Hockey Player For Life - Review

One of the many enjoyable aspects of having started this blog is the benefit of having an opportunity to meet people, whom I never would have had a chance to meet otherwise.

Such is the case with Howard Shapiro, author of "Hockey Player For Life".

Howard was kind enough to send me an email, (quite some time ago now), complimenting me about Canes Country. He also asked me if I had the time to check out his new book, "Hockey Player For Life". After reading the press release and finding out that ex-Hurricanes Captain, Keith Primeau had written the forward for the story, how could I say no?

I don't really have a lot of spare time for reading, but once I picked up the book, I didn't want to put it down. It's very well written and holds your attention throughout. In short, the story is about the trials and tribulations of a 13 year-old boy who plays hockey. After being invited to play for an All-Star team in Toronto, he thinks that the NHL is right around the corner. But is it?

What I enjoyed most about the book was the relationship building between father and son, player and coach, and teammate to teammate. I think that teenagers will enjoy the story as well as adults. There aren't that many hockey books out there, so why not give it a try? You can order it online at Amazon.com.

Here is a press release-

(Pittsburgh, PA) – In anticipation of the October 7th release date of Howard Shapiro's new book, "Hockey Player For Life", Supersonic Storybook Productions (SSP) is very pleased to announce that the book's back cover will feature quotes in praise of it from noted hockey writer and author Brian Kennedy and ESPN's John Buccigross.

"Having attended Book Expo Canada in Toronto in June, I came away really energized," said Howard Shapiro. "I received a lot of good feedback about the book and decided to tweak the front cover a bit and I think we've now got a great cover that will hopefully entice folks to pick up the book and check it out. As far as the story itself, I've received some rave reviews from the hockey blogging community. The folks who have read the pre-release electronic version of the book have enjoyed it thoroughly."

"And through the youtube video I've been able to target and reach a worldwide audience of hockey fans eager for a story about the sport they are so passionate about. In six weeks my contacts on youtube have gone from about 130 to over 1,000 and my website mailing list and myspace contacts have both doubled in size as well. My viral marketing campaign will continue through the rest of summer to hopefully continue to build a buzz for the book."

"It was a phenomenal honor to have Brian Kennedy, who's book "Growing Up Hockey" was a great influence on my writing along with the great John Buccigross contribute to the back cover of the book. Having the opportunity to work with them along with Keith Primeau means a tremendous amount to me and I cannot thank them all enough for their time and efforts."

Excerpts of a review of "Hockey Player For Life" by K. Kniazev - The story kept me involved the whole time. I particularly enjoyed the twist in the story and I think that just about anybody who ever played a sport as a kid, in school, in college, etc… can relate to this. Even though I have never played hockey, I could easily identify with all of the trials and tribulations which Tom goes through. This is absolutely an every-athlete book with an excellent teen appeal. I think - if I were 13 - I would just as easily dig in to the book. You did an amazing job writing this from the perspective of a teen, and have put together a fantastic collection of thoughts and situations. I can already see this book being a great success. For some reason, I pictured this as a movie script with a great story that could easily translate from the written to the visual.

Howard was a recent guest on "The Book Chick" show which is broadcast from Regina, Saskatchewan on CJTR FM: http://www.cjtr.ca/index

For a sneak peek of "Hockey Player For Life" and for further information, please log onto www.howardshapiro.net

Here is a YouTube flick especially created for the book-