Hockey’s close to the heart of ex-McGill football player Andy Holman
By David Wolcott
BRIDGEWATER - Aspiring authors are encouraged to write about something they know or, better yet, something they love. Plymouth resident and Bridgewater State College professor Andrew Holman has got both bases covered with his book Canada's Game: Hockey and Identity.
The book, which was published Sept. 30, contains contributions gathered from a scholarly conference on the state of ice hockey that was held back in 2005 and sponsored by BSC. Holman, a professor of history and Canadian Studies at Bridgewater State, culled the essays together as the book's editor.
"We invited scholars from all over the world to come to Plymouth for a weekend to talk about various aspects of ice hockey and the ways that a sport can be a flag or an emblem for a particular group of people," Holman explained. "We had some great sessions and, not surprisingly, one of the days ended up with a good game of shinny hockey at the Armstrong Rink. I managed to get my hands on some gloves, helmets and sticks from the Bridgewater Bandits Hockey Club and we had ourselves a grand old time."
You can bet that when all the scholars made it to the rink, Holman was one of the first to hit the ice. A native of St. Catherine's, Ontario, Holman is the coach of the club hockey team at Bridgewater State. There are some familiar names on the team, including Plymouth natives Corey Maguire and Jordan Remy and a number of other skaters who hail from around the South Shore.
"This book seemed to be a good way of marrying my interest in hockey as well as history," Holman said. "I've been playing hockey for as long as I can remember and it's always been a part of my life.
"I've always fighting the itch to get out on the ice."
The chapters of the book cover a number of topics, from America's influence on the game to how hockey became the national sport of Canada. Holman said the book delves into some issues that deserve investigation.
"There are some big questions about the game of hockey that deserved to be looked at," Holman said, pointing to areas such as race and gender.
"Another issue is that Canada has always claimed hockey as its game, but we know they were playing ice hockey by the 1890's at colleges like Harvard and John Hopkins, as well as out in Minnesota and Michigan. And a few years after that it had hopped the pond and they were playing the game in England, as well as Scotland.
"Hockey started out as Canada's game in the beginning of its origins, but it always seems that the sport is associated with the country. We've laid claim to the game and think of it as our own."
The book is available at Amazon.com, as well as at other sources such as Target and Borders.
"I realize I'm not going to make millions from the book, but I still am very proud of the final product," Holman said. "The essays are accessible to the reader, but they also have something to say to the serious scholars of the sport. I think it was able to bridge that gap between town and gown that sometimes doesn't seem all that crossable."
He's especially proud of the cover of the book, which depicts a young boy posing on the ice looking ready for someone to drop a puck.
"It's actually a photo of my dad, Bill, circa 1949," Holman said. "He got a big kick out of seeing himself on the cover the book."
Holman liked the writing process so much he's already jumped into his next literary project. He's now co-authoring a comprehensive two-volume history of hockey with Stephen Hardy.
Holman lives in Plymouth with his wife, Andrea Doty.