No sport is as important to Canadians as hockey. Though there may be a great many things that divide the country, the love of hockey is perhaps its single greatest unifier. Before the latest labour unrest in the National Hockey League (NHL), however, it was easy to forget that hockey is also a multi-million dollar business run, not by the athletes or coaches, but by corporate boards and businessmen. The Lords of the Rinks documents the early years of hockey's professionalization and commercialization and the emergence of a fledgling NHL, from 1875 to 1936.

As the popularity of...

As an institution that helps bind Canadians to an imagined community, hockey has long been associated with an essential Canadian identity. However, this reductionism ignores the ways Canadians consume hockey differently based on their socio-economic background, gender, ethnicity, and location. Moreover, Canadian culture is not static, and hockey's place in it has evolved and changed.

In Coast to Coast, a wide range of contributors examine the historical development of hockey across Canada, in both rural and urban settings, to ask how ideas about hockey have changed....

As an institution that helps bind Canadians to an imagined community, hockey has long been associated with an essential Canadian identity. However, this reductionism ignores the ways Canadians consume hockey differently based on their socio-economic background, gender, ethnicity, and location. Moreover, Canadian culture is not static, and hockey's place in it has evolved and changed.

In Coast to Coast, a wide range of contributors examine the historical development of hockey across Canada, in both rural and urban settings, to ask how ideas about hockey have changed....