bolded means recommend

italicized means currently reading

• ✔ The Game by Ken Dryden
  • Autobiography from one of the most famous goalies in Montreal Canadiens, and also NHL, history. Aside from his prowess in the net, Dryden was known to be scholarly and eloquent. This reads like an essay and a love letter to the 1978-79 Canadiens. He's probably the best writer who was also a professional hockey player.
• ✔ Game Change by Ken Dryden
• ✔ Future Greats and Heartbreaks: A Year Undercover in the Secret World of NHL Scouts by Gare B. Joyce
  • This is quite unique. The sports journalist Gare Joyce was permitted to sit in on (most of) the administrivia of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the days leading up to and including the 2007 NHL Draft. Among notable tippy-top picks like Patrick Kane and JVR, we also get descriptions of players like Akim Aliu, Alexei Cherepanov, and Semyon Varlamov. So much ambition, talent, and hope with so little room... the peaks and valleys of Canadian junior hockey...
• ✔ Boy On Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard by John Branch
• ✔ The Game of Our Lives by Peter Gzowski
  • Renowned Canadian reporter and writer Peter Gzowski was invited along for the ride during the Edmonton Oilers' 1980-81 NHL Season. This is beautifully written and has a similar tone as Dryden's The Game. A love letter to pond hockey, to Canadian hockey, and of course, to Wayne Gretzky.
• The Battle of Alberta by Mark Spector
• Behind the Mask: A Revealing Look at Twelve of the Greatest Goalies in Hockey History by Randi Druzin
• Carry Me Home: The Colorado Avalanche's Thrilling Run to the 2022 Stanley Cup by The Athletic
• 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
• Chill Factor: How a Minor-League Hockey Team Changed a City Forever by Craig Merz
• The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association by Ed Willes
• The Whalers: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Mystique of New England's (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise by Patrick Pickens

The Series by Dryden and Macgregor, and Home Game by Dryden, are each nonfiction books with many pictures, so they seem like books better read IRL if you can find them.