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Showing 241 - 260 of 432 items
By Stan Fischler. 2013
In Stan Fischler's latest hockey classic, Behind the Net, Fischler includes a collection of short, zany (but true!) tales that…
have taken place over more than a half century of hockey-watching. An easy read for fans of all ages with photos to accompany the anecdotes, this book offers a unique perspective into the NHL from one of today's most prolific hockey writers. Different from the typical NHL "game" stories, this book details everything, from the hilarious to the absurd. Fischler details the time that:Bill Mosienko scored three goals in 21 secondsRene Fernand Gauthier accepted a challenge to shoot the puck in the oceanSam LoPresti faced 83 shots on goal in one gameAnd 98 more unique stories!So lace up your skates and hit the ice with Behind the Net, a comprehensive collection sure to entertain any hockey fan, regardless of team allegiances.As one of the NHL's original six teams, the Chicago Blackhawks have given their fans millions of heart-stopping memories, thousands…
of unforgettable stories, and five Stanley Cup Championships. Now fans of this indomitable team get to relive it all in this newly updated edition of Tales from the Chicago Blackhawks Locker Room. With all the charm and wit of a sportscaster who has been covering the Blackhawks for over sixty years, Harvey Wittenberg shares the greatest Hawks stories, including their 2010 Stanley Cup title.In Tales from the Los Angeles Kings Locker Room, Bob Miller shares 40 years of Hollywood hockey with fans, reminding…
them of the highs and lows of Los Angeles hockey, while entertaining them with behind-the-scenes looks into the history of the 2012 Stanley Cup championship team.As the "Voice of the Kings," Miller has been part of the Kings experience from the era of original owner Jack Kent Cooke to the days of flamboyant Jerry Buss; from the team's first true superstar, Rogie Vachon, to then-owner Bruce McNall's trade that put Southern California on the hockey map--the acquisition of Wayne Gretzky in 1988.Join Miller as he skates through Kings history, examining off-the-wall personalities and the team's greatest moments--from thrilling playoff victories to the Kings' involvement in the Lakers' acquisition of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. You will read about the greatest personalities ever to don the royal black and silver--from the "Triple Crown" line to Jonathan Quick and today's Kings--and relish the stories that make Tales from the Los Angeles Kings Locker Room the ultimate addition to any Kings fan's library.By John Kreiser, John Halligan. 2012
Famous games and players have been the hallmark of the New York Rangers from their NHL debut in 1926 to…
the present day. From Frank Boucher and the original Blueshirts to Jaromir Jagr, the Rangers have thrilled their fans with some of the most memorable performances in hockey history. In this newly revised edition of Game of My Life New York Rangers, John Halligan and John Kreiser share the recollections of over twenty of the most famous names in Rangers history as they discuss the most memorable games in their careers. Boucher describes the Rangers' first game; Clint Smith remembers what it was like to win the Stanley Cup in 1940; Mark Messier and the stars of the 1994 team share their memories of the games that ended the fifty-four-year Cup drought; Wayne Gretzky talks about his final NHL game; and Jagr describes his feelings about setting team scoring records. It's the best kind of anecdotal history, in which the people who made history are the ones doing the telling. Game of My Life New York Rangers takes readers inside the mind of each player and behind the doors of the locker room to reveal what really happened, and how it affected the people who were involved in some of the most memorable moments in New York hockey history.By Alan Hahn, Bob Nystrom. 2012
The National Hockey League saw the birth of a new dynasty in 1980. The New York Islanders had been an…
expansion franchise in 1972 in the New York City suburbs of Long Island. For years they played in the long shadow of the big-city New York Rangers and were considered the league's laughingstock during their first season. Miraculously, eight years later, they were champions. Despite their mercurial rise in the 1970s'-which included a first-place overall finish in the 1978-79 season'-the Islanders were still considered chokers because of playoff failures. The most frustrating failure of all came at the hands of the rival Rangers, who beat them in 1979 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. A year later they stumbled through an injury-plagued and inconsistent regular season. When the playoffs arrived again, however, they were ready. Bolstered by the late-season addition of speedy center Butch Goring and the bitterness of the previous year's defeat, the Islanders overcame their past failures and put together an exhausting and dramatic run to their first-ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the Finals they met the still-dominant Philadelphia Flyers, two-time champions in the 1970s. The ensuing battle demonstrated not only the promise with which the Islanders had always teased their fans, but also the maddening struggles that seemed to hold them back every year. That is, until Game 6, when Bob Nystrom, an everyman's everyman, scored the clinching goal at 7:11 of overtime to make history in both the NHL and on Long Island. It is a moment that, 25 years later, still lives in the hearts of Islanders fans and in the annals of Long Island, as a region and a community. It is a moment that spawned a run of four consecutive championships, the longest by any United States-based professional team and a run that has since gone unmatched. Birth of a Dynasty: The 1980 New York Islanders is the story of how it happened, how it came together, and what it felt like to be there.By Stan Fischler. 2012
