Celebrate the NHL Centennial with the top 100 hockey books

The NHL's 2017-18 season marks the 100th anniversary of the league. Founded on Nov. 26, 1917 in Montreal, Quebec, this league, these teams, and especially the players have had a special place in the hearts of many Canadians for the past 100 years. 

That Canadians love hockey should come as no surprise, nor should the fact that Canadians buy quite a few books about the subject as well. From memoirs of star players, to ABC books for babies, and everything in between, books about hockey can be found on the shelves of many Canadians.

Methodology: How we came up with the top 100 titles

When we started gathering the top-selling Non-Fiction adult, juvenile, and young adult titles with a primary BISAC code of Sports & Recreation / Hockey, we quickly found that many of the big hockey books were missing from the list; many had a primary BISAC code of Biography & Autobiography / Sports, which had us putting our knowledge of hockey players to the test.

In order to capture the best and most representative list we could, we decided that any Non-Fiction book with the word "Hockey" in any of its BISAC codes and/or in its keyword data would qualify for our list. Once we had the ISBNs for those titles, we ran a bestseller report in BNC SalesData (which tracks print sales in the English-language trade market) and came up with the top-selling titles from the last five years (from Dec. 31, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2017 to be exact).

If you'd like a copy for your own use, you can download the poster, print it out, and display it proudly. (If you do end up displaying it, please take a picture and send it to us!)

You can see all the titles, ranked in order of sales, in this BNC CataList catalogue. Or scroll down to see the ranked list after the poster image.

And, who doesn't love a quiz? We've made the poster into a quiz so you can check off all the titles you've read. See how you score!

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1. Orr: My Story by Bobby Orr

2. 99: Stories of the Game by Wayne Gretzky 🇨🇦 with Kirstie McLellan Day🇨🇦

3. Mr. Hockey: The Autobiography of Gordie Howe by Gordie Howe 🇨🇦

4. A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey by Stephen J. Harper 🇨🇦

5. Killer: My Life in Hockey by Doug Gilmour 🇨🇦 with Dan Robson 🇨🇦

6. Shift Work by Tie Domi 🇨🇦 with Jim Lang

7. Straight up and Personal: The World According to Grapes by Don Cherry 🇨🇦

8. Bleeding Blue: Giving My All for the Game by Wendel Clark 🇨🇦

9. Don Cherry's Sports Heroes by Don Cherry 🇨🇦

10. Quinn: The Life of a Hockey Legend by Dan Robson 🇨🇦

11. Nine Lessons I Learned from My Father by Murray Howe 🇨🇦

12. 5-Minute Hockey Stories written by Meg Braithwaite 🇨🇦 , illustrated by Nick Craine 🇨🇦

13. We Are Your Leafs: The Toronto Maple Leafs Book of Greats by Michael Ulmer 🇨🇦

14. Hockey Confidential by Bob McKenzie

15. Sports Illustrated Hockey's Greatest by The Editors of Sports Illustrated

16. Game Change: The Life and Death of Steve Montador, and the Future of Hockey by Ken Dryden 🇨🇦

17. Playing with Fire by Theo Fleury 🇨🇦 with Kirstie McLellan Day 🇨🇦

18. The Game by Ken Dryden 🇨🇦

19. Calling the Shots: Ups, Downs and Rebounds – My Life in the Great Game of Hockey by Kelly Hrudey 🇨🇦 with Kirstie McLellan Day 🇨🇦

20. The NHL 100 Years in Pictures and Stories by Bob Duff 🇨🇦 and Ryan Dixon

21. Offside: My Life Crossing the Line by Sean Avery 🇨🇦

22. The Battle of Alberta: The Historic Rivalry Between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames by Mark Spector

23. It's Our Game: Celebrating 100 Years Of Hockey Canada by Michael McKinley 🇨🇦

24. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Hooked on Hockey by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Laura Robinson

25. Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Trivia by Don Weekes 🇨🇦

26. Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Players by Steve Cameron 🇨🇦

27. Captain: My Life and Career by Darryl Sittler

28. Against All Odds: The Untold Story of Canada's Unlikely Hockey Heroes by P.J. Naworynski 🇨🇦

29. Cornered by Ron MacLean 🇨🇦 with Kirstie McLellan Day 🇨🇦

30. The Guy on the Left: Sports Stories from the Best Seat in the House by James Duthie 🇨🇦

31. How We Did It: The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey, School and Life by Karl Subban 🇨🇦 with Scott Colby 🇨🇦

32. The Mcdavid Effect: Connor McDavid and the New Hope for Hockey by Marty Klinkenberg 🇨🇦

33. The Official NHL Hockey Treasures, Centennial Edition by Dan Diamond 🇨🇦 with Eric Zweig 🇨🇦 and Craig Ellenport 🇨🇦

34. Tough Guy by Bob Probert with Kirstie McLellan Day 🇨🇦

35. 99: Gretzky: His Game, His Story by Al Strachan 🇨🇦

36. My First Book of Hockey: A Rookie Book by The Editors of Sports Illustrated Kids

37. Fighting Back: The Chris Nilan Story by Chris Nilan

38. The NHL: 100 Years of On-Ice Action and Boardroom Battles by D'Arcy Jenish 🇨🇦

39. Grant Fuhr: The Story of a Hockey Legend by Grant Fuhr 🇨🇦 with Bruce Dowbiggin 🇨🇦

40. Boy on Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard by John Branch

41. The Great Defender: My Hockey Odyssey by Larry Robinson 🇨🇦 with Kevin Shea 🇨🇦

42. The Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club: Official Centennial Publication by Kevin Shea 🇨🇦 and Jason Wilson

43. Hockey Canada's Learn All about Hockey: Color and Activity written by Al Huberts 🇨🇦 , illustrated by Frank Bailey 🇨🇦

44. J.R.: The Fast, Crazy Life of Hockey’s Most Outspoken and Most Colourful Personality by Jeremy Roenick with Kevin Allen 🇨🇦

45. The Riverton Rifle: My Story—Straight Shooting on Hockey and on Life by Reggie Leach 🇨🇦

46. Coach: The Pat Burns Story by Rosie DiManno 🇨🇦

47. Leave No Doubt: A Credo for Chasing Your Dreams by Mike Babcock 🇨🇦 with Rick Larsen

48. Tales of a First-Round Nothing: My Life as an NHL Footnote by Terry Ryan 🇨🇦

49. 100 Things Maple Leafs Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by Michael Leonetti 🇨🇦 and Paul Patskou 🇨🇦

50. Hockey ABC by Christopher Jordan 🇨🇦

51. The Ultimate Book of Hockey Trivia for Kids by Eric Zweig 🇨🇦

52. Road to the NHL: The Incredible Stories of 25 Maritimers Making It to the Show by Philip Croucher 🇨🇦

53. Hockey: Then to WOW! by The Editors of Sports Illustrated Kids

54. Keon and Me: My Search For The Lost Soul Of The Leafs by Dave Bidini 🇨🇦

55. Who Is Wayne Gretzky? by Gail Herman

56. The Hockey News: the Big Book of Hockey Fun by The Hockey News

57. The Hockey News: Hockey's Greatest Photos by The Hockey News

58. Hockey Now! by Mike Leonetti 🇨🇦

59. The Toughest I Ever Faced: Hockey Hall of Fame Players Remember Rivals, Teammates and Heroes by Steve Milton 🇨🇦

60. 100 Things Canadiens Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by Pat Hickey

