The Hockey Nomad

Dave Bidini's book The Tropic of Hockey is simply sublime. In it he explores hockey far away from the corporate world of the NHL. He visits Hong Kong and China, the United Arab Emirates and Transylvania. His writing style is simply wonderful. He finds humour in all types of situations and has a great eye for interesting detail. The best part is easily the visit to Hong Kong and China. The documentary, filmed a few years later, has Bidini return to Transylvania and the UAE but skip China, travelling instead to Mongolia. It is still an interesting view of hockey in places we don't usually associate with the sport but it is missing something. Bidini wrote the excellent narration but it doesn't match the beauty of his words in the book. The other problem is the wonder of first visiting these hockey "backwaters" is gone. That diminishes the impact somewhat. This documentary is still worth watching just to hear Bidini's smart comments and great interplay with some of the people he meets (the best is in the sequences in Mongolia). You should definitely check out this doc if you are into hockey but buy the book as well. You will be quite entertained.