One of the National Hockey League's "Original Six," few teams in professional hockey have enjoyed more success than the Detroit…
Red Wings. In this newly revised edition, Stan "the Hockey Maven" Fischler profiles over fifty of the greatest characters from this unforgettable franchise. Fans can read about everyone from the legendary Gordie Howe (who was almost killed by a body-check that fractured his skull before he went on to become known as "Mr. Hockey") to Nicklas Lindström (who became the first European to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2002). With a deft pen, Fischler describes the Red Wings greatest accomplishments from his front-row seat in the press box. Beyond the stats and facts, this veteran sportswriter brings fans off the ice and into the locker room to share a treasure trove of stories and anecdotes from this legendary franchise. Within these pages, fans will taste the adrenaline as the Red Wings rack up 10 Stanley Cup Championships and cheer with the crowd as Pete and Jerry Cusimano toss the first "good luck" octopus onto the ice. Without a doubt, Detroit Red Wings Greatest Moments and Players is a must-have for any Red Wings fan.By Emile Francis, George Grimm. 2018
We Did Everything But Win: An Oral History of the Emile Francis Era New York Rangers (1964–1976) is an entertaining…
account of one of the most exciting and unforgettable periods in the history of the Broadway Blueshirts as told by Francis as well as several of his players.George Grimm chronicles each season of the Francis era when “The Cat” transformed them from perennial league doormats to a team that made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs for nine consecutive seasons, including a Finals appearance in 1972. There are also chapters detailing Emile’s playing career and his hiring as general manager as well as the aftermath of his dismissal and an analysis of his tenure behind the bench and as GM. It was during those years that the National Hockey League doubled in size and the Rangers moved into a brand-new Madison Square Garden. As the popularity of the National Hockey League skyrocketed, who could forget the Rangers’ battles on the ice with Boston’s Big Bad Bruins and Philadelphia’s Broad Street Bullies and showdowns with the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks? All the great moments are here including a heart-stopping, triple-overtime victory in the 1971 playoffs and Vic Hadfield’s 50th goal the following season. We Did Everything But Win is a tribute to the Rangers of that era; Jacques Plante and Marcel Paille, Eddie Giacomin and Gilles Villemure, Harry Howell and Jim “The Chief” Neilson, “The Old Smoothies,” the “G-A-G Line,” and the “Bulldog Line.” It’s the story of colorful players with nicknames like “Boomer,” “Stemmer,” and “Sarge” and fan favorites such as Brad Park, Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, Walt Tkaczuk. It’s all here—the highs and the lows, the inspiring victories, the devastating losses, and the funny moments along the way.By Eric Fichaud, Nicholas Hirshon. 2018
The NHL’s New York Islanders were struggling. After winning four straight Stanley Cups in the early 1980s, the Islanders had…
suffered an embarrassing sweep by their geographic rivals, the New York Rangers, in the first round of the 1994 playoffs. Hoping for a new start, the Islanders swapped out their distinctive logo, which featured the letters NY and a map of Long Island, for a cartoon fisherman wearing a rain slicker and gripping a hockey stick. The new logo immediately drew comparisons to the mascot for Gorton’s frozen seafood, and opposing fans taunted the team with chants of “We want fish sticks!” During a rebranding process that lasted three torturous seasons, the Islanders unveiled a new mascot, new uniforms, new players, a new coach, and a new owner that were supposed to signal a return to championship glory. Instead, the team and its fans endured a twenty-eight-month span more humiliating than what most franchises witness over twenty-eight years. The Islanders thought they had traded for a star player to inaugurate the fisherman era, but he initially refused to report and sulked until the general manager banished him. Fans beat up the new mascot in the stands. The new coach shoved and spit at players. The Islanders were sold to a supposed billionaire who promised to buy elite players; he turned out to be a con artist and was sent to prison. We Want Fish Sticks examines this era through period sources and interviews with the people who lived it.By Dan Robson, Doug Gilmour. 2017
The #1 Bestselling Canadian Non-Fiction Book of the YearThey called him Killer.Doug Gilmour didn’t look fearsome on a pair of…
