TBC: My New Hero

Anyone who knows me knows that I rarely have free time to just kick back and relax. I would like to do this more, but I always have something on the go. In saying this, I find it hard to sit down and commit to a book in the summer because of how busy I keep myself, but I finally took some time this past week to get into one book whose premise seemed interesting and whose author sent me a digital copy for review. In receiving that review honour, Teebz's Book Club is proud to review My New Hero, written by Douglas Savage and John Davidson, and published by Tellwell Talent. The story of My New Hero is a collection of Douglas Savage's memories that highlights growing up in Winnipeg, being a "Rink Rat" with his two friends, meeting and walking with Wayne Gretzky, and the promise made by The Great One to our young author back in 1983! Let's take a look at My New Hero and the stories and memories brought to life by our authors!

Douglas George Savage was born in Winnipeg on January 26, 1969, and he attended Elwood High School during his formative years. In 1987, he moved to Vancouver where he met two good friends in the late John Davidson and the late Kary Franke. Savage would find his calling out in Vancouver as he became the President of North Pole Mining, but his love of the Winnipeg Jets never waned and he'd return to his hometown when he could. Up until 1987, Savage had only missed one Jets game in his life - both WHA and NHL games - and had seen hundreds of practices! There's no doubt that he has every right to claim to be a rink rat! My New Hero is one of many books he's written, and he continues to live in Vancouver.

The late John Davidson was a high school English teacher in Vancouver during Savage's "rink rat" years, but they became friends when Savage moved to the west coast in 1987. For 25 years, Davidson taught English to students in Vancouver only to retire and continuing helping students as an English tutor. When he wasn't teaching or watching hockey, Davidson logged countless hours as a volunteer with the Vancouver Crisis Centre. Working with Savage, Davidson helped to organize and edit My New Hero. Unfortunately, Mr. Davidson passed away on November 7, 2021 after selflessly helping so many people throughout his life. Eternally rest peacefully, Mr. Davidson. You earned it.

Before we even get into the story of My New Hero, I want to say upfront that sports causes a reaction in all of us. Some of us may glance and shrug it off due to disinterest. Others have seen it or played it, and no longer care for it or maybe even dislike it for a vast number of reasons. Fans, though, love the game, and it's usually due to some experience that planted that seed in them and sowed with each new experience thereafter. Fans are vital for professional sports.

For those of us who had a chance to experience hockey in the 1980s when players were far less guarded and had zero public relations training, having an interaction with a player was unforgettable no matter whether it was good or bad. Bad ones usually left a sour taste in one's mouth - Carlisle gets a whole chapter on this in My New Hero - but good ones often changed a hated rival into, at the very least, a good guy based on the experience. My New Hero is all about one boy's experience when it came to his favorite team and their most hated rival, and how one of those interactions with a very well-known player changed everything for this young man.

My New Hero is Douglas Savage's recollections of all the professional sports adventures that he and his two friends, Carlisle and Jamie, went on as kids while at Elmwood High School. The vast majority of these adventures involved the Winnipeg Jets at the old Winnipeg Arena, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Winnipeg Stadium get a few mentions as well. Either way, the three "Rink Rats", as they named themselves, were all about going to practices and games, cheering on the Jets, and possible coming home with a new stick or two from one of their hockey heroes!

As a hockey fan, it's hard to imagine kids playing street hockey with a new twig that came from the hands of a Denis Potvin or a Marcel Dionne, but Savage and his friends were out there with Guy Lafleur and Mario Tremblay sticks as he recalled in My New Hero. You can imagine the value of those sticks in today's reality, but the early 1980s meant they were just hockey sticks. Sports memorabilia collectors were few and far between for kids who wanted to emulate their hockey heroes in that era!

So who was this player who changed a young Winnipeg boy's mind? I could give you 99 guesses, but you probably wouldn't need them. Wayne Gretzky was one of the first players to operate under intense security as the Oilers made sure he was protected at all times, but it would be a chance moment that led to the encounter between Gretzky and Savage. I won't tell that tale since My New Hero is based on this interaction, but reading how Savage discovered "Wayne Gretzky, the person" rather than "Wayne Gretzky, destroyer of the Jets and one boy's dreams" made me smile in its innocence and authenticity.

While I won't tell the tale of Gretzky's encounter with Savage (or is that the other way around?), I will give you an idea of how the "Rink Rats" operated with the following passage.

"After every game, our plan was to find a clandestine way into the Jets' dressing room. The hunt for brand-name tools of the trade was always paramount. But this was the hardest thing to do; it was like breaking into Fort Knox. The players' rack was at the back of the dressing room. We had to wait for the trainer to start vacuuming, our cue to get on with the heist under the protective cover of noise."

It's pretty clear that years of practice allowed Savage and his friends to acquire sticks efficiently based on the number of sticks he and his friends had from all sorts of teams, but times have changed in the last 30-40 years where these opportunities have nearly disappeared. This may be why the personal interactions with players often matter more today than the lumber or carbon-fibre they carry. But it's still really cool to get a stick from a player!

Often, the books we read about hockey are about a significant moment or event about hockey or a compendium of facts about a team or a biography about a player. Far too often, there are great stories out there that take place from a fan's perspective that we never hear, but My New Hero captures that perspective nicely.

Overall, most people who read the 132-page story of My New Hero likely won't have the same experiences that Savage did, but the experience of meeting one of hockey's biggest stars and finding out that he's a pretty likable guy is one that more sports fans may be able to share. That's what I took from My New Hero, and I certainly can relate to the experience that Savage had in encountering Wayne Gretzky where his opinion on The Great One changed significantly! In saying this, it's my feeling that My New Hero absolutely deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

My New Hero was released on November 30, 2023 and should be available at book stores and libraries across the land. The material contained within the covers is pretty easy to read with no foul language in the book, and the chapters are short with each being no more than a few pages in length. As a result, I recommed this book for all readers, but I'm pretty sure that all hockey fans will enjoy the laughs and crazy stories found in My New Hero!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!