Power Play: An Inside Look at the Big Business of the National Hockey League

This book has been slammed by others, but I have to say, it is one of the must read books on this time period in the NHL. In my opinion, read this, along with Game Misconduct by Russ Conway and Cracked Ice by Stan Fischler. The three books will give you a pretty good idea of what really went on. This book is well written, and interesting from beginning to end. It goes fast, but you will enjoy it.

Gil Stein has written an absorbing account of a dangerous sport, not of its playing action, but of the violent skirmishes of its owners as they meet behind the closed doors of the NHL's Board of Governors executive sessions. They make the game on ice look like Sunday afternoon croquet on the lawn of the Baptist Church. This is a wonderful behind-the-scenes book; but it is not all disillusioning. A number of the original clubowners were real sportsmen devoted to the game of ice hockey and its glorious action, although some can no longer afford the financial losses and have had to sell their teams to extremely wealthy patrons or to corporate monoliths, both with a bottom-line myopia. In the 1996-97 season, almost 200 players received guaranteed salaries of over a million dollars; "but money has not spoiled hockey players. They still play the game with zeal and ferocity and NHL hockey is more exciting today than ever. The players may have lots of money, but deep inside they are the same kids who learned to skate on frozen ponds and dreamed every night of their lives that someday they would hoist the Stanley Cup above their heads while skating a victory lap before their fans." It is this excitement that Gil Stein captures in his book and the ferocity too of owners warring with each other out of the view of the public. It is all there and all fun to read. Just as Gil Stein has enjoyed the game of hockey, he has enjoyed writing this book, and you too will enjoy its reading. Don't miss the splendid introduction on pages xi to xv. John L. Dusseau ([email protected]) Gladwyne, Pennsylvania