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A celebration of the twentieth anniversary of one of the greatest seasons in hockey history Twenty years after the fact, the mere mention of the 1992-93 NHL season brings back vivid memories for hockey fans across North America. The last time that the Montreal Canadiens hoisted the Stanley Cup, Wayne Gretzky's last appearance in a playoff final, and Mario Lemieux's most inspirational season, these years are rightly considered some of the greatest in NHL history. Now, in A Season in Time: Super Mario, Killer, St. Patrick, the Great One, and the Unforgettable 1992-93 NHL Season, acclaimed hockey writer Todd Denault looks back to those heady days. The story of a truly magical age for hockey in ...
This game wasn't about money, points, or trophies. Instead it was played for pride, both personal and national. It was a confrontation twenty years in the making and it marked a turning point in the history of hockey. On December 31, 1975, the Montreal Canadiens, the most successful franchise in the NHL, hosted the touring Central Red Army, the dominant team in the Soviet Union. For three hours millions of people in both Canada and the Soviet Union were glued to their television sets. What transpired that evening was a game that surpassed all the hype and was subsequently referred to as "the greatest game ever played." Held at the height of the Cold War, this remarkable contest transcended sports and took on serious cultural, sociological, and political overtones. And while the final result was a 3-3 tie, no one who saw the game was left disappointed. This exhibition of skill was hockey at its finest, and it set the bar for what was to follow as the sport began its global expansion.
Between December 28, 1975, and January 11, 1976, a groundbreaking hockey event took place: Super Series '76. Eight National Hockey League clubs each hosted a single exhibition game against one of two touring teams from the USSR: Central Red Army or Wings of the Soviet. Officially nothing was at stake, but serious hockey fans realized that a Cold War clash of political ideologies was occurring on North American ice surfaces. The top pro teams would finally meet the best "amateurs" from the Soviet Elite League. The reputations of the NHL and Soviet hockey were both on the line. Canadians already knew how strong the Soviets were, based on the eye-opening experiences of both countries' hockey st...
Doug MacLean, former NHL coach, general manager, team president, and one of the game’s biggest personalities, reveals how teams build for greatness—or fail to—on hockey’s most anticipated day. A Moneyball for hockey. The NHL draft is a critical time for teams, when the foundation for future championships is laid—or when championship dreams die. Only time will tell if a draft is successful, but a failed draft can severely set teams back for seasons, much to the dread of ownership, management, and most importantly, the fans. For even the most die-hard hockey fan, the preparation for draft day is a black box. Former president, general manager, and coach Doug MacLean takes readers behi...
Played on frozen ponds in cold northern lands, hockey seemed an especially unlikely game to gain a global following. But from its beginnings in the nineteenth century, the sport has drawn from different cultures and crossed boundaries––between Canada and the United States, across the Atlantic, and among different regions of Europe. It has been a political flashpoint within countries and internationally. And it has given rise to far-reaching cultural changes and firmly held traditions. The Fastest Game in the World is a global history of a global sport, drawing upon research conducted around the world in a variety of languages. From Canadian prairies to Swiss mountain resorts, Soviet housing blocks to American suburbs, Bruce Berglund takes readers on an international tour, seamlessly weaving in hockey’s local, national, and international trends. Written in a lively style with wide-ranging breadth and attention to telling detail, The Fastest Game in the World will thrill both the lifelong fan and anyone who is curious about how games intertwine with politics, economics, and culture.
Never to be confused with any previous Montreal Canadien “Flying Frenchmen” juggernauts who dominated the NHL between the 1950s and 1970s, the 1992-93 Canadiens, whose lone superstar was future Hall-of-Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, were essentially a nondescript team coming off an embarrassing second-round playoff series sweep against the Boston Bruins the previous spring. Yet these Habs, led by the goaltending of Roy and with timely goals from various unlikely heroes, stunned the hockey world by winning a record 10 consecutive playoff overtime games over a magical seven-week run during the spring of 1993. Montreal ultimately captured hockey’s ultimate prize that June—the 24th champio...
Written with the full support of Keith Magnuson’s wife and children, this thrilling and insightful biography pays tribute to a Chicago icon and true hockey legend. One of the most popular Chicago Blackhawks of all time, defenseman Keith Magnuson was raised on the raw, rough traditions of hockey in western Canada. He captained the University of Denver team to its second straight NCAA championship in the spring of 1969 and by autumn joined Blackhawks stars Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Tony Esposito, becoming the much-needed “policeman” for the team. Over the course of the next several seasons, Magnuson and the Blackhawks fell painfully short of their Stanley Cup aspirations; nonetheless, Magnuson’s leadership qualities led to his being named captain of the team. On December 15, 2003, Magnuson was in Toronto riding in a car driven by former player, Rob Ramage: he was killed when the car veered over the center line and struck an oncoming vehicle. As veteran sportswriter Bob Verdi described Magnuson upon his retirement from the Blackhawks, “there have been many finer athletes in Chicago, but not one finer person,” and this biography shares the story of his remarkable life.
A fresh, comprehensive, and entertaining take on hockey goalies In hockey, goalies have always been a contradiction - solitary men in a team game, the last line of defence and the stalwarts expected to save the day after any and every miscue and collapse from his teammates. It's no wonder that anyone who played the position has had his sanity questioned; yet some of the biggest innovations in the game have come from its puckstoppers. In The Goaltenders' Union, Greg Oliver and Richard Kamchen talk to more than 60 keepers of yesterday and today, finding common threads to their stories, and in dozens of interviews about them with other coaches and players. From Gilles "Gratoony the Loony" Gratton, who refused to play because the moon was out of alignment with Jupiter, to Jonathan Quick, the athletically gifted master keeper of today's game, the book is an entertaining and enlightening peek behind the mask.
"Hockey Priest looks past simply understanding Bauer as a do-gooder or hockey innovator. It shows how he attempted to create a different stream of hockey that could better support youth and so build up the nation. Archival research for the book uncovered Bauer-written hockey reports, speeches, and notes that detail his thinking about the game and his politicking to bring about change in it"--
Chosen as one of Resource Links' Year's Best for 2011 From Crosby's winning goal at the 2010 Winter Games to Henderson's awesome goal in the 72 Summit Series, Canada's greatest hockey moments go hand in hand with how we see our place in the world.