CLOSE
Playing With Fire
Playing With Fire

Playing With Fire

By Theo Fleury, By Kirstie McLellan Day, Foreword by Wayne Gretzky

SPORTS & RECREATION

336 Pages, 6 x 9

Formats: Cloth, Trade Paper, EPUB, Mobipocket

Trade Paper, $19.95 (US $19.95) (CA $16.95)

ISBN 9781600786372

Rights: WOR X CA

Triumph Books (Oct 2011)

eBook

eBook Editions Available

Will it work on my eReader?
Price: $19.95
 
Google Preview
9781600786372
Media Copy

Overview

In Playing With Fire, Theo Fleury takes us behind the bench during his glorious days as an NHL player, and talks about growing up devastatingly poor and in chaos at home. Dark personal issues began to surface, and drinking, drugs, gambling, and girls ultimately derailed a career that had him destined for the Hall of Fame. Fleury shares all in this raw, captivating, and honest look at the previously untold story of one the game's greatest heroes.

Author Biography

Theo Fleury
See Author
Theo Fleury won a World Junior title, a Turner Cup, a Stanley Cup as a rookie with the Calgary Flames, and later a Canada Cup and an Olympic gold medal. A former player with the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Rangers, and the Chicago Blackhawks, he is now a motivational speaker and businessman. He lives in Calgary, Alberta. Kirstie McLellan Day is an author whose screenplays and books include the true-crime novel No Remorse: A Father's Murderous Rage; Under the Mat (the Diana Hart story); and Above and Beyond, a biography of cable magnate J. R. Shaw. She writes two weekly entertainment columns for the Calgary Herald and is the CEO of Pyramid Productions Inc., a film and television company. Wayne Gretzky is a former professional ice hockey player generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League.

Media

Read Yahoo! News's article on Theo Fleury, the new documentary about him, and his biography, Playing With Fire.
Read Now

Press Releases

Playing With Fire
By Theo Fleury with Kirstie McLellan Day
Foreword by Wayne Gretzky

 

Standing just 5'6", Theo Fleury made a name for himself in a game played by giants. With a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold medal, and multiple All-Star appearances to his name, his exploits on the ice proved legendary in Calgary Flames and NHL lore. Yet, his hockey career is only a small part of an incredible lifestory.

 

Playing With Fire follows Theo Fleury's career from his glory days to his battles with addiction, marital breakups, brushes with the law, and a suicidal night of drinking, when he stared down the barrel of a loaded gun. From his nightmare childhood to his dysfunctional adulthood, Fleury leaves no stone unturned in this new paperback edition.

 

On the ice, Fleury could be brilliant. But away from the rink his life was defined by wild cocaine-fueled binges, failed drug tests, and futile stints in rehab, and the NHL finally threw him out. This dizzying journey includes:

 

• Sexual abuse as a youth by his Junior coach, which lead to his drug and alcohol addictions
• The highs of his hockey triumphs, from his early days on the ice to his time representing his country at the Olympics
• The lows of his substance abuse, as well as his costly run-ins with gambling and strippers

 

Some nights he would drop several hundred thousand dollars in only a few hours. Other nights he would booze until dawn on the backstreets with the homeless. And yet despite these demons, he managed an iconic, although ultimately prematurely derailed hockey career.  Playing With Fire combines all of these elements for a raw, captivating, and honest look at the previously untold story of one of the game's greatest characters.

 

About the Authors:
Theoren "Theo" Fleury won a World Junior title, a Turner Cup, a Stanley Cup as a rookie with the Calgary Flames, and later a Canada Cup and an Olympic gold medal. A former player with the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Rangers, and the Chicago Blackhawks, he now lives in Calgary, where he is a motivational speaker and businessman.

 

Kirstie McLellan Day was born in Saskatchewan, attended the University of Regina, and studied broadcast journalism in Calgary. Her screenplays and books include the true-crime novel No Remorse: A Father's Murderous Rage; Under the Mat (the Diana Hart story); and Above and Beyond, a biography of cable magnate J.R. Shaw. She writes two weekly entertainment columns for the Calgary Herald. McLellan Day is a mother of five and the CEO of a film and television company, Pyramid Productions Inc.

 

CONTACT: Josh Williams, Independent Publishers Group, 312-337-0747, jwilliams@ipgbook.com

 

###