A captivating memoir from Canada’s foremost hockey historian and a beloved NHL commentator

It’s been 85 years since Brian McFarlane first laced a pair of skates and tested the black ice on a tiny pond. And then he discovered the joy of hockey. Ultimately, there would be grade school hockey, high school hockey, junior hockey, college hockey, and, miraculously, two decades with the NHL Oldtimers anchoring his life. He was the rank amateur playing on a line with the Big M and Norm Ullman, facing off against icons like Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay at Maple Leaf Gardens — even scoring a goal. He suited up at the Montreal Forum, elbow-to-elbow against John Ferguson, before thousands of fans. (There was even a stint with the Flying Fathers who ordained him a “Bishop” after a hat trick.) Off the ice, in 1960, McFarlane was the first Canadian to be a commentator on CBS’s coverage of the NHL. He also survived 25 years of Hockey Night in Canada — despite confrontations with Punch Imlach, Harold Ballard, Bobby Hull, and Eddie Shack. Now, in this revealing autobiography, he remembers it all. For Brian McFarlane, it has been a helluva life in hockey.

BRIAN McFARLANE is a media member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and known as one of Canada's foremost hockey historians and writers. For 25 years, he was a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada. He has written more than 50 books on hockey, including The Mitchell Brothers series-a young adult series for hockey mysteries.

Brian McFarlane's profile page

“Rarely does the title of a book so accurately reflect its contents. But Brian McFarlane’s A Helluva Life in Hockey is exactly what it says it is. From his days in junior, to sharing the ice with a 12-year-old Wayne Gretzky, to writing a hit pop song for Eddie Shack, it's all here. This memoir tells the story of a fascinating, one-of-a-kind life.” — Tod Denault, author of The Greatest Game