Books on Women’s Hockey
Ice in Their Veins: Women’s Relentless Pursuit of the Puck by Ian Kennedy
Best Quote: “But I’ll tell you what sport did for her. It gave her the chance to hear the shouts and cheers of the thousands; it enabled her to see her name in headlines across the very pages prepared by those who scoffed; it gave her ‘a place in the sun’ that most humans cherish and few attain.”
This book gives a detailed history of women’s hockey that goes back well over 100 years. Like other sports, women’s hockey rose and fell during the First and Second World Wars, as male hockey players deployed to Europe. More than a simple history of the game, the book further details the continued struggle for equality in women’s sports. Indeed, the success of the Women’s Team USA is due to Title IX, just as it is for soccer and other sports where women compete on the international stage. Perhaps most surprising in this book (or in a way least surprising), is how the Canadian hockey community strongly resisted opening their arms to girls and women’s hockey.
The detailed history of women in hockey goes back well over a century, and includes the Eastern Ladies Hockey League (ELHL), founded in Montreal in 1915, and of course the rise of women’s leagues in both World Wars. But much like women’s baseball in America, the end of WWII saw the end of not just professional women’s hockey for a long time, but the end of women’s sports journalism. Over the last number of decades, women’s hockey has seen the rise of new leagues and teams, culminating in today’s ever expanding PWHL.
Crashing the Net: The U.S. Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Team and the Road to Gold by Mary Turco
Best Quote: "They were a family forged by shared exclusion. Every player in that locker room knew exactly what it felt like to be the only girl at the rink, and that collective memory bound them tighter than any tactical system ever could."
Summary: The author of this books spent months embedded with the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team through training camps to the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics and the team’s gold medal run. The general theme of this book is Tuco’s portrait of the players, and how each of them overcame adversity since their youth to achieve their dreams. Some of this adversity includes a general hostility towards girls and women playing hockey (a few had to sign up for youth leagues using a boys name), or endless searches for properly fitting equipment, with the dearth of women’s hockey gear.
The author also explores the team’s dynamics, including some divides such as the older players and the younger players, and the drama that comes with a coach the team having to select a team, meaning players that made the team had to see their close friends and former teammates get cut. A reminder that in the end, even team sports are individual sports in some manner or another.
A Miracle of Their Own: A Team, A Stunning Gold Medal and Newfound Dreams for American Girls by Keith Gave
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Break Away: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game by Karissa Donkin
Best Quote: “"Professional sports don't run on good intentions; they run on capital, infrastructure, and television deals. The breakthrough wasn't just getting people to care about women's hockey—it was getting investors to treat it like a serious business asset."
Summary: This is story of the efforts of woman hockey players to create their own professional hockey league. The author walks the reader through the PWHL’s founding, the first draft, and the formation of teams before the first season began. More than the simple history however, the author covers the broader modern era of sports activism, including the moment when more than 200 woman acted collectively to sit out of their existing leagues. In many ways the the story of the success of the PWHL is the story of a successful labor movement.
As Fast As Her: Dream Big, Break Barriers, Achieve Success by Kendall Coyne
Best Quote: "People love to tell you what you can’t do based on what they can see. They saw my height, but they couldn't see my motor, my work ethic, or my speed. Never let someone else’s tape measure define your potential."
Summary: The fastest woman to ever lace up a pair of hockey skates uses her performance in the 2019 NHL All-Star Skills Competition as a backdrop to tell her life story. The book is motivational, and Coyne uses her stature (5’2”) as a way to document her ability to overcome adversity. She was able to use what is perceived as a weakness as a strength, leading to a hockey career where she dominated the college ranks, and earned an Olympic Gold Medal at PyeongChang in 2018. The structure of the book lends itself more towards young readers looking for inspiration from a generational athlete, with the ultimate lesson that one must capitalize on the opportunities one is given.
Dare to Make History: Chasing a Dream and Fighting for Equity by Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando
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On the Edge: Women Making Hockey History by Elizabeth Etue and Megan K. Williams
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Over the Boards: Lessons from the Ice by Haley Wickenheiser
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Breaking the Ice: The True Story of the First Woman to Play in the National Hockey League by Angie Bullaro
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MANON RHÉAUME BIOGRAPHY: From Making History as the First Woman in the NHL to Paving the Way for Future Generations in Sports by William Charles Joshua
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