bolded means recommend

italicized means currently reading

See also this list from the Society for International Hockey Research. It skews a little more towards reference books and histories than my personal preferences (which instead skews a little more literary, like The Game of Our Lives), but still good.

novels:

• ✔ The Game by Ken Dryden
  • Autobiography
  • 1978-79 Montreal Canadiens
• ✔ Game Change by Ken Dryden
  • Biography of former NHLer Steve Montador
• ✔ The Down Goes Brown History of the NHL: The World's Most Beautiful Sport, the World's Most Ridiculous League by Sean McIndoe
  • Infotainment, lowkey insufferable writing style
• ✔ Future Greats and Heartbreaks: A Year Undercover in the Secret World of NHL Scouts by Gare B. Joyce
  • Reportage (primary)
  • 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Columbus Blue Jackets
  • I'd pay for a good writer to join any team for an NHL entry draft now. Not only well-researched but the profiles of each draftee were so observant and considerate. Way way better than I expected.
• ✔ Boy On Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard by John Branch
• ✔ The Game of Our Lives by Peter Gzowski
  • Reportage (primary)
  • 1980-81 Edmonton Oilers (just before the Gretzky-led dynasty)
• ✔ The Battle of Alberta by Mark Spector
  • Reportage (secondary)
  • '80s Edmonton/Calgary rivalry
• ✔ The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association_ by Ed Willes
  • Infotainment, reportage (secondary)
  • Very funny and lowkey insufferable
• ✔ Chill Factor: How a Minor-League Hockey Team Changed a City Forever by Craig Merz
  • About the Columbus Chill, the ECHL predecessor (of sorts) of the Columbus Blue Jackets
  • Fun, but repeats itself a lot

to read:

• Between the Pipes: A Revealing Look at Hockey's Legendary Goalies by Randi Druzin
• The Kid: A Season with Sidney Crosby and the New NHL by Shawna Richer
• Home Game by Ken Dryden and Roy MacGregor
• Road Games: A Year in the Life of the NHL by Roy MacGregor
• Wayne Gretzky's Ghost: And Other Tales from a Lifetime in Hockey by Roy MacGregor
• Killer: My Life In Hockey by Doug Gilmour
• Burke's Law by Brian Burke
• Scotty: A Life Like No Other by Ken Dryden
• The Greatest Game: The Montreal Canadiens, the Red Army, and the Night That Saved Hockey by Todd Denault
• All Roads Home: A Life On and Off the Ice by Bryan Trottier
• The Whalers: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Mystique of New England's (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise by Patrick Pickens
• Win, Tie, or Wrangle: The Inside Story of the Ottawa Senators by Paul Kitchen
• Home Ice: Reflections on Backyard Rinks and Frozen Ponds by Jack Falla
• Game Misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey by Russ Conway
• The Riverton Rifle: How Hockey Shaped My Life by Reggie Leach, Joseph Boyden, and Bobby Clarke

articles:

• ✔ The Nontraditional Fans of Hockey by Kent Russell
  • Up there with Dryden's The Game as some of my favorite hockey writing of all time.
• ✔ Napoleon Dynamite by Kent Russell
  • Beautiful biography of one Theoren Fleury.
• ✔ Innocent at Rinkside by William Faulkner
  • Faulkner's account of a Canadiens @ Rangers game in 1955.
• ✔ Lord Stanley's Grail by Kent Russell
  • History of the Stanley Cup

misc:

• ✔ The Sweater by Roch Carrier
  • Literal children's story/pseudo-memoir set in rural Quebec, during the Rocket Richard-era (1940s-50s) of the Montreal Canadiens.
• ✔ Hero of the Play by Richard Harrison
  • Poetry collection

wishlist:

aka books I can't easily find...

• The Series by Dryden and MacGregor
• Carry Me Home: The Colorado Avalanche's Thrilling Run to the 2022 Stanley Cup by The Athletic