David Shoalts shortlisted for prestigious National Business Book Award

Congratulations to David Shoalts, who has been named a finalist for the prestigious National Business Book Award for Hockey Fight in Canada: The Big Media Faceoff over the NHL.

The National Business Book Award, which is co-sponsored by BMO Financial Group and Bennett Jones LLP, is a $30,000 prize awarded to the author of the most outstanding Canadian business-related book published in 2018. The award jury evaluates eligible nominations based on five key criteria including originality, relevance, excellence of writing, thoroughness of research, and depth of analysis.

Hockey Fight in Canada is the full story of how the CBC lost Hockey Night in Canada—and what happened next. Drawing on sources developed as a hockey writer for The Globe and Mail, Shoalts gives an in-depth behind-the-scenes take on the 2013 negotiations that led the National Hockey League to end its long-standing primary relationship with CBC, awarding exclusive broadcast rights in Canada to relative upstart, Rogers Communications. Shoalts shows that the battle over who gets to air NHL games can be as intense as the games themselves, and the importance of expecting the unexpected.

David Shoalts is a veteran sportswriter for The Globe and Mail who spent more than thirty years covering the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2009, he and Paul Waldie of The Globe’s Report On Business won the Outstanding Sportswriting Award from Sports Media Canada. He lives in Bolton, ON.

Supporting partners for the National Business Book Award are DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University and Toronto Region Board of Trade. The winner will be announced on June 5, 2019.