skates—being an “undersized” forward would plague him during his early career—but few players matched his killer instincts in the faceoff circle or in front of the net. The Hockey Hall of Famer from Kingston, Ontario, played for seven teams over his twenty-year career, netting 450 goals and 964 assists during the regular season and another 188 points in the playoffs, making him one of the highest-scoring centres of all time. Gilmour played a big role in the 1989 Stanley Cup victory, scoring the winning goal for the Calgary Flames. Perhaps most famously, he led the Toronto Maple Leafs to multiple winning seasons and in 1993, took them to the brink of their first Stanley Cup final in decades, only to lose out on one of the most controversial calls in hockey history.In Killer, Doug Gilmour bares all about his on- and off-the-ice exploits and escapades. Gilmour has always been frank with the media, and his memoir is as revealing as it is hilarious. He played with the greatest players of his generation, and his love for the game and for life are legendary.By Gail Herman, Nancy Harrison, Ted Hammond. 2015
After breaking or tying more than sixty records in hockey, it's no wonder that Wayne Gretzky is known as "The…
Great One." Born in Brantford, Ontario, on January 26, 1961, in a nation obsessed with the sport, he threw himself into the game practically from the time he first laced up a pair of skates. When he retired from the NHL in 1999, he had led several teams to Stanley Cup victories, competed in the Olympics, and changed the way hockey was played forever. Known for his love for family and as a truly decent human being, Wayne Gretzky is revealed as more than a sports legend in this easy-to-read biography.By Curtis Joseph, Kirstie McLellan Day. 2018
Curtis Joseph, known affectionately to hockey fans around the world as Cujo, was an unlikely NHL superstar. The boy from…
Keswick, Ontario, didn’t put on a pair of skates until most kids his age were already far along in organized hockey, and he was passed over by every team in the NHL draft. Despite an unorthodox start, he would go on to play eighteen seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes and Calgary Flames; be ranked among the all-time greats in several key categories; and win an Olympic gold medal while representing Canada. Joseph is a legend in Toronto, where his fandom rivals that of other beloved Leaf greats, and he’s widely thought of as one of the best goalies of all time.For the first time, in this revealing memoir, Joseph talks about his highly unusual upbringing and what led him to put on his first pair of skates. Written by Kirstie McLellan Day, the world’s top writer of hockey books, this book surprises and entertains, and shares on- and off-the-ice tales no fan has heard before: the untold story behind the legend.They were the 1980 U. S. Olympic hockey team, a blue-collar bunch led by an unconventional coach, and they engineered…
what Sports Illustrated called the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. Their "Miracle on Ice" has become a national fairy tale, but the real Cinderella story is even more remarkable. Wayne Coffey casts a fresh eye on this seminal sports event, giving readers an ice-level view of the amateurs who took on a Russian hockey juggernaut at the height of the Cold War. He details the unusual chemistry of the Americans-formulated by their fiercely determined coach, Herb Brooks- and seamlessly weaves portraits of the boys with the fluid action of the game itself. Coffey also traces the paths of the players and coaches since their stunning victory, examining how the Olympic events affected their lives. Told with warmth and an uncanny eye for detail, The Boys of Winter is an intimate, perceptive portrayal of one Friday night in Lake Placid and the enduring power of the extraordinary.By Gail Herman, Who Hq. 2019
Ice hockey fans will pull on their skates and gear up for this Who HQ title about the Stanley Cup…
Finals--the National Hockey League's championship games.Out of the thirty-two pro hockey teams that compete, only one can call itself the champion and proudly hoist up the Stanley Cup--the oldest sports trophy in the world! From the formation of the leagues and the crowning of the first championship-winning team, to the Rangers' Stanley Cup curse and the uncertain fate of the teams during the Spanish flu epidemic, this book recounts the highs and lows of this exciting ice hockey series.By Ken Dryden. 2019
A hockey life like no other.A hockey book like no other.Scotty Bowman is recognized as the best coach in hockey…
history, and one of the greatest coaches in all of sports. He won more games and more Stanley Cups than anyone else. Remarkably, despite all the changes in hockey, he coached at the very top for more than four decades, his first Cup win and his last an astonishing thirty-nine years apart. Yet perhaps most uniquely, different from anyone else who has ever lived or ever will again, he has experienced the best of hockey continuously since he was fourteen years old. With his precious standing room pass to the Montreal Forum, he saw "Rocket" Richard play at his peak every Saturday night. He saw Gordie Howe as a seventeen-year-old just starting out. He scouted Bobby Orr as a thirteen-year-old in Parry Sound, Ontario. He coached Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux. He coached against Wayne Gretzky. For the past decade, as an advisor for the Chicago Blackhawks, he has