Behind the Bench

Inside the Minds of Hockey's Greatest Coaches

By: Craig Custance, Sidney Crosby - foreword

Narrated by: Barry Abrams

They are motivators, key strategists, tough bosses, and choreographers. They can be branded as heroes, ousted as scapegoats, quietly valued as friends, and everything in between. It's all in the job description for an NHL head coach. In Behind the Bench, Craig Custance sits down for film sessions and candid conversations with some of the game's most notable modern luminaries - names like Mike Babcock, Joel Quenneville, Dan Bylsma, Todd McLellan, Ken Hitchcock, and Claude Julien - all of whom share their singular views on topics ranging from leadership secrets to on-ice game plans. Dissect some of hockey's greatest moments with the men who set the pieces in motion. Go straight to the source on what it's like to manage a dressing room full of the league's top stars or execute line changes with everything at stake. Signature games, including Stanley Cup finals, Olympic gold medal clashes, and World Championship contests - both wins and losses - are reflected upon and broken down in detail, making this a must-listen for current and aspiring coaches, players, and hockey fans alike.

©2017 Craig Custance (P)2019 Tantor

great stuff!

I loved hearing what the coaches had to say. it kept me wanting more. if you are a hockey fan and enjoy inside stories then this book is for you.

Very good interviews of salient moments

I love Craig Constance as reporter. He both recaps great moments, but does it through the coaches eyes. He also attempts to tie themes together linking risk, perseverance and greatness. It’s a great read for any hockey fan of the past 30 years.

awesome

book was incredible... very well done... didn't live the narrator... but if u muscle through that... its completely worth it

Illuminating

The idea and stories revealed are amazing. The performance with mispronounced names, less so.

Not Quite as Advertised

The description makes it sound like this book offers a lot of technical breakdowns of big games from the coaches who won them. Hockey players would get great tips and fans would learn a lot.

That is not the case with this book though. Beyond the aggravating fluff in each chapter about the journalist's travel anxiety, the stories are part light biography and part walkthrough of key moments during the big games.

With that being said, it is still a very interesting book that taught me a lot about who the coaches were, how they prepared for a big game, lesser known details in the games (injuries, bad bounces, etc), and had some good quotes from players about the coach being interviewed.

As a penguins fan, I really enjoyed hearing Dan Bylsma and Mike Sullivan discuss 2 of the last 3 cup wins.

Great story but the narrator- oof.

The narrator tries to give different voices to the various coaches interviewed. He makes several sound almost childish, with high voices, and then his portrayal of Mike Sullivan sounds like a cartoon goon, speaking really deeply and verrrrrry sloooooowly. He makes Bob Hartley sound like a moron who can barely form a sentence, giving him odd, choppy sentences. He also gives Hartley some strange accent.
It would have been far better read just in the narrator's normal voice without the weak attempts at dramatization.

my review

Not a big fan of the narrator, but he was ok
Story was really good.

Love this book

I love hockey! Hockey is the best sport ever! I can watch hockey all day 24/7

All fluff

I was expecting coaching insides to hockey, no this was an author who just likes to write fluff. Just news headlines, typical reporter fluff. No hard questions or deep answers.

Unlistenable Narrator

I wish I had listened to a sample prior to my purchase. This guy should be narrating Thomas the Tank Engine stories, rather than poorly trying to emulate the voices of legendary coaches.