Sports historian and writer Eric Zweig’s engaging Long Shot – an entry in Lorimer’s Recordbooks series of Canadian sports stories for reluctant readers – tells the tale of the Winnipeg Falcons, the first Canadian hockey team ever to win an Olympic gold medal. Populated by players of Icelandic descent, who were initially sneered at by well-to-do Winnipeggers, the team rose through the Canadian amateur ranks in the early 1900s and earned a chance to play in the 1920 Olympics. They demolished all comers on their way to the gold – without ever abandoning their principles of fair play and sportsmanship – and became national heroes upon their return to Canada.
   

The book starts off slowly – Zweig spends too much time explaining the different early leagues and cups, though he does a good job of establishing how and why the young players faced prejudice from wealthier teams. While those details help pull the reader to the Falcons’ side, the information about the personalities and hockey styles of each player is what really gets readers rooting for the underdogs. But those parts are introduced too late in the book.
   

It isn’t until the fascinating middle chapters about the Falcons’ service in the Second World War that the reader really starts to feel familiar with the individual players, and from then on the book is captivating. The hockey scenes are tightly written and eminently engaging, and Zweig uses his extensive research to great effect in recreating the emotions of the era. He also works in interesting details about early hockey rules that will appeal to young fans.

While the book sometimes suffers from an overload of information – do we really need to know the size of a backyard rink in both feet and metres? – the overall story of this group of multitalented and good-hearted athletes is a winner.