Defender of Faith, Revised Edition: The Mike Fisher Story

By Kim Washburn

As a veteran of the National Hockey League, Mike Fisher has a lot to be proud of. He plays for the Nashville Predators, was an alternate captain for the Ottawa Senators, has played in a Stanley Cup final, and has been nominated for the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the league. But it’s not just his guts, grits, and talent that have taken him to the top. His power comes from the top---he puts his faith in Christ first and has demonstrated his love for God both on and off the ice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Sep 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9780310725411

Kim Washburn

Kim Washburn comenzó su carrera en el mundo editorial con Enfoque a la Familia. Después de trabajar en el equipo de mercadeo para los libros de esa organización, se convirtió en editora asociada para su revista mensual. Desde 1997 estuvo a cargo de evaluar obras para jóvenes, escribió textos originales y ayudo a crear una revista refinada, entretenida y edificante. Dios de sus historias fueron premiadas por la Asociación Evangélica de Prensa, incluyendo un primer lugar en la categoría ficción.

Reviews for Defender of Faith, Revised Edition

[beckymmoe_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's quite readable and interesting--Mike Fisher has definitely had quite a life so far. Both his Christian faith and what he's done with it--and his hockey talent and what he's accomplished with it--are definitely impressive. I did enjoy reading about both. His faith is definitely the focus of this book, as the title implies, but there is quite a lot of hockey as well, as one would imagine. I know many students at my school would enjoy reading this biography.

I found that there were some odd things about this book, however. For one, even though this is a book about Mike Fisher, an NHL hockey player, all the pictures of him actually playing hockey have captions that seem more fitting for a newspaper or magazine, as they all say something like "The Senators' Mike Fisher (#12) comes up against Boston Bruins' defender (insert name here, you get the idea)..." which just seems slightly odd. We're looking for Mike Fisher's pictures; it's a book about him! We also know from reading the text who he's playing for and what his number is (if readers didn't know already before reading the book). The personal photos have captions that seem more appropriate to the genre; it's just the sports shots that seem off. For another, one has to imagine that many, if not most of the people who pick this book up are going to do so because of an interest in hockey. Face it, most people who pick up a sports bio do so because of an interest in the sport if not the person themselves, even if that book also has a spiritual bent. However, the author takes time to explain quite a lot of hockey ideas and terms that I really feel most people already know. (I'll admit I could be wrong about this; I do live in a part of the country that is "big" on hockey, though, so most of the people I know do know this stuff already, even from a young age.) Another thing that bothered me was the fact that Mike's wife isn't mentioned at all until he is almost engaged. The way she is brought into the story, it seems almost like she's an afterthought. The rest of the book goes through his life like it's following a timeline, but the fact that he is in a relationship with country superstar Carrie Underwood doesn't get mentioned until they're practically married? I watch hockey all the time, and share season's tickets for four years now for our local NHL team, and to be honest don't like the Senators (because the Sabres are my local team), but Mike Fisher wasn't really on my personal radar (except when he was actually playing in a game against us) until he started seeing Carrie Underwood. I know the fact that she plays such a small role in the book was disappointing to me, as I can imagine it would be to others. The last issue I had with this book is a small one and I know it's totally personal, but even though the Sabres are mentioned several times in the book and quite a few specific games brought up, not a single Sabres player is mentioned by name. At one point it is reported that the Senators injured the captain of the team, putting him out of the rest of the game, but even then his name isn't given! (I believe it was Chris Drury.) I fully admit that this is just a personal thing for me, but honestly, plenty of other teams' players were mentioned by name in this book, but not a single Sabre. It really stood out, at least to a fan.

Overall I am glad I had the opportunity to read this book. Fisher has already had quite a life, and it is really nice to read about a sports figure that my students can feel good about looking up to. He definitely has a good head on his shoulders, and is very strong in his beliefs as a Christian.