Gabby: Confessions of a Hockey Lifer, predictably is garnering great reviews from local and national media. It’s also identified as one of the Ten Most Anticipated Books of 2009 at GreatestHockeyLegends.com.
Cory Masisak’s review in the Washington Times can be found here.
Mike Wise’s account in the Washington Post can be found here.
OFB’s Gary Κriebel provided his take on the book below:
Unlike my wife, I’m not much of a reader. It’s not uncommon for her to read 2 books a week. I’m lucky to knock out 2 a year. That being said, I could not put Gabby down. Though I had heard some of the stories, there are plenty to keep your attention. It is a story of bad choices and bad luck, then perseverance and hard work which turns into good luck and good fortune. You see how a profession such as this takes a toll on the family and how a supportive family can help you through the good times and bad. It is an interesting and insightful book as well as a “who’s who” in hockey. You may not want to wait until Santa brings you a copy. You’ll want to read it today.
I also have a personal connection to the book. Tim Leone was talking with pucksandbooks at a Bears game in Hershey — we’ve established a nice relationship with both Tim and John Walton. Tim needed some recent pictures of Bruce, ideally one with Alex Ovechkin, for inclusion in the book. Apparently, licensing multiple photos from organizations like Getty Images is cost prohibitive. Tim was assured that we can get him some pictures. I visited Kettler in early February to snap a number of pictures in hopes that Tim might be able to use one or two. I took quite a few as practice progressed. Shots of Bruce skating, talking to players, diagramming plays on the plexiglass. I heard that Bruce was elated that Sergei Fedorov was on the team and I made sure I had a few with both of them in the frame.
We also worked with Nate Ewell and Paul Rovnak to get Alex and Bruce together for a shot. This one made me a little nervous. I am not a professional photographer by any means — Annie Leibovitz’s career is safe … at least not threatened by me — and the thought of Alex and Bruce posing for a shot that is meant for a book is a little stressful. Alex was still in his post-practice shower when Bruce emerged from his office to meet the press. He then had a television interview or two to do. When Alex was ready, Bruce was pulled from the interview for the quick shot. It is hard to tell in the black and white picture, but Alex’s tshirt was a little different. It looked like it got stained by coffee or mud along the edges while it was folded. It was also a Dolce and Gabanna shirt, which meant it alone probably cost more than my whole outfit combined. As he approached Bruce told Alex, “Glad you dressed up for this.” That made me laugh.
Tim didn’t just use that one posed shot, but four pictures that I had taken at Kettler. Having four of your pictures published in a book of this calibre is something that gives me great joy. We were happy to help, however small, on this project. We only asked for blog credit for the photographs. We got blog credit and a little more as both John and I were mentioned in the acknowledgments section. My name is now in print in the same book as Bowman, Boudreau, Cherry, Fedorov, Gretzky, Leonsis, Ovechkin, and so many more. So to Tim, Bruce, and the entire Washington Capitals organization for letting us have a ton of fun with this blog. Thank You!
Here are the color versions of our pictures used in Gabby.
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