Don't Call Me Goon: Hockey's Greatest Enforcers, Gunslingers, and Bad Boys
For many years, the casual fan associated professional hockey with endless, bench-clearing brawls between guys with missing teeth. Recently, though, the National Hockey League, seeing the success of no-fight Olympic hockey in attracting new fans to the sport, has minimized fighting among its players. But many of the hockey’s legends and best-known personalities through the years have been its enforcers. Oliver and Kamchen did the research and the interviews, leading to such descriptions as, “He had huge balls: he’d fight anybody, anytime.” One theme that recurs time and again is that of the less-talented player who makes the team and eventually has a career because he was willing to “mix it up.” For example, John Wensink was such a terrible skater that his coach, the legendary Don Cherry, joked that he considered buying him a pair of double-runners. One memorable fight landed Wensink’s victim in the hospital and earned Wensink a visit from the police. Some of the anecdotes are funny; others, like the beating Wensink administered, not so much. But hockey’s tough guys are part of the sport’s history, and the authors tell it well. --Wes Lukowsky