Hi, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Jerry
Hack and his new book, “Memoir of a Hockey Nobody”! For other stops on his Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the
end of this post to enter to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Jerry
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Memoir of a Hockey Nobody
by Jerry Hack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Biography
& Autobiography / Sports
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Memoir
of a Hockey Nobody is the unlikely true story of an average Canadian kid who
grew up playing street hockey. Although he didn't learn how to skate until his
late teens, he took a shot at entering the world of professional ice hockey
with, shall we say, haphazard results.
This
is an "against all odds" tale of one man's journey from Vancouver, to
all over Western Canada, California, The Yukon, and Alaska. Seemingly blocked
at every turn, from managers who believed that someone who came from such
humble beginnings couldn't be any good, to coaches who would rather see big
names with bigger reputations. It's a story of tragedy, triumph and
determination. A roller coaster ride with hilarious anecdotes of all the
characters he met along the way.
This is a tale for
those who dare to live their dream!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
“In
the spring of 1980, the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup, beating the
Philadelphia Flyers in 6 games. Bob Nystrom scored the Stanley Cup winning goal
in overtime. I was happy, because finally someone other than the Montreal
Canadiens won the cup. Despite rooting for the Canadiens when I was nine, I had
grown to hate them. I was a diehard Vancouver Canucks fan by then. The
Canadiens just kept on winning and winning. I was so tired of watching them win
all the time. four straight years they won the cup without breaking a sweat.
Little did I know that the Islanders were now on their way to doing the exact
same thing. I would grow to hate them too. It was about a month after the
Islanders had their first parade that I was over at the Aitken’s house. John
and I still hung out, but not as often as in the past. At this time, I was eighteen
and had my own vehicle, (a 1969 Datsun pickup). We were discussing how happy we
both were that the Montreal dynasty was seemingly over, when the topic of his
hockey team came up. He was always playing in one beer league or another. (At
one time he played in the N.H.L. The “Natural Hockey League”) At this time he
was playing on a team called the Burnaby Kings, and they were playing at the
Columbian 4 Rinks. At one time, this was the largest indoor hockey arena in the
world, and was even in the Guinness Book of World Records. As it turned out,
the Kings were renting one of the rinks once a week, all summer long. Summer
hockey was a new thing, all the other rinks became lacrosse rinks for the
summer. John was telling me how terrible their goalie was. The guy’s name was
Lonnie. I don’t remember his last name. John was telling me that the guy was
the worst goalie he had ever played with. They had nicknamed him “Red Light
Lonnie,” because he would let in so many goals. He said that Lonnie was so
short that shots would regularly hit him in the head and deflect into the net.
One time John said that the puck had been shot into the corner and Lonnie went
to go get it, fell down, and while he was trying to get up, the puck went up on
edge and had such spin on it after it hit the boards, that it reversed itself
and curved right into the net. John said Lonnie was like “Bad Luck Schleprock”
of the Flintstones.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Five Reasons You
Should Read My Book:
1.)
We need the money. LOL! Also, it’s not your typical hockey memoir. If
you look at most hockey memoirs, you’ll notice that the vast majority are
written by players or coaches who made it to the top of their profession. I
didn’t make it to the NHL. In fact, I was so far away I was about as close to
making the NHL as a Big Mac is to health food. My story is about having modest
dreams and doing whatever it took to attain them.
2.) The people make the story. During my journey I met so
many interesting and crazy characters. Like Brent Castle, who once passed out
on an airport baggage carousel. Or Rob Wallace, who had an innate ability to
rub people the wrong way. So much so, that his own team once beat him up. You
will read about sworn enemies who eventually become teammates and friends.
You’ll read about small towns and small town people. Salt of the earth people
and the adventures of a city boy totally out of his element.
3.) It is a completely 100% honest rendering. When
writing this book, I was determined not to embellish or make anything up out of
whole cloth. Also, I didn’t want to become the hero of my own story. I know
that I got some of the details wrong, but I wrote it almost completely from
memory. I wanted the people who are in the book to read it and say “yup, I was
there, and that’s exactly how it happened.” Writing this book was a joy, and
also extremely painful. I basically had to re-live my life over again. The
good, the bad, and the embarrassingly cringeworthy.
4.) This is not just for hockey fans. I have been told by many
people who have read the book that anybody should be able to enjoy it and
relate to it. One reviewer stated:
5.0
out of 5 stars
Heartfelt and Hilarious...Story Of The Ages, For
All Ages! Hockey and Sports Heaven!
Reviewed
in the United States on April 20, 2020
Verified Purchase
What
a wonderful story, my goodness!
Witty,
smart...and most of all, I think this author is authentic! If you hold sports
dear to your heart, or just love an entertaining page-turner, this rollicking
ride through the rinks of life is it! Young or old, there is something here
anyone can relate to - you will see yourself in the author, or perhaps the many
characters you'll come to meet. The author clearly gets it - sports, at their
very best, are about the folks, the camaraderie, and the stories. For this, it
seems to me Hack lived the sports dream as well as any big league star.
Love
an adventure? Must read. Hockey fan? Must read. Couldn't care less about
sports? Must read.
This
book is proof that the underdog always wins!
5.) Writing this memoir has changed my life. I
have met so many great people through the sale of my book. Authors like George
Grimm, who wrote 2 books about the New York Rangers (“We Did Everything But
Win” and “Guardians of the Goal”), and Greg Oliver, author or co-author of 13
books who wrote about my book on his “Two Minutes for Reading So Good” column
in the Society for International Hockey Research website. Perry Lefko, multiple
award winning writer and best-selling author. Bob Duff of The Windsor Star and
U.S.A. Today’s Kevin Allen who interviewed me on their HockeyDebates.com
podcast. I am not a writer (I am a forklift driver), and it is very humbling to
have professional writers praise my work. George Grimm says about it:
Top International
Reviews:
George
E. Grimm
5.0
out of 5 stars
Terrific Book!
Reviewed
in the United States on April 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
Memoirs
of a Hockey Nobody, by Jerry Hack is the kind of book that you can’t stop
reading and never want to end. It’s the story of Jerry’s journey from street
hockey to the amateur and semi-pro ranks of Western Canada where the difference
between success and failure often has more to do with luck, timing and politics
than actual ability.
Memoirs
of a Hockey Nobody is a well-written, entertaining and often laugh-out-loud
funny book that players and fans will enjoy. I highly recommend it!
And
here is the link for Greg Oliver’s column:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
I was
born and raised in Burnaby, British Columbia. My sisters and I were raised by
hard-working blue collar parents. We were and are a tight knit family. I grew
up loving sports but hockey most of all. In fact, it was my passion. I read
about it, watched it and played it. I was an average student and a good
athlete. I could play most sports without looking out of place. But I was born
to be a goalie. I graduated from high school in 1979 and a year later began my
journey playing ice hockey. 40 years later, I am happily married with a 12 year
old daughter and loving life more than ever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH JERRY:
Website:
Email:
jerryhack15@gmail.com
Facebook:
Goodreads Author
Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK
eBook:
Barnes and Noble
Paperback:
The Book Depository
Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million
Paperback:
Indigo CA eBook:
Kobo eBook:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Jerry will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to
a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Jerry ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Ally! Good morning. I am absolutely thrilled to be here. If anyone has any questions, I am more than happy to answer them. Have a great day everyone and be fabulous today!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI love the title of the book. Congrats on the release
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking time to bring to our attention another great read. I appreciate it and thank you also for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt, I enjoyed reading it!
ReplyDeleteLove hockey, my favorite sport!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteSounds terrific
ReplyDelete