61. The Illustrated History of Hockey: NHL Years: Collector's Edition by Jason Kay 🇨🇦

62. Hockey Hall of Fame Unstoppable by Steve Milton 🇨🇦 and Mike Ryan

63. Hockey Card Stories: True Tales from Your Favourite Players by Ken Reid 🇨🇦

64. Hockey Night in Canada: 60 Seasons by Michael McKinley 🇨🇦

65. Face Off: Top 10 Lists of Everything in Hockey by The Editors of Sports Illustrated Kids

66. Hockey 123 by Christopher Jordan 🇨🇦

67. Scholastic Early Learners: Touch and Feel Hockey by Scholastic Canada Ltd

68. 100 Years, 100 Moments: A Centennial of NHL Hockey by Scott Morrison 🇨🇦

69. Laugh Out Loud Canadian Jokes written by Erin O'Connor 🇨🇦 , Howard Hershkowitz 🇨🇦 , Kara Woodburn 🇨🇦 , and Stella Partheniou Grasso 🇨🇦 , illustrated by Bill Dickson 🇨🇦

70. Selling the Dream by Ken Campbell 🇨🇦 with Jim Parcels 🇨🇦

71. Hockey Night Fever: Mullets, Mayhem and the Game's Coming of Age in the 1970s by Stephen Cole 🇨🇦

72. Hockey Superstars 2016-2017 by Paul Romanuk 🇨🇦

73. One Night Only: Conversations with the NHL’s One-Game Wonders by Ken Reid 🇨🇦

74. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Ultimate Book of Facts, Stats, and Stories by Andrew Podnieks 🇨🇦

75. Hockey's Greatest Stars: Legends and Young Lions by Chris McDonell 🇨🇦

76. We Are the Goalies: The Top Netminders of the NHL by Christopher Jordan 🇨🇦

77. Searching for Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt 🇨🇦

78. The Day I (Almost) Killed Two Gretzkys: ...And Other Off-the-Wall Stories About Sports...and Life by James Duthie

79. A Century of NHL Memories: Rare Photos from the Hockey Hall of Fame by Phil Pritchard 🇨🇦 with Jim Hynes 🇨🇦

80. Stanley Cup: 120 Years of Hockey Supremacy by Eric Zweig 🇨🇦

81. We Are the Goal Scorers: The Top Point Leaders of the NHL by Christopher Jordan 🇨🇦

82. National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2016 by National Hockey League

83. Ultimate Collection of Pro Hockey Records 2015 by Shane Frederick

84. Hockey Superstars 2015-2016 by Paul Romanuk 🇨🇦

85. Hockey Superstars 2017-2018 by Paul Romanuk 🇨🇦

86. Hockey Hall of Fame Heroes: Scorers, Goalies and Defensemen by Eric Zweig 🇨🇦

87. Gordie Howe's Son by Mark Howe with Jay Greenberg 🇨🇦

88. Ultimate Guide to Pro Hockey Teams 2015 by Shane Frederick

89. Don't Call Me Goon: Hockey's Greatest Enforcers, Gunslingers, and Bad Boys by Greg Oliver 🇨🇦 and Richard Kamchen 🇨🇦

90. 100 Things Jets Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by Jon Waldman 🇨🇦

91. 100 Things Oilers Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by Joanne Ireland

92. National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2017 by National Hockey League

93. 101 Hockey Jokes written by Kara Woodburn 🇨🇦 , illustrated by Bill Dickson 🇨🇦

94. Between the Pipes: A Revealing Look at Hockey’s Legendary Goalies by Randi Druzin 🇨🇦

95. Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Goalies: Profiles, Memorabilia, Essays and Stats by Steve Cameron 🇨🇦

96. Super Scorers by Eric Zweig 🇨🇦

97. Fast Ice: Superstars of the New NHL by Andrew Podnieks 🇨🇦

98. The Red Kelly Story by Leonard “Red” Kelly 🇨🇦

99. My Last Fight: The True Story of a Hockey Rock Star by Darren McCarty

100. Great Goalies by Eric Zweig 🇨🇦

What's your favourite hockey book?