daniellekat's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
2.5
A valuable conversation starter but this book felt unstructured and unrefined. A lot of really solid and interesting points were made about the toxic culture surrounding hockey, but this was essentially an endless list of examples outlining that culture. The language bounced between being extremely casual and somewhat academic. A few of the chapters were WAY too long, and I admit I skim read a lot of this. Having recently read Beartown by Fredrik Backman it was incredible to see how well he fictionalized all the toxic hockey culture aspects touched on in Game Misconduct.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Transphobia, Rape, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Homophobia, Classism, and Bullying
Moderate: Police brutality, Gaslighting, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Hate crime
political bigotrykricxx's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.0
very well researched and informative, such an important read for hockey fans! i did think it could have had a little more structure/organization within the chapters
rustypumpkin's review
5.0
4.5 stars. Mostly great, but i think it lacked structure. It was a little all over the place despite the clear chapter differentiations. It exceeded my expectations though. I expected it to be less harsh but i was delighted to see they called out people by name and tackled these issues with straightforward language, despite how uncomfortable it can be. The Mike Velucci thing i did not know about and now i really hope he leaves the pens.
My only other minor thing was at times it felt like there were some false equivalences, but i will chalk that up to editing. Also, as a pens fan, i wish there was a mention of Casey DeSmith, a guy with bad character who ALSO was given a job by the penguins. Anyway, a great book for fans of the game and i hope people read it.
My only other minor thing was at times it felt like there were some false equivalences, but i will chalk that up to editing. Also, as a pens fan, i wish there was a mention of Casey DeSmith, a guy with bad character who ALSO was given a job by the penguins. Anyway, a great book for fans of the game and i hope people read it.
amandafrank's review
4.0
overall a rly good and important book a lot of hockey fans shld read . some critiques tho , it’s very poorly organized/edited and lacks structure . feels like the og copy of this was 800 pgs but got smushed into 230 . jumps around a lot and lacks flow . also i have some critiques on few of the examples given (bc more context/details have come out since this book was published) . again overall good and informative read it would just benefit from better editing to make it more digestible .
hyacinthed's review
informative
medium-paced
3.5
This book is exhausting.
Don't get me wrong - it's well researched, analytical to boot, with a case study on practically everything wrong with American & Canadian hockey institutions. However, 280 pages of doom and gloom is a lot to slog through, particularly when the discourse surrounding the issues in the NHL is so tiringly adversarial.
Side note: I was very surprised that Evander Kane and his multitude of sins did not feature, particularly in the DV chapter. Perhaps pending legal issues, but I really feel it was a missed opportunity to show how the NHL treats their golden boys.
Don't get me wrong - it's well researched, analytical to boot, with a case study on practically everything wrong with American & Canadian hockey institutions. However, 280 pages of doom and gloom is a lot to slog through, particularly when the discourse surrounding the issues in the NHL is so tiringly adversarial.
Side note: I was very surprised that Evander Kane and his multitude of sins did not feature, particularly in the DV chapter. Perhaps pending legal issues, but I really feel it was a missed opportunity to show how the NHL treats their golden boys.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Misogyny, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
ejimenez's review
On one hand, this book is incredibly important. The problems the authors describe make hockey an unsafe place for many marginalized players and fans, and I believe this is the first book to bring together these issues in one document. The book draws on the authors' contacts from the hockey world, relying heavily on interviews with a range of figured from professional, semi-pro, college, youth, and recreational hockey. They are deeply rooted in the hockey community, thoughtful, and passionate about the issues in hockey culture.
On the other hand, this book needed a much stronger structural and content edit. Some sections felt like a long list of facts and anecdotes, without needed context, interpretation, and transitions. It was difficult to follow the thread of the argument most of the time, and sometimes specific incidents were recounted in a way that made it difficult to understand what actually happened in what order.
I have a good bit of knowledge of hockey myself, which was helpful in understanding the book - while some sections provided exhaustive context, others included multiple "in-group" asides.
All of these issues are things that a stronger edit could have resolved or ameliorated.
Overall, the book felt like a mosaic of perspectives rather than a coherent narrative. I wish the authors had embraced that, and perhaps structured the book entirely around the interviews rather than trying to use the interviews to make a case.
I share the authors' hope that the hockey culture can move toward inclusivity, and I hope that the insights from this book can be part of that change.
On the other hand, this book needed a much stronger structural and content edit. Some sections felt like a long list of facts and anecdotes, without needed context, interpretation, and transitions. It was difficult to follow the thread of the argument most of the time, and sometimes specific incidents were recounted in a way that made it difficult to understand what actually happened in what order.
I have a good bit of knowledge of hockey myself, which was helpful in understanding the book - while some sections provided exhaustive context, others included multiple "in-group" asides.
All of these issues are things that a stronger edit could have resolved or ameliorated.
Overall, the book felt like a mosaic of perspectives rather than a coherent narrative. I wish the authors had embraced that, and perhaps structured the book entirely around the interviews rather than trying to use the interviews to make a case.
I share the authors' hope that the hockey culture can move toward inclusivity, and I hope that the insights from this book can be part of that change.