The Girlfriend's Guide to Hockey

This book is a girl who doesn't really understand, or want to understand hockey - but the guy in your life is a fanatic, so you are going to give it a try. As a Hockey fan myself, I found parts of it funny, but a little too simplistic for my use. The beginner will love it. Her style is "how to make hockey interesting for the girl who wants to spend time with her guy, but is bored beyond words when it comes to watching this game." I've never found hockey boring, but I'm sure some girls just need a way to get into this at-first-glance-confusing game. If you have just met the man of your dreams and he is a hockey player/fan this is the book for you.

I had two reasons for buying this book. First I'm a Will Ferguson fan; I've read and loved most of his books and his being listed as co-author was good enough for me. Second, despite being Canadian, I am completely ignorant of ice hockey, which comes mostly from a lack of interest. As a Canadian living abroad, I realize that I have ambassadorial duties regarding the promotion of Canadiana, and ice hockey tops the list of Canadiana must-know items. So since girlfriends are seldom interested in sports (he he he) a book written by a woman for women would logically need to drum up interest in the topic, and this it did for me. Teene Spencer wrote most of it and presents the history of the game, a basic overview of the rules, a survey of the organization, and lists of the greatest players and teams. Husband and boyfriend Bruce Spencer and family friend Will Ferguson pepper the pages with comments and disputes, most prominent of which is the fight-to-the-death over the Montreal Canadiens. Good read, and informative if you want to get into hockey.

Like the author, I found myself engaged to a die-hard hockey fan. This book is a great place to start for the newly-initiated hockey girlfriend. It's a quick read, the author's racy innuendos give it a Girls' Night Out tone that's a lot more inviting and easier to relate to than other intro books. The stats and trivia are great, but will need to be updated eventually. Nice to see coverage of women's hockey, too. PS - the bit about defensemen on page 19 is totally true ;).Also recommended: * Without Fear: Hockey's 50 Greatest Goaltenders* Hockey's Best Shots: The Greatest NHL Photography of the Century