Eddie Shore and that Old-Time Hockey

by C. Michael Hiam

Eddie Shore was the Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb of hockey, a brilliant player with an unmatched temper. Emerging from the Canadian prairie to become a member of the Boston Bruins in 1926, the man from Saskatchewan invaded every circuit in the NHL like a runaway locomotive on a downgrade. Hostile fans turned out in droves with a wish to see him killed, but in Boston he could do no wrong.

During his twenty-year professional career, the controversial Shore personified "that old time hockey" like no other, playing the game with complete disregard for his own safety. Shore was one of the most penalized men in the NHL, and also a perennial member of its All Star Team. A dedicated athlete, Shore won the Hart Trophy for the league’s most valuable player four times — a record for a defenseman not since matched — and led Boston to two Stanley Cups in 1929 and 1939. In 1933, Shore was the instigator of hockey’s most infamous event, the tragic "Ace Bailey Incident," and during his subsequent sixteen-game suspension the fans chanted, "We want Shore!" After retiring from the NHL in 1940, Shore’s passion for the game remained undiminished, and as owner and tyrant of the AHL Springfield Indians, he won championship after championship.

This is an action-packed and full-throated celebration of the "mighty Eddie Shore" — and also of the sport of hockey as it was gloriously played in a bygone age.

Genres: Hockey, Biography, Sports

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone else on Goodreads described this book as "too much old time hockey, not enough Eddie Shore." I would have to agree. While the book is quite interesting, and Shore is the main character in many parts of it, the author tends to fall into the same pattern that I find other sports biographers of athletes from the past fall into. They spend pages describing the context, games and series that the main subject played in, without really highlighting the subject's role. In this book, the author goes off on tangents describing other main characters in hockey during Shore's era, such as the Patricks, which are related to Shore but which do not need the in depth treatment given them. That's not to say that Shore is ignored. His life and career is adequately covered here. He comes across as the Ty Cobb of hockey, more feared than loved and respected. His eccentricities are well documented, oddities that only worsened as he aged and took over ownership of the Springfield Indians. One has to wonder, given today's understanding, if Shore's odd behaviour could have been attributed to his multiple concussions and head injuries sustained as a player. There are famous stories told about Shore that are either missing from this book or told differently. One is left to wonder which is the truth. Shore's bout with cancer is covered in only a couple of sentences. Hockey of that era is depicted as being extremely violent, with putting the puck in the net almost a secondary goal to cracking your opponent over the head with a stick. The description probably does fit to a degree, but it is perhaps amplified here because violence was such a part of Shore's game. The parts of the book that focus on Shore do depict a strong, determined, single-minded athlete who gave his all and marched to the beat of his own drummer. Overall a fairly worthwhile read.

[Mark Zodda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story though a bit confusing in a couple of ways. First, while I know modern hockey rules and organization, I still don't understand exactly what the rules were during the period when Eddie Shore played and how the teams were organized. Second, keeping track of all of the players on all of the different teams was a bit confusing during the play-by-play recounting of games. For all that, it was an enjoyable look at the early days of the National Hockey League and that hall of fame player, Eddie Shore.

[Teebz Hbic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for Eddie Shore and that Old-Time Hockey can be found on Hockey Blog In Canada.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Dave’s a killer!”
“Dave’s a mess.”

I don’t know how to feel just now. Having mustered my way through this volume, much like the great Shore locomotive himself, I am left feeling confused about my current feelings on the NHL as it exists today. It is a far throw from the old days to be sure, but it is quite serendipitous that this book would be in my hands during the current stage of metamorphosis that the league is undergoing. Moreover, it is particularly interesting that the “rat” as my old man (and a Vancouver fan) calls Brad Marchant has recently received a suspension for clipping Salo during the only meeting between the Bruins and Canucks this year. What do the stories of the old days reveal about the league in the modern era? It seems that not much has changed despite the amount of controversy the game generates. I am old enough to remember the last time a hockey stick was used as a weapon during an NHL game, I can recall several riots sparked by the NHL and I have seen my own opinions on the nature of the game waver the older I get. I entered into this book with a huge amount of respect for the likes of the old hero in the number two jersey, and I eagerly recanted the tales of his heroic stupidity to my friends. My glowing affection for the man who traces his roots of success to my own hometown was magnified by the lackluster of today’s seemingly fragile and accident-prone hockey player. I like my hockey rough and tough. I like watching men beating the piss outa each other, and during the 2010 cup finals when Vancouver fans were complaining about the style of play the Bruins employed I would beam and proclaim “Damn right. Boston doesn’t play hockey, they play a street fight.” To say that the likes of today’s player wouldn’t stand a chance in an old time contest is a banal argument, but there is merit in the implication that the boys had stones back then. But damned if that is the way I still feel after reading this book and watching that game in January. The similarities between the Marchart fallout and the Baily fiasco are subtle despite the seriousness of the latter incident. On both occasions I found the opinions of the perpetrators highly surprising when confronted with the accusation that they had indeed ‘intent to injure’. Even as I write this I feel guilty about drawing the two situations together because it may seem that in doing so I am degrading the one, which is not my intention.

What do the old days have to teach us about the game of hockey? Well, for one thing The Rocket was right, nothing will change, but the fans will.

I guess I am looking for a balance in the game, which is what I assume the league itself has been struggling with for longer than I would have originally suspected. Indeed, the speech on p.g. 225 by Partick seems hauntingly familiar, like I heard a variation of it yesterday on the radio, or during a press conference.

On another note, who is the real Babe Ruth of hockey? Shore or Richard? I find it odd that in the small amount of time I have devoted to the old time hockey literary world I have encountered both these men being referred to as the Ruth of their sport.

[Kirk Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although not well-written in parts, Hiam's subject matter is compelling enough that you'll like forgive his faults. Eddie Shore was arguably the first "superstar" of the National Hockey League and is easily the equal of the colorful athletes (think Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, et. al.) of the Roaring Twenties (and beyond). Shore competing in a sport that had little media coverage in the U.S. (outside some northern hotbeds)in his era is the only reason why you might not know him. Equally gifted as a scorer, skater, and student of the game, Shore was an agitator and ruffian of the first order. Beloved in Boston and hated with a passion elsewhere, Shore's sins and moments of the sublime are both well-known leading to an almost mythic figure. Hiam traces Shore's hardscrabble life on the Canadian plains while recounting the early days of the literally rough and tumble beginnings of the sport from amateurism to professionalism. There are good descriptions of other unique characters that were Shore's contemporaries- King Clancy, Conn Smythe, the Patricks, Art Ross, etc. Shore continued to add to his legend (both good and bad) during his post-professional career with his mercurial ownership of the Springfield Indians minor-league club. His brawling, tight-fistedness, unique theories, and (perhaps despite all the above) successes have tended to make the rounds when old-timers sit down to talk about the good old days of hockey. Here many of them are recounted and are quite entertaining. There'll never be another Eddie Shore. Although this bio. is far from definitive it'll certainly do for now since the audience for early-era NHL history is quite small I'd think.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too much old-time hockey and not enough Eddie Shore. I think the author got bogged down in some of the great old hockey stories he discovered and tended to go off-track with other teams and characters.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account, not just of Eddie Shore, but of an entire era in hockey history. I would have liked the author to conclude with a clearer summary of the massive influence this man had on the modern game.

[Grant Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

As if I wasn't already jacked for hockey, all I want after reading this is for the NHL to drop the puck! Great book about a complex man and one of the all time greatest players to ever lace up a pair of skates.