro scout Rick Knickle followed Jordin Tootoo of remote Rankin Inlet, even though Tootoo didn’t start playing the game until he was eleven years old. One scout worked at a maximum-security prison, only to find himself as a pro scout. Another scout went from a farmer who tried his hand at scouting to being a scout who happened to own a farm. And Reid takes us behind the scenes at the nascent PWHL, where teams furiously scouted their starting lineups with only a few weeks before the season began.
Always entertaining, often illuminating, and sometimes hilarious, The Next One is the ideal book for anyone who wants to understand hockey beyond the ice.
- GenresSports
256 pages, Paperback
Published October 21, 2025
11 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 18, 2025
There is no one more passionate than Ken Reid when it comes to the greatest game played on ice. Curling? No. Hockey. Hockey is the greatest game to be played on ice.
This new book from Ken Reid takes you behind the scenes of finding the next great player through the eyes of the scouts finding them and the roads they have to travel to find them.
No one is better than Ken Reid when it comes to showing you the hockey wizard behind the curtain. As you read about the various scouts and their travels, you’ll come across a name in that chapter that had an impact on that scout. A few chapters later, it’ll be about that scout.
It’s a light, easy read full of great stories, full of nostalgia. The language was a bit more colourful than what I’m accustomed to with a Ken Reid book but that just adds to the realism of those people telling the stories. For the sake of argument, let’s say they meant to use the word puck.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Next One by Ken Reid. This book is to be published on October 21, 2025.
This new book from Ken Reid takes you behind the scenes of finding the next great player through the eyes of the scouts finding them and the roads they have to travel to find them.
No one is better than Ken Reid when it comes to showing you the hockey wizard behind the curtain. As you read about the various scouts and their travels, you’ll come across a name in that chapter that had an impact on that scout. A few chapters later, it’ll be about that scout.
It’s a light, easy read full of great stories, full of nostalgia. The language was a bit more colourful than what I’m accustomed to with a Ken Reid book but that just adds to the realism of those people telling the stories. For the sake of argument, let’s say they meant to use the word puck.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Next One by Ken Reid. This book is to be published on October 21, 2025.
November 20, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.
I think that this book is a niche kind of book that will only speak to certain people. Hockey fans who like to get down and into the weeds on some of the dealing behind the scenes will enjoy this.
I liked it because of the dealings I have with agents and scouts. I like that I know some of the people personally. I definitely enjoyed some of the stories of how some players ended up drafted where they did.
For me, this was excellent, it might not be for everyone.
4.5, pushed up to 5.
I think that this book is a niche kind of book that will only speak to certain people. Hockey fans who like to get down and into the weeds on some of the dealing behind the scenes will enjoy this.
I liked it because of the dealings I have with agents and scouts. I like that I know some of the people personally. I definitely enjoyed some of the stories of how some players ended up drafted where they did.
For me, this was excellent, it might not be for everyone.
4.5, pushed up to 5.
December 10, 2025
A few grammar and spelling errors knock this down a bit.
Also, my biggest takeaway from all this, it doesn't matter what you know, it's who you know. It felt like the majority of people in this book got their start in scouting so play because someone they knew called them up and said "why don't you come scout for me?'
Also, my biggest takeaway from all this, it doesn't matter what you know, it's who you know. It felt like the majority of people in this book got their start in scouting so play because someone they knew called them up and said "why don't you come scout for me?'
November 8, 2025
a solid 3.5
November 9, 2025
A nice library find, I am glad that I didn’t buy it as I was tempted to. Ken outlines varied stores nicely here, but it was a collection that was not expected. Oh well.
Read
November 16, 2025I presume that this is hte perfect gift for the die hard hockey fan in your life.
As for me... DNF.
As for me... DNF.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews