Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood has found a different kind of crease to work from: a monthly book club built for hockey fans and readers who want to compare notes without worrying about spoilers. Wedge’s Book Wall is running through the Fable app, Instagram and TikTok, with Wedgewood also set to chronicle the project in a monthly NHL.com blog.
Key takeaways
- Wedgewood’s official club on Fable uses chapter-by-chapter discussion spaces so readers can join the conversation at their own pace.
- The first selection is “Bodies of Magic” by Freya Markse, chosen after members voted from a group of four books.
- The club had nearly 25,000 Instagram followers and about 5,600 members in its Fable discussion room after its first post on Sept. 13.
- Readers have joined from across the hockey map, including Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Denver, Detroit and the St. Louis Blues fan base.
- Potential monthly Instagram Live recaps and in-person meet-and-greets at Avalanche theme nights are under consideration.
A reading room with no rivalry lines
Wedgewood has long used books as part of life away from the rink, particularly during travel. The idea began as a social-media joke, but fans quickly made clear they wanted in. When Colorado announced five theme nights for the current season, the goalie raised the idea again and turned it into a working community.
The Fable hub is organized to prevent readers from getting ahead of one another. Each chapter has its own discussion tab, allowing someone who has only finished the opening chapter to weigh in without having the rest of the novel spoiled. Wedgewood said he wanted the space to feel like a broad conversation rather than a reading assignment imposed by one person.
That approach carried into the opening vote. Members were offered four titles, and “Bodies of Magic” emerged as the first monthly pick. The club’s plan is to move through one book each month.
Wedge’s Book Wall also has separate spaces beyond the current title. There is a general lobby, an introduction tab, a recommendation room and a bookstore thread where members can suggest shops around the NHL. Fans have shared photos of their bookshelves, their reading spots and the places from which they watch games.
From the goalie room to a global community
The audience has reached well beyond Avalanche territory. Wedgewood said the group includes international readers, former Denver residents now living elsewhere and supporters of clubs that normally sit on the other side of Colorado’s rivalry lines. Some followers have stayed with him from earlier stops in his career, including fans who watched him with the Albany Devils in upstate New York.
For Wedgewood, that mix is the point. He described the project as an online version of a coffee-shop conversation, only with thousands of participants and no wrong way to enjoy a book. Hockey and reading are two of his biggest interests, and the club gives both communities a shared meeting place.
He is considering a 30-minute Instagram Live session at the end of each month, possibly during a road trip, where members could send questions through chat rather than trying to fit hundreds of people into a single video call. The format has not been finalized.
Avalanche theme nights could provide the in-person side of the club, with participating fans getting chances to meet and attend games together. Wedgewood said the response has been rewarding because it matches the way he prefers to operate around the sport: ready to talk with anyone, whether it is general manager Joe Sakic or a member of the arena crew cutting the ice.
For now, the club’s rhythm is simple: turn the pages, enter the appropriate chapter room and join the discussion when the next puck is not yet on the ice.
