I hope you read the review I posted at Hockey Independent (if you have, thanks! leave a comment!), but I though I would post a couple other thoughts here.
Some of you might be wondering what I’m doing reading a book about a dyed-in-the-wool Red Wing like Bob Probert. But the bottom line is that I’m a hockey fan. If the Avs moved away tomorrow I would still love hockey. And under the umbrella of hockey are the tough guys. And I love the tough guys. Probert is a classic. So reading this book was a no-brainer.
In many ways this book could be called “How to use Fame, Fortune and a Meat Thermometer to Coast Through Rehab.” Bob Probert was in every famous rehab you can think of and many more to boot. But good times were just a set of tickets and an autograph away when you are Bob Probert. And the meat thermometer? Well, buy the book!
Why is it that Barry Melrose seems to be in every book about hockey I’ve ever read? Has anyone played the Kevin Bacon game, but with Melrose? What is that, 2 degrees of Bacon, or some such?
There are a few tidbits in this book for Avs fans. Probert mentions Claude Lemieux (with New Jersey), Tony Granato and Scott Parker. Though Chris Simon is mentioned, oddly he doesn’t mention that Simon beat the crap out of him in this playoff game. Boom!
Probert uses the term Boom! in the book. Something that seems to be popular with all fighters I follow on Twitter. So just thought I would throw my own in there!
Probert actually had the guts to think about telling Theo Fleury to get his act together and get straight. Wow. He didn’t, but he thought about it, talk about calling the kettle black.
Probert’s inability to keep up with his probation requirements meant that the Wings had to cut a deal with the judge, to Probert’s surprise it was a night in jail. A real surprise since they didn’t even tell him till they were on their way to see the judge. Probert felt tricked and I can’t say I blame him. At one point, Probie hadn’t played in Canada for 3 ½ years due to immigration/legal issues.
The book is full of all kinds of fun stories, like getting a world famous artist to include is number 24 in a painting, the odd wedding gift he received from Don Cherry, how he lost so many pairs of sunglasses and who is “Mo Melly?”
As you can imagine, Probert doesn’t hold back when it comes to his opinion of people. Gary Bettman: well it isn’t pretty as Probert rips him a new one again and again.
Overall a good book, I would recommend it to fans of the Wings, and tough guys!
-From the Point
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