Michael PJ Kennedy, a sessional lecturer in English at the University of Saskatchewan, has published a second edition of his book Dogs on Ice: A History of Hockey at the University of Saskatchewan, co-written with project co-ordinator Bill Seymour.

The book, originally published in 2006, details the origins and subsequent growth of Huskies hockey at the U of S. The updated version includes nine years worth of new material not found in the first edition.

For Kennedy, hockey has always been an important part of his university experience.

“Since I attended University of Ottawa in the late 1960s, I grew to love the university caliber of hockey: highly skilled, hard-hitting, highly competitive and no fighting,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy received his PhD in Canadian Literature from the U of O, and began teaching at the U of S later in his career. His love of hockey continued to grow after moving to Saskatchewan in 1991. It is from this love of hockey that the idea for Dogs on Ice was born.

“I have attended most home games the men’s team plays and came to know Bill Seymour, former player, coach and interim athletic director. We talked one day and he indicated he was exploring the possibility of a book about Rutherford Rink. I, at the time, was thinking about celebrating the long history of Huskie hockey in general,” Kennedy said.

After receiving a grant from the College of Kinesiology, Kennedy and Seymour set about researching and writing their book. The intersection of historical study and athletics appealed to Kennedy’s former career as a sports journalist.

After months of work and research, the first edition of Dogs on Ice was published in the summer of 2006.

The second edition of the book contains nine years worth of updated information about Huskies hockey. It includes special chapters about women’s hockey, the history of rinks on campus and the successes of Huskies alumni. The text is paired with photographs from throughout the last century.

All proceeds from the sale of Dogs on Ice will go towards the Michael PJ Kennedy Scholarship for Men’s Hockey, an endowed scholarship that pays $2,000 to a student athlete each year.

Copies are available at the U of S Bookstore, McNally Robinson and online.

For aspiring sports journalists and academics, Kennedy offers some advice that he feels has helped his success as a writer. 

“Plan your work with specific timelines to serve as goals as you begin the task. Do thorough research. Double check sources [and] cite them clearly because you may need to visit them again. Write, type, review and revise your text. Enjoy the process. Each step is an accomplishment. If you believe in what you are writing, all the work will be worth it when your book, article or other work is finished,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy wants to emphasize just how important hockey history is to the U of S, not only as a university, but also as a part of Canada.

“History is important for us as Canadians to better understand who we are,” Kennedy said. “Our university’s hockey history is important for us to appreciate how far we have come from the first men’s team in 1910 … through the building years when students voted to pay to build a new on-campus rink, to today’s student-athletes who sacrifice so much of their own time and talents to represent our institution and province. Huskie men’s and women’s hockey is a key part of who we are as students, educators, employees on campus in 2015.”

—

Photo: University Library, Archives & Special Collections / A-1033