Hockey's Young Guns: 25 Inside Stories on Making It to the "Big Leagues" »

To make it to the NHL you obviously have to be talented, but that's just a start. Players today are determined, passionate, driven, focused and hard-working from a very early age. But what exactly does it take to make it to the NHL?

Hockey's Young Guns: 25 Inside Stories on Making it to the "Big Leagues" by Ryan Dixon and Ryan Kennedy of Hockey News (foreword by Pierre McGuire) identifies 25 of the brightest young talents in the NHL and provides an inside-look at what it took for them climb up the ladder to make their dream reality.

In Hockey's Young Guns fans will read stories such as:

• How Matt Carle played a championship tournament with a ruptured spleen during High School
• What happened when Jordan Staal was sent on the ice to be the only forward with two defensemen to try to kill off the 5-on-3 power play at the age of nine
• How Patrice Bergeron would sit on the ice in the net for hours before miraculously getting up one day and skating perfectly when he was five
• What made Thomas Vanek leave home at 14 years old and move to Canada

Hockey's Young Guns also provides helpful tips from players and even drills you can try to get yourself on track to becoming the next NHL star. Plus there's a section about who to watch for over the next few years to become the next big thing in the league.

Each player in the book has a unique story on how they were able to turn their dream into reality. Some will make you laugh and others will be a source of inspiration. No matter what, hockey fans will be reminded that even the young players of today had to be more than just good hockey players to make it in the NHL.