watched Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Connor McDavid. He has seen it all up close. Ken Dryden was a Hall-of-Fame goaltender with the Montreal Canadiens. His critically acclaimed and bestselling books have shaped the way we read and think about hockey. Now the player and coach who won five Stanley Cups together team up once again.In Scotty, Dryden has given his coach a new test: Tell us about all these players and teams you've seen, but imagine yourself as their coach. Tell us about their weaknesses, not just their strengths. Tell us how you would coach them and coach against them. And then choose the top eight teams of all time, match them up against one another in a playoff series, and, separating the near-great from the great, tell us who would win. And why.This book is about a life—a hockey life, a Canadian life, a life of achievement. It is Scotty Bowman in his natural element, behind the bench one more time.By Jim Lang, Bryan Berard. 2019
Former NHL star Bryan Berard shares the inspiring story of his life on and off the ice—from finding early success…
in the league and suffering a life-changing eye injury to discovering the inner strength to overcome whatever life threw at him and continue to play the game he loved.&“My career is over,&” I said. &“I&’m never going to play in the NHL again.&” My mom turned to me, a stern look on her face. &“&‘Never&’ does not exist in our family&’s vocabulary.&” On March 11, 2000, Bryan Berard&’s life changed forever. One moment, he was a young hockey star, a former first overall pick and Olympian who had a long, bright career ahead of him. The next, he was writhing on the ice, his eye slashed by a wayward stick. The doctors feared Bryan might lose his eye. It seemed certain that he would never play hockey again. But ever since his childhood, Bryan had refused to believe that anything was impossible. With the support of his family behind him and his own inner determination driving him forward, Bryan not only recovered, but made a triumphant return to the NHL just two years after his injury. It seemed that the worst was behind him. But there were storm clouds on the horizon. Injuries continued to plague him throughout the rest of his career, which saw him move from North America to Russia to continue to play the game he loved. Reports of steroid use cast a shadow over his accomplishments. And then, just as he was about to retire, Berard learned that his long-time financial adviser had defrauded him, several other hockey stars, and others out of millions of dollars in life savings. Despite every setback, though, Berard refused to give up. He nearly lost an eye, but he never lost sight of what was most important in his life. Funny, honest, and inspiring, Berard&’s memoir is a tribute to the resilience and perseverance of the human spirit.This hockey generation's brightest talent has been plagued by concussions. Now, the very style of play that has brought Crosby…
such success may be heralding the end of his career.Sidney Crosby is arguably the best player ever to put on skates. You could argue that Bobby was better, or Wayne, or Gordie. But it would be hard to argue that any of those guys changed the game as much as Sid. No defenceman came along in Bobby's wake to play like him. There will never be another 99. But in Crosby's case, the entire league was re-made in his image. The game can be divided into two eras: before and after Sidney Crosby arrived in 2005, breaking Mario Lemieux's rookie scoring record. Says NHL star Matt Duchene, who entered the league in 2008, just three years after Crosby: "Just in the time that I was going from peewee and bantam to junior, there was a whole other game before and after. You didn't have a choice really--you had to adapt and adopt the way he did things or get left way behind."In an effort to keep up with Sid, the game changed. It's faster now, more skilled. There are more highlight-reel goals, and fewer fights. And in many ways, Crosby has thrived. Three Stanley Cups. Two Olympic gold medals. A World Cup. And enough individual trophies to fill a truck. But then, if Crosby hadn't changed the league, he might expect a longer career. Today, Sidney Crosby is the first generational superstar whose every shift could be his last. He invented a faster game, and the faster game has taken its toll on its creator. Crosby has suffered several concussions, and missed most of an entire season with symptoms. He plays the game fearlessly, but he also plays it without a bodyguard.The irony is that he created a league that made it harder for him to thrive. And the tragedy may be that he has created a league that will bring his career to an end in one fell swoop, in front of millions.Telling the story of a generational talent and the way he has revolutionized the game, Gare Joyce will also bring into focus crucial questions about the way the game is played today, assessing fighting and concussions in the light of the way these issues impinge on arguably the greatest player ever to skate.By Mark Spector. 2019
From bestselling author Mark Spector comes the behind-the-scenes story of the Canadian World Junior program&’s journey from obscurity to the…
