Paul Tuns, Review:

Hockey Priest: Father David Bauer and the Spirit of the Canadian Game by Matt Hoven (Catholic University of America, $38.95 pb, 339 pages)

Fr. David Bauer was born in Waterloo, Ont., in 1924 and would later attend St. Michael’s College School in Toronto, which was run by the Basilian Fathers. He joined their religious community and coached the St. Michael’s Majors to a national championship in 1961.

Fr. Bauer famously said “if you can improve the boy as a person through virtues of hockey — courage, judgment, prudence, fortitude, teamwork and fair play, he will improve as a hockey player.” That became his motto as he promoted a complete and thorough mentoring of the young men he coached, and who, in doing so, challenged the hockey establishment.

Fr. Bauer’s older brother twice won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins and he was himself offered but declined an offer to join the team. However, he did not abandon hockey. He taught and coached at St. Michael’s College School and later transferred to the University of British Columbia’s St. Mark’s College.

In Hockey Priest: Father David Bauer and the Spirit of the Canadian Game Matt Hoven explains that Fr. Bauer’s philosophy infused everything he did mentoring and coaching young athletes, writing “Not only were they physically growing and gaining in skills, but they grew as people.”

His track record led to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association bringing Fr. Bauer in to develop the Canadian Olympic and world championship teams comprised of university students and other amateur players. His teams won three bronze medals with a player friendly approach that recognized the dignity and humanity of each of his players.

Hoven delves into the philosophical influences on Fr. Bauer, most notably Basilian Fr. Henry Carr’s ideas about sports and education and Jacques Maritain’s Christian humanism, as well as the internal division and conflicting pulls of being a Catholic priest and hockey coach (the need to be the face of successful teams challenged his humility).

Fr. Bauer would eventually receive the Order of Canada and enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Hoven’s intellectual biography shows why both were richly deserved.