Hockey Priest: Father David Bauer and the Spirit of the Canadian Game

In Hockey Priest, author Matt Hoven examines the life of one of ice hockey's most unique and influential figures, Father David Bauer (1924–1988), and his impact on the development of the Canadian and international hockey systems. At times, Hockey Priest reads like a love letter to Bauer's Basilian-inspired vision that hockey could be used to teach young boys to be good people rather than just the next professional hockey players. However, readers can have faith (pardon the pun) that this book is much more than a love letter to, or even a straightforward biography of, Bauer. Hockey Priest is a must read for sport scholars interested in a critical and thought-provoking discussion of the relationship between religion and sports, a fresh perspective on the development of elite men's hockey in postwar Canada, and an important contribution to the field of hockey studies.Hockey Priest is organized chronologically around Bauer's life. The first two chapters introduce the reader to Bauer's place in Canadian hockey history and the three major influences on his philosophy of sports: Basilian writer Jacques Maritain, Bauer's mentor and Basilian educator Father Henry Carr, and the Bauer family. Like many amateur sport promoters before him, Bauer's philosophy of sport was that youth hockey programs should put the development of the individual ahead of the commercial interests of corporate hockey leagues. But Bauer's philosophy of hockey cannot be easily summed up as “amateur.” In chapters 3 through 8, Hoven gives us a detailed outline of Bauer's philosophy of sport by outlining his journey from a promising hockey player at St. Michael's College (1942–1944), to Basilian priest-coach and manager of the St. Michael's Majors and the Canadian national men's team, to hockey executive and board member of influential organizations such as Hockey Canada. Across each chapter, Hoven describes how, time and time again, Bauer's unrelenting “moral critique of the Canadian hockey system” put him in direct opposition to the National Hockey League's slow but eventual takeover of all levels of men's hockey (266). Hockey enthusiasts and even casual hockey fans will be enthralled by Hoven's attention to the details of Bauer's interactions with influential figures like Toronto Maple Leafs’ owner Conn Smythe and how he helped build Canada's national men's team program and Hockey Canada.Hoven does not include a discussion about method, but he separates this book from other research and writing about Bauer by leaving few primary and secondary sources unexamined. Two key strengths of this book are Hoven's use of the General Archives of the Basilian Fathers, which includes rich philosophical conversations between Bauer and his Basilian contemporaries, and interviews with family and associates of Bauer who knew him best. The latter strength also begs the question: does Hoven share his interviewees’ love of Bauer and mythologize rather than critically examine his place in hockey history? To counter this notion, Hoven examines Bauer's “warts.” For example, Hoven draws on his personal correspondence with Bruce Kidd to critique Bauer's perhaps simple understandings of democracy as good and communism as evil, and that hockey could help Canada win its Cold War battle against the Soviet Union by producing democracy-loving men. While Hoven is clearly fond of Bauer and sympathetic to his Basilian outlook on life and sports, Hockey Priest is academic at its core, a critical and expertly researched examination of Bauer's outlook and impact on hockey.This book does not attempt to research or include long discussions of some of the bigger social problems that plague men's hockey, such as racism or sexism. However, Hockey Priest is an important addition to hockey history and announces Hoven as a key thinker in the philosophy of sports and the relationship between sports and religion. This is on display in a thoughtful discussion about Bauer's impact on hockey in the final chapter. As Father David Bauer's “larger vision” (24) for Canadian ice hockey fades, Hoven demonstrates that Bauer's individual-first philosophy of coaching had a lasting impact on the players he mentored, all of whom excelled in hockey as well as in life outside of the game. Bauer's success on the individual level invites us to reconsider the role of youth sports in society and how the hockey system can be more than a pipeline to the Professional Women's Hockey League or the National Hockey League.