international powerhouse that it is today.On the world junior hockey stage today, Canada is known as the team to beat. They hold the record for the most gold medals won (seventeen since the tournament&’s inception), their games draws millions of fans each year, and the tournament serves as a showcase for each year&’s best talent. But things weren&’t always so rosy. For years, Canada languished in obscurity at the World Juniors. Wearing the red-and-white wasn&’t a mark of honour but merely a sideshow to the players, owners resented the interruption to their league operations, and Canada was an afterthought at the tournament. Canada was supposed to be better at hockey than any nation on earth—how could the team languish in such obscurity? So, the team set out on a reclamation mission. The Program of Excellence was born, and with it, a new hope for hockey&’s future in Canada. No more would Canada be content with merely showing up. Instead, each year, the country would send its best talent—from Gretzky to Lemieux to Crosby to McDavid—to reclaim its spot at the top of the hockey world. Tracing the owner disputes, off-ice antics, and riveting on-ice action of nearly forty years at the World Juniors—and full of inside stories from hockey greats—this is hockey history as you&’ve never seen it before. Funny, smart, and clear-eyed, Mark Spector traces the remarkable rise of the Canadian World Junior program and shows how the World Juniors created not just a new team, but a new dream for the sport.By Brian McFarlane. 2019
101 fascinating stories about hockey that will enlighten and delight fans. Have you heard about the referee who was dragged…
back to the rink by an angry mob demanding he change the result? Or the playoff goal that was scored with half a puck? Or the fourteen-year-old who played in a professional game? In 101 Fascinating Hockey Facts, NHL elder-statesman Brian McFarlane tells these and 98 other tales from the rink. Hockey fans will love flipping through this collection, packed with trivia and did-you-knows, to test their knowledge and to find tidbits to share with their friends.By Max Domi. 2019
One of the NHL&’s most talented young stars shares his inspiring coming-of-age story about following his dreams after being diagnosed…
with type 1 diabetes. A portion of proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research.&“Max, you have type 1 diabetes,&” the doctor said. My mom and I looked at each other. For her, time stood still for a second as our entire future as a family shifted. But I had no clue what the diagnosis meant. So I said the first thing that came to mind. &“Can I still play hockey?&” As a kid, when Max Domi was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he only ever had one answer: a hockey player. Growing up the son of a professional hockey player—Tie Domi—Max saw from an early age what it took to make the NHL: grit, talent, and the support of a team. Over countless hours in the garage, at the rink, and in the gym, Max chased his dream. It seemed that Max was born to be on the ice. But then, when he was twelve years old, Max started getting sick. And sicker. Eventually, he and his family learned the truth: Max had type 1 diabetes. Overnight, Max and his family found their lives upended. All Max wanted was to be a normal kid, but suddenly, the simplest things—a game of basketball with friends, a family meal, a school field trip—were complicated with a thousand different considerations. Would people notice or make fun of him if he carried his blood-testing kit everywhere? Would his teammates think he was weak if his blood sugar went low at hockey practice? How much insulin did he need after a meal? And all the while, the fear of what might happen if things went wrong hung over his head. Max had to grow up quickly. As he struggled to find his new normal, Max slowly began to realize that overcoming his disease demanded the same qualities that it took to be a hockey player—mental and physical toughness, maturity, and the love and care of family and friends. Bit by bit, he learned—sometimes the hard way—not just to control his diabetes, but to turn it into an advantage. If managing his disease was going to demand that Max be stronger, more prepared, and more disciplined than anyone else, then he wouldn&’t just be good at those things: he&’d be the best. He&’d do whatever it took to move him closer to his dream of playing in the NHL. Inspiring, heartwarming, and exciting, No Days Off is a memoir about what it&’s like to be a kid whose world is turned upside down, and what it takes to face adversity.By Glen Macnow, Big Daddy Graham. 2019
When it comes to sports talk, no city has more to say than Philadelphia.With their 2007 The Great Book of…
Philadelphia Sports Lists, WIP sports radio hosts Glen Macnow and Big Daddy Graham compiled dozens of sports lists to stir up dialog and debate within the buzzing Philadelphia sports community (and beyond).A lot has happened in Philly sports since 2007 -- the Phillies' 2008 World Series win; the Eagles' record-breaking 2017 season, now-famous Philly Special play, and Super Bowl LII victory over the Patriots; the Sixers' "Trust the Process" campaign; and, of course, Gritty -- so now Glen and Big Daddy are back with dozens of new lists to keep the conversation fresh, ranking things like:The most overrated and underrated players in Philly sports historyThe top 10 Philadelphia sports quotesThe 10 worst Eagles draft picks everThe greatest duos in Philly sports historyThe 10 best sports movies set in PhiladelphiaThe worst bosses in Philly sports historyand much more!