The Lone Star Skate

Several months ago (more than several, we've established I'm a slacker) I got an email asking if I'd read and review a book called The Lone Star Skate: Improbable (But True) Stories of Texas's Hockey Heroes.  I said sure, I'm not in Texas but I'm familiar with the Stars (obviously) but also the Houston Aeros (thanks to Ms. Conduct).  The book was written by Glenn Hart and Rusty Burson.  From the Lone Star Skate website:

Glenn Hart owns the CHL's Laredo Bucks and was the 2006 recipient of the league's Rick Kozuback Award. In 1995, Hart purchased an IHL franchise for Houston, winning the championship in the franchise's fourth season. In 1999, Hart's hockey passion took him to Laredo, where he worked with city leaders to develop the Laredo Entertainment Center, home of the Bucks. Hart is the president and cofounder of Laredo Engery, and is a graduate of Texas A&M University.

Rusty Burson, a graduate of Sam Houston State, began his career as a newspaper reporter in Galveston. He later became and editor for numerous publications in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Burson is currently the associate editor of 12th Man Magazine and vice president of the 12th Man Foundation. Burson has written and published seven books.

I liked the style of writing, it was easy and enjoyable reading, even to someone in the Pacific Northwest. The authors have covered hockey in Texas from the NHL level to some of the minor leagues and takes a look at specific people who were influential in the roles they had in Texas.

The first chapter, not surprisingly, focuses on Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe. He spent his NHL career with Detroit, but came out of retirement to play with his sons Mark and Marty as members of the WHA's Houston Aeros. This section gives a good bit of history of the WHA as well.

Another big surprise (/sarcasm) are the sections on Mike Modano and Brett Hull. Obviously both players helped make hockey big in Texas and both reached some milestones in their time in Big D.

Other Texas hockey heroes include:

• Norm Green
• Terry Ruskowski
• Jim Lites
• The Dineen Family
• John Torchetti
• Glenn Hart

To my surprise, I also found a Tri-City Americans connection. Another one of the people featured in Lone Star Skate is Rick Kozuback who was the Americans' head coach for two years (1989-91). As head coach of the Ams he had a 75-60-9 record. He then moved to Phoenix to be assistant coach for the Phoenix Roadrunners, then was one of the original co-founders of the Western Professional Hockey League.

"If you visit the league's history section of the CHL (Central Hockey League) web site, it appears that the CHL took over the WPHL. That's not accurate. The management of the old WPHL took over the Central Hockey League. (Jim) Treveling became president of the CHL, and Kozuback, with the WPHL partnership, formed Global Entertainment in 2000. It became an overhead holding company for the league."

The CHL includes The Colorado Eagles, where former American goalie Tyler Weiman played several years (there's a great picture of him in the book). It also includes the Allen Americans were former Tri-City American Colton Yellowhorn is, and where Mitch McColm was playing till he got hurt at the start of the season.

So there are connections from Tri-Cities to Texas. It's a great read, like I said, even if you're not from Texas. You can pick up a copy through the authors or on Amazon.