Skip to content

Castlegar hockey hero featured in Ron MacLean's new book

Steve Bozek earned Castlegar a chapter in Ron MacLean's new book, "Hockey Towns: Untold Stories from the Heart of Canada."

Steve Bozek earned Castlegar a chapter in hockey host Ron MacLean's newest book.

The book is Hockey Towns: Untold Stories from the Heart of Canada, and thanks to Bozek there's an entire chapter dedicated to Castlegar, focusing on the two-way forward and penalty killer.

The Castlegar story is an incredible story,” MacLean said during an interview with the CBC.

Kirstie McLellan Day co-wrote the book with MacLean, who says it was McLellan Day's knowledge of Bozek's time in the NCAA “that helped this story find its legs, because I covered Steve with the Calgary Flames, but he's been part of the most amazing stories.”

Five players from Castlegar ended up playing for the Northern Michigan Wildcats and led the team to the Division 1 final, which was televised for the first time on ESPN.

He had that, he was traded with Brett Hall, which is a big deal. He played in the Miracle on Manchester, where LA rallied to beat Edmonton 6-5 after trailing 5-0. He tied the game with just five seconds to go,” said McLean. “His whole life, little Steve Bozek out of Castlegar, BC is attached to so many big stories that it just couldn't help but make a good chapter.”