YouTuber and podcaster Steve 'Dangle' Glynn brings a 'hockey book with heart' to Canada Reads
Canada Reads will air April 13-16 on CBC TV, CBC Radio and CBC Books
Hockey YouTube personality and podcaster Steve “Dangle” Glynn is championing Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard.
On Canada Reads, five Canadian celebrities each pick one book that the whole country should read. They debate their choices over the course of four days, voting to eliminate one every day. The last book standing is the winner.
This year's edition will take place on April 13-16. We’re looking for one book to build bridges.
The Canada Reads 2026 contenders are:
- Filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers champions A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
- Hockey YouTube personality and podcaster Steve “Dangle” Glynn champions Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard
- Musician and writer Tegan Quin champions The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor
- Broadway actor and kids TV host Josh Dela Cruz champions Foe by Iain Reid
- BookTok star Morgann Book champions It's Different This Time by Joss Richard
The Canada Reads 2026 debates will be hosted by Ali Hassan and will broadcast each day at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. AT, 1:30 p.m. NT) on CBC Radio, with a live audio stream and podcast recap on CBC Listen. Watch live at 10 a.m. ET/ 7 a.m. PT on CBC Gem, CBCbooks.ca and YouTube, or at 1 p.m. (2 p.m. AT, 2:30 p.m. NT) on CBC TV.
You can tune in live or catch a replay on the platform of your choice.
A hockey fan, through and through
Steve “Dangle” Glynn is the host of the Steve Dangle Podcast, a podcast that blends together conversations about hockey with the latest in pop culture. A former television analyst on Sportsnet, he's a popular YouTuber and broadcaster.
Glynn also co-founded SDPN, a network of eight sports podcasts, and captivates audiences with his rants and hot takes.
Based in Ajax, Ont., he's written two books: This Team Is Ruining My Life (But I Love Them) and Hockey Rants and Raves.
Dangle started his YouTube channel in 2007 when he was in his late teens. Since then, he’s made a video after every Maple Leafs game and found a sense of community with fellow Leafs-obsessed hockey fans.
Books for life
Glynn’s lifelong love of reading started when he was growing up in Scarborough, Ont. Though he doesn’t consider himself a bookworm, Glynn has always enjoyed exploring new worlds through literature.
“I've always liked reading. I've always liked it, and that was something my parents instilled in me from a young age," he told CBC Books in an interview.
For him, story time with his parents was an important part of his childhood and a tradition he continues with his own children today.
“They read the Berenstain Bears books to me and I always loved story time before bed. At some point that changed to hockey books and reading stories about the greats at the time and I was obsessed with the Leafs,” he said.
“My parents used sports to help get me into reading. I really enjoy getting lost in a book and imagining the world.”
WATCH | Steve Dangle talks Canada Reads with CBC Sports:
A different kind of hockey book
Glynn's Canada Reads pick is Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard.
The novel is about a man named Adam who has one final chance to save his sports writing career: a shot at a Sports Illustrated profile of the notorious hockey goon, Terry Punchout. To complicate matters, Terry is Adam's estranged father; writing this piece requires Adam to return to his small, Nova Scotia hometown, and dredge up old feelings and frustrations.
As he spends more time with family and friends, he begins to realize that the sleepy town and people he left behind deserve more credit than he ever gave them.
Glynn says part of the appeal of Searching for Terry Punchout is that it’s not the typical hockey book.
"It's a hockey book that isn't necessarily a hockey book. Hockey is kind of a means to an end," said Glynn.
"It's about the protagonist building bridges between him and his father. It's him building bridges between him and his hometown. It's him building bridges between him and his past.
"What's really beautiful is it shows that you can still go home and it's never too late to fix the errors of the past."
A full-circle moment
When deciding which book he wanted to champion on Canada Reads, Searching for Terry Punchout was already the frontrunner — but an unexpected connection helped make his final decision an easy one.
He recalled that his grandmother had given him a letter she had gotten for her 10th birthday back in 1935. The gift included a beautiful fountain pen and notepad that Glynn had cherished.
“Years later, I'm trying to figure out which book I'm going to read for Canada Reads and Searching for Terry Punchout arrived in my mailbox. Surprisingly, it was signed by Tyler Hellard," said Glynn.
In a quirk of fate, the book copy sent to Glynn was indeed signed by Hellard but was actually addressed to someone else. But it was a name that he was immediately familiar with.
"The inscription inside the book was addressed to a woman named Joyce, which also happens to be my grandmother's name. I took it as a sign that, ‘Yeah, you know what? This is probably the book [for me].’”
Leading with love
Being the die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan that he is, Glynn is no stranger to the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. But he says that for the Canada Reads debates, he wants to balance competition with consideration.
“I try to be everyone's friend. In that respect, I guess I'm not what you might expect from a hockey guy," he said.
“I don't have it in me to cross-check you in the back, or slash you in the leg. I just want to be everyone's friend. So instead of bringing hellfire and brimstone, I'll see what I can catch with honey.”
As an author and father, Glynn is looking forward to the opportunity to bring exposure to a fellow Canadian author and also champion a story about rebuilding family connections.
“It's an honour to be on Canada Reads representing Searching for Terry Punchout. It's something I'm excited for. I've written two books. I know it can be difficult to sell books in this country and one way to do it is through hockey. It's sort of like what my parents did for me," said Glynn.
“I think it's easy to get kids to talk about sports but sometimes it can be more difficult to get them to read. And my parents found a way to get me to read through sport and I guess this is an extension of that.”
Corrections
- This article has been updated to reflect the correct number of podcasts in Steve Glynn's podcast network.Jan 23, 2026 9:45 AM EST
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