In his breakaway bestseller 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick, Peter Manchester transformed the agony of defeated sticks into the thrill of a new creation, with a slap of good humour that kept readers chuckling all the way through the book. Now, with the publication of Fabulous Fabrications from Busted Hockey Gear, the hockey stick handyman has turned his creative talents to the rest of the equipment left to fester in the basement — helmets, pads, gloves, skates, and even cast-off hockey uniforms.

In this oh-so-Canadian book of how-to humour, a wonderland of "construct-o-rama experiences" awaits devotees of rink junk. Who would have thought of an electric guitar for only $15 or a drum set made entirely of cast-off helmets? A leather skate becomes a bird or a ball cap; a dismantled helmet becomes a mask; a pair of pants becomes an amazing sling chair. Basement artistes can build a lap steel guitar from sticks, fashion a guiro from a bit of stick and a plastic knee protector, mount a row of helmets into a set of timbales, and presto! a garage band like no other. A tent, a crouching dog, a mechanical cheerleader — with Manchester's step-by-step instructions and clear, humorous illustrations, all these things and more can rise like, well, like a squawking bird, if not a phoenix, from a mound of hockey detritus.

Hockey and art may seem like an unlikely mix but don't tell that to artist/illustrator Peter Manchester. A long-time practitioner of eco-art, he has been turning trash into treasures for over a decade. Transforming hockey sticks into works of useful art was a natural transition for someone with his unique sense of humour and vision. The son of a Methodist missionary, Manchester spent his childhood in the US, Europe, and Africa. He moved to New Mexico in the 1970s to attend university and stayed for 25 years. In the late 1990s, he followed his wife and children to Sackville, New Brunswick, where he "discovered" hockey. He has been huge fan ever since. When he isn't dreaming up new uses for hockey sticks or goalie masks, Peter Manchester is a busy illustrator and painter. His paintings have been exhibited at galleries such as the Albuquerque Museum, the Tamarind Institute, the Owens Art Gallery, and the Confederation Centre of the Arts Gallery, and can be found in numerous private and public collections.

Peter Manchester's profile page

"Eco-artist Peter Manchester finds beautiful new uses for cast-off hockey gear... The section on masks... would make legendary Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante wish he'd been more imaginative when he donned hockey's first face-protector in 1959."

<i>Winnipeg Free Press</i>

"Manchester continues to streak down the ice with his creations... Fabulous Fabrications from Busted Hockey Gear is certain to be among the scoring leaders this season."

<i>Halifax Daily News</i>