{"product_id":"9783961710317","title":"We Love Hockey","description":"\u003cbr\u003eIt is the 26th minute of the Finland-Russia semifinal\u003cp\u003eof the 2011 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinnish player Mikael Granlund, just 19 years old, skates\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003earound behind the Russian goal. Suddenly he\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003escoops the puck onto the toe of his blade, glides forward\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epast the side of the goal and slams the puck into\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe net. The players and spectators go wild. It was a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eonce-in-a-lifetime goal, a goal that was an artistic\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emasterpiece, so beautiful that the Finnish post office\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecreated a stamp to celebrate it. Contrast that story\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewith this one: in Sparta Prague’s home arena, Vladimír\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovácek steers the ice resurfacing machine around\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe rink. What’s so special about that? Novácek has\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebeen maintaining the ice for Sparta since 1968; he is\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enow 82 years old. His work doesn’t prompt much excitement,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand he certainly doesn’t have his own postage\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003estamp. Still, the young Finnish world champion\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand the elderly Czech ice manager are united by their\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ededication to the sport of ice hockey. Their stories and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emany others are told in We Love Hockey. The very\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epersonal and emotional vignettes and stunning photographs\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emake this book extremely exciting and give\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eit a very special place in the sports literature market.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s about the greatest and the smallest moments, the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emen and women who are passionate about this sport,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand everything that makes ice hockey so fascinating.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"teNeues Publishing Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47059000590576,"sku":"9783961710317","price":65.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9783961710317_p0.jpg?v=1763713843","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9783961710317","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}