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Behind the Bench

Inside the Minds of Hockey's Greatest Coaches

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Behind the Bench

Written by: Craig Custance, Sidney Crosby - Foreword
Narrated by: Barry Abrams
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They are motivators, key strategists, tough bosses, and choreographers. They can be branded as heroes, ousted as scapegoats, quietly valued as friends, and everything in between. It's all in the job description for an NHL head coach. In Behind the Bench, Craig Custance sits down for film sessions and candid conversations with some of the game's most notable modern luminaries - names like Mike Babcock, Joel Quenneville, Dan Bylsma, Todd McLellan, Ken Hitchcock, and Claude Julien - all of whom share their singular views on topics ranging from leadership secrets to on-ice game plans. Dissect some of hockey's greatest moments with the men who set the pieces in motion. Go straight to the source on what it's like to manage a dressing room full of the league's top stars or execute line changes with everything at stake. Signature games, including Stanley Cup finals, Olympic gold medal clashes, and World Championship contests - both wins and losses - are reflected upon and broken down in detail, making this a must-listen for current and aspiring coaches, players, and hockey fans alike.

©2017 Craig Custance (P)2019 Tantor Canada Hockey North America Sports Game Sports Mind Hockey

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I am not sure what exactly it was but the narrators voice was pure nails on a chalkboard for me. I stuck through due to the immensely high quality of the story but, man, ANYONE ELSE would have narrated this better.

Great stories. Awful narrator.

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I wasn’t expecting coaches telling their stories. I was hoping for coaching tips and philosophies.

Not what I was looking for.

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I found this book very entertaining, giving loads of "behind the scenes" insight into pro hockey.
The narrator's impersonation attempts kept me chuckling throughout!
Well done!

Thoroughly Entertaining

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While the details are interesting I got really annoyed by the narrator trying to imitate the various coaches voice?? From the ad for this book, I thought there would be clips from the coaches themselves - similar to Crosby’s book (which was excellent). Having a guy change his voice to indicate a coach speaking was really bad. Andy Serkis did this reading the Hobbit and it was great because they aren’t real people. Wasted a credit on this one.

Imitating real people???

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