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Sidney Crosby Book Review

Sidney Crosby: A Hockey Story

Sidney Crosby: A Hockey Story reveals two themes running throughout the book. First of all, author Paul Arseneault provides a detailed look at Crosby's amateur hockey career before he was drafted first over-all by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. And, secondly the book gives an interesting overview of the history of hockey in the Maritime Provinces of Canada.

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Sidney Crosby Book Review: Details

Title: Sidney Crosby: A Hockey Story

Author: Paul Arseneault

Publisher: Nimbus Publishing

Date Published: 2005

Genre: Sports Non-Fiction - Hockey Biography

NOTE: This Sidney Crosby book review was written and originally published shortly after the book was published in 2005.

The book begins with Sidney Crosby skating in the 2002 Air Canada Cup. Arseneault explains the significance of this event in Crosby's hockey career stating Sidney "used the 2002 Air Canada Cup, hosted in the city of Bathurst, New Brunswick, to explode onto the North American hockey scene. The tournament marked the beginning of a journey that would see him become the eventual Number One pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft…".

The story concludes with Crosby's junior club, the Rimouski Oceanic's loss in the final game of the 2005 Memorial Cup. In between these significant book ends Sidney's exploits including not only his junior career but his experiences at the World Junior Hockey Championships are well-described.

For any readers who are unaware of his exploits as a teenage hockey player, the first six chapters detail with an in-depth perspective Crosby the teenage "wonderkid", first in his home province of Nova Scotia, then in Minnesota playing for Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school. You will also read about his years in Rimouski where he led the Oceanic to junior hockey prominence both in the Quebec Major Junior League and in the Canadian Hockey League.

Chapter Seven, aptly entitled "Chasing Destiny" begins with a quote which actually sums up not only the theme of the book, but also to a large degree a statement about Sidney Crosby and his value to the game of hockey.

The quotation reads:

"Sidney Crosby will be among the best and most important players in the history of the National Hockey League. Baring injury, number 87 may even surpass the records and achievements of Wayne Gretzky to take his place atop the list of the greatest players the game has ever produced. Making such a statement previous to the events of July 2005 would have been impossible, but ground breaking circumstances, perhaps the most important in eighty years of hockey, have put Sidney... in the perfect position to fulfill his destiny as the next hockey great."

Sidney Crosby Book Review Comments

Sidney Crosby: A Hockey Story facilitates easy and relaxed, but informed reading. There are plenty of interesting facts and captions about his career. Another great attribute to this book is the presence of many pictures featuring his life as a youngster.

The book concludes with a couple of interesting features. First of all, there is a list of Crosby's Ten Most Memorable Games. And of particular note, one of these events occurred in the NHL. And, secondly, there is a Q&A session with three hockey mentors, two coaches and one director of hockey of hockey operations, from Sidney's amateur career.

Sidney Crosby book review CONCLUSION: This is not only a good read, but also provides some very interesting information about this great hockey star of the 21 century!

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