Glory Days

About the Book

The Shamrock Tavern is a working-class bar, a place where the blue-collar regulars would gather for a pint or two on their way home from work.  But once hockey season began, Saturday would become the night to be at the Shamrock, to watch the Hockey Night in Canada, to cheer the home team, to share the comaraderie of the common man.

The Shamrock’s best days are behind her when Tim Whittaker stumbles in from the cold November night.  Once, when he was a boy, he had been a dedicated hockey fan.  All that ended however with the death of his father, with whom he had shared the game.  But this night, rather than spend another Saturday evening alone, he decides to stay awhile and watch the game on the TV behind the bar.

Eddie Ross spent seventeen seasons as a minor league goaltender, toiling in relative obscurity in towns like Omaha and Toledo.  After his career comes to an end, Eddie returns home to Toronto where he discovered the Shamrock, a place that would be his refuge, its regulars his family, for the better part of the next forty years.

Ruth Callaghan inherited the Shamrock from her parents.  Now she is faced with the reality that it is failing as a business.  When a developer makes her an offer too good to be true, she must face the hardest decision of her life: Does she sell the tavern and give up the only life she has ever known or does she continue to fight a losing battle and take whatever comes?

  Glory Days tells the story of how these three individuals come together to reawaken one’s love of the game, another’s pride in his past and gives the third the courage to break free.  Rich in nostalgia and character, the book is a must-read for any hockey fan and a compelling story of human compassion for everyone.

About the Author

Michael Hance was born in Oshawa, Ontario in 1962 and began writing as a hobby when in his mid-thirties. He is married to Liz and has one son, Tim. He still lives in Oshawa.