Saved: How Goaltending Made Me a Better Person
$16.99-
Bidini’s mid-life leap into goaltending is part sports memoir, part self-help manual, and all meditation on what it means to strap on the pads in your 50s. You’ll learn what hockey’s hardest position teaches us about pain, aging, and showing up.
Saved is about becoming a hockey goaltender in your 50s, and how the position helped Dave Bidini navigate life and aging, meeting head-on the three elements that are inherent to the position: pain, failure, and loneliness.
Blending sports memoir, self-help, and cultural history, Saved also touches on the author’s encounters and friendships with Ken and Dave Dryden, Gord Downie, Sami Jo Small, and a galaxy of others, weaving their stories into a broader exploration of goaltending’s unique place in sport and identity.
Available March 9, 2027. PRE-ORDER NOW!
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Author, musician, and filmmaker Dave Bidini is the only person to have been nominated for all three of Canada's main entertainment awards: Gemini, Genie, and Juno. A founding member of Rheostatics, he has written 13 books, and in 2017, he launched West End Phoenix, Canada’s newest broadsheet newspaper. He lives in Toronto, ON.
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Published: March 2027
ISBN: 9781770418851
Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 in.
Pages: 192
Reviews
“Bidini pulls the goalie mask back and reveals the courage, chaos and humanity that live behind every save.” —Terry Ryan, Shoresy cast member and the author of Tales of a First-Round Nothing
“Part history lesson, part memoir and all Bidini charm, Saved belongs among the great books on goaltending. Funny and deeply human, it takes on the game's most misunderstood position and turns the 'goalies are weirdos' narrative into a story of vulnerability and resilience. You'll never look at a goalie the same way again.” —Tara Slone, Juno-nominated musician and hockey broadcaster
“Bidini is the Dominik Hasek of hockey writers: idiosyncratic, incomparable and with a moral streak that reminds us of the many resonances of the game.” —Ben McGrath, author of Riverman: An American Odyssey and New Yorker staff writer
“The jury might be out as to whether Dave Bidini will ever be a good goalie, but with Saved, there's no doubt he's a great writer. As evidenced in his other books, he's also a great researcher, explorer and spy. Who else but Bidini could so expertly and fully expose the weirdest and most difficult job not just in hockey but all of sport? He's also sincerely fucking funny. His long-suffering goalies make mountaintop yogis look like amateurs. Bidini does the splits and flashes leather with this one. I hope the Canucks read it and sign him before it's too late.” —Bill Gaston, author of The World, Mount Appetite and Midnight Hockey