SportsLit

In our final episode of season 2, Phil Lind (Vice-Chair, Rogers Communications Inc.) and author Robert (Bob) Brehl step into the arena to discuss Right Hand Man - How Phil Lind Guided the Genius of Ted Rogers, Canada's Foremost Entrepreneur (Barlow Books). What does this have to do with sports? Well, quite a bit. Lind was in lockstep with Rogers for the purchase of the Toronto Blue Jays 18 years a...

Think all we cover are books about hockey? Well, given this market, you wouldn't be entirely wrong.  With that in mind, it's a pleasure to announce that in our latest episode, Glenn Stout (Series Editor - Best American Sports Writing, author - Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway's Remarkable First Year) joins us via phone to converse about his latest release - P...

The 1992-93 Campbell Conference Final was riveting. 7 games in all, the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings had all the elements of high drama. In his new book, The Last Good Year (Viking / Penguin Random House), veteran sportswriter Damien Cox (Toronto Star, Sportsnet) revisits the events that took place on and off the ice a quarter-century after he covered them as a beat...

Down Goes Brown injects a shot of humour directly into the NHL's funny bone. Emerging from the blogosphere to the forefront of hockey coverage, Sean McIndoe (as he is also known) employs his perspective developed as an outsider to present a hilarious take on the often flawed history of the league in The Down Goes Brown History of the NHL (Penguin Random House Canada). In 272 pages, McIndoe (The At...

When you think of Johnny Bower, what comes to mind? A loveable, charitable, kind man, who could be the archetype of the perfect grandfather? Goaltender extraordinaire, playing at the highest level into middle age during the NHL's golden era? All true, as is evident in best-selling author Dan Robson's new book about the legendary Toronto Maple Leafs netminder, but there is also more. What was his o...

As hockey continues to evolve, so to do the people within the game, and those surrounding it. Everyday Hockey Heroes: Inspiring Stories On and Off the Ice (Simon and Schuster) highlights individuals who have triumphed over adversity, overcome great odds and blazed new trails. From household names like Wayne Simmonds (Philadelphia Flyers) and Andi Petrillo (TSN) to those who go about their lives fa...

Come On You Reds! For fans of TFC, uttering those words must have rung hollow through much of the club's existence. The organization appeared to be constantly resetting, apathy was setting in.  Where had the joy of being a shiny new franchise gone? Eventually they did get it right and won the MLS Cup in 2017. Joshua Kloke (The Athletic Toronto) chronicles their story from inception in 2005, throug...

When Ken Reid (Sportsnet Central) is not busy doing TV, or raising his young family, he is collecting hockey cards and moreover, writing about them. In 2014, he released Hockey Card Stories: True Tales from Your Favourite Players - which was a Canadian best seller, since then he has released two other books (One Night Only: Conversations with the NHL’s One-Game wonders & Dennis Maruk: The Unforget...

Saturday night's all right for fighting, or perhaps - fighting for. A new book written by David Shoalts (Globe and Mail) examines how Hockey Night in Canada, the crown jewel of Canadian sports broadcasting properties, changed hands from CBC to Rogers Communications in shocking fashion prior to the 2014-15 NHL season. Shoalts joins Neil Acharya & Neate Sager to discuss Hockey Fight in Canada (Relea...

Variety is the spice of life, just ask Rob Simpson. The current co-host of Stellick and Simmer (SiriusXM) is known primarily for his work covering the NHL (NHL Network, NBC, NESN), but he has chosen the scenic route along the way.   For his fourth book, Simmer compiles his unique adventures in broadcasting in No Heavy Lifting (ECW Press). From covering the Detroit Pistons while still attending hig...

First-time author Daemon Fairless explores and uncovers the propensity toward male violence in Mad Blood Stirring. Utilizing his background in journalism (producer - CBC - As It Happens, Nature) and science (MSc - Neuroscience - Dalhousie University), Fairless writes compelling narrative non-fiction involving but not limited to: MMA fighters, TFC's Red Patch Boys, the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup ri...

Teammates called him Killer. Fans refer to him simply as Dougie. Born in Kingston, Ontario, Doug Gilmour played twenty seasons in the NHL despite largely being written off early in his hockey career for being undersized. Along the way the centreman won the Memorial Cup, Stanley Cup, Canada Cup gold, and was integral in resuscitating (even if temporarily) the fledging Toronto Maple Leafs.  Retiring...

Karl Subban has an impressive resume. Educator. Motivator. Famous hockey dad and now, author.  He joins us for our first episode of 2018 to discuss his debut book, How We Did It - The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey, School and Life, written with journalist Scott Colby (Toronto Star). While most know him as the father of NHL superstar P.K. Subban (Nashville Predators) as well as Malcolm (Vegas G...

A Filipino basketball league in the Yukon, street racers dodging the law around Toronto's suburbs and a first-hand account of the Bassmaster Classic fishing challenge are just a few of the unique stories curated by Stacey May Fowles and Pasha Malla in the Best Canadian Sports Writing anthology.  Released this fall, the compilation highlights narrative non-fiction. It takes the reader far beyond th...

How many NHL goalies claim to have had out of body experiences?, traveled to India to study meditation....and partied like a rock star? We know of one, his name is Gilles Gratton, otherwise known as Gratoony The Loony.  Join journalists Neil Acharya & Neate Sager as they discuss his "wild and unpredictable life" with author Greg Oliver (Slam Wrestling). 

Join journalists Neil Acharya and Neate Sager in conversation with broadcaster/author Ken Reid (Host / Sportsnet Central) about his third book, titled: Dennis Maruk: The Unforgettable Story of Hockey's Forgotten 60-goal Man.