The Best Seat in the House: Stories from the NHL--Inside the Room, on the Iceand on the Bench
Always at ice level, but not always on the ice.Jamie "Noodles" McLennan has seen a ton of hockey as a goaltender in the NHL and backup goalie to some of the game's greatest netminders, including Ron Hextall, Grant Fuhr, Roberto Luongo and Miikka Kiprusoff—just not all of it was actually from in the net. This is life in professional hockey and the NHL, from the buses to the charter flights, as seen from between the pipes and even more so from the end of the bench. Or as he calls it,The Best Seat in the House.Hilarious and heartfelt, this is a man with a knack for getting himself into—and out of—strange situations and tight spots. Whether it's a game that goes off the rails due to a plate of rotisserie chicken, a disastrous meeting with Gene Simmons, accidentally beating up a senior citizen, charging an opposing team's mascot on the orders of legendary coach Billy Smith, or even how he hid a hotdog in his glove for an in-game snack, McLennan's got a story for it. This is a guided tour of pro hockey on the ice, on the bench and in the locker room.