Gerard “Turk” Gallant could be what one calls a hockey “lifer.” Between playing the game and coaching, he has been involved in the game for over 5 decades. His life in hockey is captured in this book by Fred MacDonald.

Note that the last sentence stated the book is about his life in hockey. That makes up the bulk of this book. Whether the chapters are about his youth and the hockey he was playing then, his time in junior hockey and the NHL (mainly with the Detroit Red Wings) or his coaching career, the book concentrates on his hockey life and little else. While there is some material on his charitable work and golf tourney, there is very little material on his personal life. I felt this was a shame, for not only would I have liked to learn more about Gallant the person, but one of the best chapters in the book is about how he met and courted his future wife, Pam. The couple is still married to this day.

However, if a reader wants to learn more about Gallant as a player and coach (especially the latter), then this book contains a lot of good information. There isn’t great detail about either his playing time or coaching time but instead a summarization of how his seasons went, big highlights or what became of him after a release or trade during his playing days or his termination while a coach. The coaching sections, as one might expect given the title, are more plentiful in the book. This starts when he was a coach for junior hockey in his home province of Prince Edward Island to his time with the New York Rangers. Again, nothing spectacular or detailed about these coaching jobs, but a decent recap of his time with each team. This is especially true for his time with not only the Rangers, but also the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights. His first season with the latter, which was also the franchise’s first season, was special in that not only did he win the Jack Adams trophy as the coach of the year (and he was a finalist for both the Panthers and Rangers) but he led the Golden Knights to the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, the 4th franchise to reach that far in their first season.

At 186 pages, this is a quick read and because it recapped Gallant’s interesting career in a summarization format, it isn’t one for a reader who knows Gallant’s accomplishments well. But if a reader wants to see what makes Gallant one of the more accomplished coaches in the game today, then this book is one to read.

I wish to thank Acorn Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.