Tiger: A Hockey Story

by Tiger Williams, James Lawton

Hockey

Genres: Hockey, Sports

172 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

In another game, Bob Gossoff took a penalty in the first minute. He skated up to the referee and said, 'You give me another goddamned penalty and I'll break your ankle.' Two minutes later Gossoff returned to the ice and when he immediately drew a penalty, he just two-handed the referee, and did break his ankle. He got suspended for a few games. Nobody made much of a fuss. If you didn't like it hard, you just got out of Junior hockey.

Old-time hockey, y'all. And that was just Juniors.

So, I am a hockey fan. And while we are all super excited that helmets are now a thing in the NHL, a lot of us (excluding Flyers helmet holdout Craig MacTavish) remember when they were not. Oh, back in Ye Day, hockey was a lot more Wild West-ian, and even then, a few of the tales here managed to surprise me.

Rocky Saganiuk, a cockie [sp] rookie, said that he would replace McDonald. We were all pissed off with him. A few days later in Winnipeg, after practice we shaved him completely, strapped him to a treatment table and pushed him out on the ice and left him there.

One of my favorite parts of reading about "Slap Shot"-era hockey are the shenanigans. Just like the fact that biting -- yes, biting was a part of old-time hockey fights, there are a ton of stories of the professional hockey of old that will curl your hair.

This book, however, contains precious few of those.

Tiger Williams had a rare combo of fighting and shooting ability, with some skating thrown in. But make no mistake, his emphasis was on the fighting. (He still holds the record for the most career penalty minutes in the NHL. )

That same mix is present here in his autobiography. There's a lot about the fighting (he once notoriously got taken to court over a late/dirty hit), some about shooting and just generally playing (good enough to get him to the All-Star Game), plus a little bit about how he knew his skating needed work, and what he did about it.

The rest is a quite fascinating section on his dirt-poor early life in Saskatchewan and a bunch of interesting bits of behind-the-scenes team politics and maneuvering. Then at the end he does that thing we all dream of, wherein he just makes a list of everyone he's ever worked with, and goes through it one by one, giving a no-holds-barred opinion on each guy.

Overall, an interesting book if you're a hardcore seventies hockey fan.

The book's clearly taken from interviews with Williams, and his voice is unique and listenable. You can tell that no matter how many people bite him, he really, really takes hockey seriously.

"I never got all of it, but I got a lot of it, and I think a guy ought to be grateful for that.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing read! Honest, and to the point, Tiger tells about his childhood struggles and how that shaped him into the fighter he is today both physically and mentally. A truly inspiring story about how hard work and determination can lead you to achieving your wildest dreams.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Williams goes into his life and hockey career in this book. He doesn't focus so much on the games specifically, but more about his life and relationships with those around him, and is not afraid to be honest about his thoughts. He is quite direct about his opinions, which is refreshing to read, and a little surprising considering he was still an active player at the time it was written. It is heavily slanted towards his youth and early career though, with only a little about his time in Vancouver (as the epilogue notes he was traded to Detroit right as the book was being published). Overall a good look at hockey of that era from a rather prominent, if not quite star, player.