Top 3 hockey books to read as we wait for the NHL

On Saturday we looked at the top 3 hockey movies to watch as we wait for the return of the NHL and Washington Capitals hockey. If movies aren’t your thing, or you’ve already seen them, there are also some good books to read to pass up time before the season starts.

Here are two books written by Ted Starkey and one written by Ben Raby that all Caps fans need to check out.

#3 Transition Game: The Story of the 2010-11 Washington Capitals by Ted Starkey

This was a fun season even though it didn’t end in a Cup. We got to see the Caps take part in the NHL Winter Classic for the first time and were under the spotlight in front of HBO documentary cameras leading up to it. Ted Starkey chronicles that crazy season.

Here’s an overview: 

“Transition Game: The Story of the 2010-11 Washington Capitals” tells the tale of a unique National Hockey League season, following one club’s quest for the Stanley Cup. From three of the team’s best young prospects winning the Calder Cup in Hershey to being under the bright lights of a reality television series and one of the NHL’s signature events in the Winter Classic, “Transition Game” puts you on a ride with one of hockey’s most dynamic and electric clubs. “Transition Game” takes a look at the 2010-11 season, along with the 2009-10 Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, a profile of Alexander Ovechkin’s rise to stardom, the Capitals’ rise in popularity, the making of HBO’s reality series “24/7” and behind the scenes at the 2011 Winter Classic in Pittsburgh, the team’s embrace of new media and the team’s Stanley Cup playoff run.

#2 Red Rising: The Washington Capitals Story by Ted Starkey

This book takes a look at the early stages of the Rock the Red era as a whole as Alex Ovechkin and the Young Guns weren’t even in their prime yet.

The Capitals underwent a massive change in the 2007-08 season. Not only among personnel midseason but before the season when they switched their home jerseys from black to red. It was a rebrand that was better than the rebrand of the local football team.

More about the book:

The story of the rebranding and reemergence of the Washington Capitals. Featuring original interviews with Capitals players, coaches, and staff from the past decade, including team owner Ted Leonsis, as well as the expertise of the NHL’s most informed media personalities, Ted Starkey’s Red Rising looks at how a chronically underachieving hockey franchise became a success on and off the ice in Washington, across North America, and around the world. Fueled by the arrival of charismatic Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin, as well as gifted youngsters like Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green, the Caps have transformed themselves from a team in danger of becoming the NHL’s laughingstock pre-lockout, into an organization players, media, and fans respect and adore. Now rivaling the NFL’s Redskins (Commanders) for the hearts of Washington fans, the Capitals are a dangerous contender, a true power that could bring the Stanley Cup to America’s capital.

They did.