The Hockey Handbook, by Lloyd Percival, revised by Wayne Major,  Robert Thom and Larry Sadler

Originally published in 1951, the Hockey Handbook is still relevant to players today. Percival was a student of all sports but he loved hockey best. He was the first author to study the game scientifically and put his research into practical use.

The Hockey Handbook contains chapters on: skating, puck control, scoring, offense, defense, goaltending, coaching and training.

Percival’s book needs to be read in small sections because it contains a tremendous amount of detailed advice. Players should read the chapters that apply to them and find a few points to work on during each practice or game.

The Hockey Handbook does not contain many illustrations or play diagrams that are included in many contemporary hockey books. However, the fact that this book has stayed on the shelves of bookstores for over 40 years shows it contains a wealth of timeless wisdom about playing winning hockey.

Sports Illustrated Hockey - Learn to play the Modern Way, by Jack Falla and Heinz Kluetmeier

This book is a superb resource for beginners because it contains simple and straightforward explanations of the basics of hockey. It is well edited and the layout makes for easy reading. The pictures included are carefully designed to illustrate the text. It is written to be useful to both players and coaches. Because this is a Sports Illustrated book, it is updated frequently and contains much of the latest thinking on hockey.

Hockey - Learn to play the Modern Way contains chapters on: Rink, rules and equipment, skating, stick handling, shooting, offense, defense, goaltending, conditioning, coaching, and building your own backyard rink.

Falla's book does not include advanced hockey techniques such as cycling and neutral zone traps, but it is still an excellent addition to the beginning ice hockey player's library.

Gold Medal Ice Hockey for Women and Girls
Tricia Dunn and Katie King

Members of the 1998 USA Olympic Team provide an excellent introductory book on women's no-check hockey.  The book contains both great instruction and an inspiring story of the team’s journey to the Gold Medal.

Hockey for Dummies, by John Davidson and John Steinbreder

The Dummies series of books has a wide range of titles and is intended for audiences that are new to a topic. Hockey for Dummies is essentially designed for the new hockey fan - not the new player. It focuses on the NHL and has many anecdotes and tips from NHL star players.

Hockey for Dummies does not include a comprehensive review of the basics (skating, shooting, offense etc.) so it is not a text for beginners. However, for the experienced fan or player it does contain many specifics that are fun and useful. For example, it provides the most comprehensive explanation of the neutral zone trap available in hockey books today.

Hockey for Dummies is a fun book to read and great place to find NHL tips to share with your teammates.

The Hockey Playbook, by Michael Smith

The Hockey Play Book is for an excellent resource for teams once the basics have mastered.  It has wonderful illustrations of the flow of players in a variety of situations.   If your adult team has a chance to practice, you can benefit by working on a few plays from this book at each practice.

Complete Hockey Instruction, by Dave Chambers

Complete Hockey Instruction is truly complete!  This book by Dave Chambers includes chapters on “Designing Efficient Practices”, “Skating”, “Passing and Receiving”, “Shooting”, “Stick handling and Puck Control.”  It includes chapters on the play of the forwards and defensemen as well as conditioning, mental training and nutrition.  Dave Chambers was an assistant and head coach for the Nordiques (now the Avalanche) and the Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars).

Play Better Hockey: 50 Essential Skills for Player Development by Ron Davidson.  This is an excellent hockey book and it truly has 50 essential skills.  It is well written and there are excellent graphics and photographs.

Mastering In-line Hockey by Brett Calighen, Ron Chipperfield and Herb Brooks

This book is designed for the coach of an in-line hockey team. It is the official coaching book of the National In-Line Hockey Association. Although focused on the coach, an in-line player will find much to study in this book.

Mastering In-Line Hockey is well written and illustrated. The illustrations are hand drawings that are not only useful but also easy to understand. It contains chapters on: coaching, equipment, player skill analysis, practices, individual player skills, drills, strategies, risk management, first aid, and rules.

