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Fights, Film, and Folklore
Will the real Terry Ryan please stand up?
Guess who’s back? Back again . . .
Following the release of his wildly successful bestselling first memoir, Tales of a First-Round Nothing, Terry Ryan returns with more stories of hockey, home, and hilarity. TR is from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, and was selected eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1995 National Hockey League draft. Though he was expected to become a hockey star, Ryan played parts of three seasons for the Habs, and the bulk of his hockey journey was spent in the minor leagues. TR's NHL career wasn’t long, but he has experienced a lot and has no shortage of interesting and funny revelations about life in pro hockey on and off the ice.
In Fights, Film, and Folkore, TR analyzes the physical side of the game, brings us up to speed on what he’s doing these days, and of course tells more stories about his unpredictable but entertaining life. He recounts fighting with the likes of Tie Domi, Darren Langdon, and Trevor Gillies, partying with stars like Gord Downie, Wesley Snipes, and Dennis Rodman, working on film sets with Ethan Hawke and Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, and everything in between.
Guess who’s back? Back again . . .
Following the release of his wildly successful bestselling first memoir, Tales of a First-Round Nothing, Terry Ryan returns with more stories of hockey, home, and hilarity. TR is from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, and was selected eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1995 National Hockey League draft. Though he was expected to become a hockey star, Ryan played parts of three seasons for the Habs, and the bulk of his hockey journey was spent in the minor leagues. TR's NHL career wasn’t long, but he has experienced a lot and has no shortage of interesting and funny revelations about life in pro hockey on and off the ice.
In Fights, Film, and Folkore, TR analyzes the physical side of the game, brings us up to speed on what he’s doing these days, and of course tells more stories about his unpredictable but entertaining life. He recounts fighting with the likes of Tie Domi, Darren Langdon, and Trevor Gillies, partying with stars like Gord Downie, Wesley Snipes, and Dennis Rodman, working on film sets with Ethan Hawke and Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, and everything in between.
207 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 13, 2020
“Many hockey fans who came out of the 1970s and 1980s frequently saw two hockey players drop their gloves, get into a fight, and then go to the penalty box to the sound of both teams’ sticks respectfully tapping the boards and thousands of screaming fans clapping in unison. I was one of them” (p. 23).
SO WAS I!
I watched so much hockey when I was a kid that I assumed that’s what everyone else did too. What do you mean you don’t watch hockey? Isn’t Hockey Night in Canada mandatory for all Canadian kids?
Terry Ryan and I both grew up watching the same players on the ice, cheering for the same teams. I was always a Habs fan but Dad was all about the Bruins … you can imagine the rivalry in our house. Mom picked whatever team she liked best out of whoever happened to be playing that night but it was godawful trying to watch it with her – she’d get so worked up, jumping up off the couch and screaming. It was funny but it was also brutal when the rest of us took it all so seriously.
I guess you can tell that reading this book brought back a lot of fantastic childhood memories for me.
When I first picked up “Fights, Film, and Folklore” I will admit that I zeroed in on the FIGHTS part and not much else. Mr. Ryan writes: “[…] the culture was a lot different at the time, and fans in their thirties or forties, like me, often watched our heroes score, fight, and hit on a nightly basis. It wasn’t a big deal.” And it wasn’t. I’d venture to say the fighting was one of my favorite parts of a hockey game. When you saw those gloves hit the ice? You knew it was on! What a rush! It’s different now though, we know things we didn’t know back then like the life long effects of the physical injuries and the toll it took on the players once they were out of the rink.
There are some really awesome stories in this book and not just about hockey. I loved hearing about Ryan’s brushes with celebrity, his acquaintanceship with Jason Momoa and Ethan f-ing Hawke. And the chapter on Gord Downie was told with such awe and emotion - it takes real talent to be able to express that in words, so that your readers can feel it right along with you. And no doubt, Terry Ryan is a very talented writer. (He jokes about it a fair bit but I also think a Folklore degree is a pretty neat thing to have especially as a Newfoundlander).
I also wanted to mention that Mr. Ryan made reference to, several times, that we (Newfoundlanders) are on the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk. I was appreciative of the fact that he took the time to include and acknowledge this important fact.
“Fights, Film, and Folklore” is funny, reverent, sobering and just incredibly interesting and thought provoking. It was hard to put down – I highly recommend you pick one up!
SO WAS I!
I watched so much hockey when I was a kid that I assumed that’s what everyone else did too. What do you mean you don’t watch hockey? Isn’t Hockey Night in Canada mandatory for all Canadian kids?
Terry Ryan and I both grew up watching the same players on the ice, cheering for the same teams. I was always a Habs fan but Dad was all about the Bruins … you can imagine the rivalry in our house. Mom picked whatever team she liked best out of whoever happened to be playing that night but it was godawful trying to watch it with her – she’d get so worked up, jumping up off the couch and screaming. It was funny but it was also brutal when the rest of us took it all so seriously.
I guess you can tell that reading this book brought back a lot of fantastic childhood memories for me.
When I first picked up “Fights, Film, and Folklore” I will admit that I zeroed in on the FIGHTS part and not much else. Mr. Ryan writes: “[…] the culture was a lot different at the time, and fans in their thirties or forties, like me, often watched our heroes score, fight, and hit on a nightly basis. It wasn’t a big deal.” And it wasn’t. I’d venture to say the fighting was one of my favorite parts of a hockey game. When you saw those gloves hit the ice? You knew it was on! What a rush! It’s different now though, we know things we didn’t know back then like the life long effects of the physical injuries and the toll it took on the players once they were out of the rink.
There are some really awesome stories in this book and not just about hockey. I loved hearing about Ryan’s brushes with celebrity, his acquaintanceship with Jason Momoa and Ethan f-ing Hawke. And the chapter on Gord Downie was told with such awe and emotion - it takes real talent to be able to express that in words, so that your readers can feel it right along with you. And no doubt, Terry Ryan is a very talented writer. (He jokes about it a fair bit but I also think a Folklore degree is a pretty neat thing to have especially as a Newfoundlander).
I also wanted to mention that Mr. Ryan made reference to, several times, that we (Newfoundlanders) are on the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk. I was appreciative of the fact that he took the time to include and acknowledge this important fact.
“Fights, Film, and Folklore” is funny, reverent, sobering and just incredibly interesting and thought provoking. It was hard to put down – I highly recommend you pick one up!
August 4, 2022
I actually went to high school with Terry Ryan, so reading this book was like going back in time a bit. It makes me sad to realize it was a traumatic brain injury that likely did most of the damage to his career - especially since both my boys now play hockey. But I also have a lot of admiration for the way he moved forward in his life. He is a remarkable human and remarkably funny!!!
July 21, 2025
What can you say, Terry crushed it again! He’s one of the best storytellers out there telling old stories from his hockey career and beyond. Like his first book, this one is written like you’re sitting together at a bar having beers and telling old stories which is why I enjoy reading Terry’s books so much. I’d absolutely recommend this book!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews