Book Review: Angela James: The First Superstar of Canadian Women's Hockey

A massive wind storm knocked out my power for a few hours this afternoon. It turned out to be a great blessing, because it gave me a computer-less chance to sit down and read Angela James: The First Superstar of Canadian Women's Hockey is a new book offered by Tom Bartsiokas, Corey Long and Three O'Clock Press. Adam Graves contributes the foreword.

Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com

Dubbed "the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey," Angela James became the most dominant female player on the planet from the early 1980s through the mid 1990s. It was her rise that paved the way for the international growth of the women's game including its acceptance into the Olympic Games.

Unfortunately for James, her pioneering efforts left her a bit unknown compared to the benefactors like Hayley Wickenheiser, Cammi Granato and Geraldine Heaney. Which makes this book all the more important. Angela "AJ" James is the least known modern inductee in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Thanks to Bartsiokas and Long, we now get the chance to fully learn just who this hockey legend is.

James was certainly the unlikeliest hockey pioneer. The book opens with a look at her difficult childhood plagued with poverty and the most broken family story you may ever read about. She had to over come sexism and racism. Her talent and determination eventually took this hockey pioneer from struggling for ice time on boys' teams to the Hockey Hall of Fame where in 2010, she became the first woman, first openly gay player, and second black athlete to ever be inducted.

Here's the full Angela James book review, courtesy HockeyBookReviews.com.