The book's focus is on the coaching and organizational parts of the game.   Although useful, this emphasis tends to minimize detailed instructions on individual player skill development.  Nonetheless, the in-line player, particularly a beginner, will find this book very helpful.

Roller Hockey, Skills and Strategies for Winning on Wheels, by Greg Siller

Perhaps the most comprehensive in-line hockey book, Roller Hockey Skills and Strategies provides an incredible amount of information for the in-line team. Its main focus is on coaching and developing competitive winning teams.

This book provides in depth discussions of the basic skills (skating, shooting, puck handling) and a very advanced review of offensive and defensive skills and tactics. It has excellent diagrams and a well-written text. It includes many drills for teams to improve their skill level.

In many ways this book is designed for the coach of a competitive roller hockey team.   It may be intimidating for the new player or the occasional skater.  However the strategy sections are so well written that both in-line and ice hockey players can benefit.  This book belongs in the library of the serious roller hockey player.    Pro Learning is a very nice web site on in-line hockey maintained by Greg Siller.  (Greg Siller has been very supportive of Lifetime Hockey).

Power Skating, by Laura Stamm

"Speed kills" is an old hockey expression but it is still true.  The team with the fastest and most agile skaters will usually win.  Laura Stamm's book is the gold standard of ice hockey skating manuals. Power Skating is easy to follow and is filled with excellent drills.

High-Performance Skating for Hockey
Uses a progressive step-by-step approach to develop competency in specific skating skills and then moves on to advanced levels.

Get the Edge : Audrey Bakewell's Power Skating Technique
Having watched Audrey instruct before, I can say that drills in this book are used extensively by Audrey in her power skating classes. An excellent book that covers all the fundamentals of skating (forwards, backwards, stride, agility, crossovers, mohawk turns etc. etc.) with simple drills. Audrey also adds her own interesting personal anecdotes from her days as a power skating instructor with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980's.

In Line Skating Made Easy by Martin Durgard
(a Manual for Beginners with Tips for the Experienced) is a wonderful book for the beginner in-line skater or player.  The book includes chapters on: purchasing skates, protection, stretching, and basic and advanced skating techniques.  There is a concise chapter on in-line hockey entitled "Check - In-line Hockey 101."     There are also some unique chapters on speed skating, cross training and "Bring up Baby," - skating with children.

The Incredible Hockey Drill Book: More than 600 plays
A good companion to Dave Chamber's best selling Complete Hockey Instruction, this book contains over six hundred drills and is a complete guide for running hockey practices. The detailed diagrams make it easy for the coach to understand the drill and its usefulness in developing both skilled players and team play.

The Ultimate Hockey Drill Book

The Hockey Coach's Manual: A Guide to Drills, Skills, Tactics and Conditioning
With over 125 step-by-step diagrams, this book helps teams set up a season-long program. It outlines a number of dry land and on-ice training programs.

Hockey Drill Book
Written by the same author of the  Hockey Playbook, this drill book is a  selection of 200 drills in a handy pocket sized book you can take to the rink. It is organized into eight different chapters which cover the fundamentals of skating, stickhandling, passing, shooting, conditioning, goaltending, checking and game situations. There is a diagram, a purpose, and a description for each drill.

Complete Hockey Instruction: Skills and Strategies for Coaches and Players
This book covers all the fundamentals of hockey: shooting, skating, stickhandling, passing etc. It consists of in depth explanation of each technical skill, and then provides drills in a progressive format in order to develop those drills.

Hockey Drills for Scoring (Hockey Drills)
This book provides players and their coaches with a collection of the 70 best drills for developing scoring skills.

Hockey Drills for Puck Control
Next to skating, puck control may be the most important skill to master. This book presents 70 challenging drills to help you improve a player's puck control. The book explains and illustrates how to use the drills most effectively, and reduces the time required to master this skill.

Spalding Coaching Hockey (Spalding Sports Library)