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Having covered the last two Olympics and every World Championship since 2000, Lucas Aykroyd is one of the world's leading ice hockey experts.
Here the Canadian journalist picks five books every hockey fan must have. Click to view Top 5 Hockey Books.
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Best Olympics (The Boys of Winter, Wayne Coffey) |
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 The USA's "Miracle on Ice" victory over the Soviet Union in Olympic ice hockey has often been called "the greatest moment in sports history". Wayne Coffey's 272-page retrospective more than does justice to that immortal 1980 game in Lake Placid.
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The book's subtitle is The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team, and the word "Untold" is worth underlining. That's because much of the sporting, statistical, and political background to the game has already been well-documented for avid hockey fans, and Coffey adds new depth.
To sum up the essential facts, the veteran Soviets had soundly defeated a team of National Hockey League (NHL) All-Stars in the 1979 Challenge Cup, had won every Olympic gold medal since 1964, and had spanked the Americans 10-3 in a pre-Olympic exhibition game at New York's Madison Square Garden.
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 These being the days before professionals were allowed to compete at the winter games, the American team mostly consisted of college players from Minnesota and New England. Despite their speed and youthful enthusiasm, experts gave them little chance of capturing the gold medal on home ice versus a USSR team that combined 1970s superstars like Boris Mikhailov and Vladislav Tretiak with those who would dominate the 80s, such as Igor Larionov and Viacheslav Fetisov.
But miraculously indeed, the Americans trained like maniacs under head coach Herb Brooks and pulled off a 4-3 upset in their Olympic encounter with the Soviets. Forward Mike Eruzione scored the winner with 10 minutes left and goalie Jim Craig played the game of his life, making 36 saves.
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Bringing the Miracle to Life |
 Coffey animates this narrative by breaking down the USA-USSR match moment by moment. For example, he interviews key Russian players, as well as coach Viktor Tikhonov, about the infamous decision to relieve the legendary Tretiak of his goal-tending duties at the end of the first period.
He also delves deep into the backgrounds of the American players and investigates where they've ended up more than a quarter-century later, from Mark Johnson's youthful idolization of the Soviet stars he watched on videotape, Dave Christian's free access to sticks manufactured by his father and uncle, to Jim Craig's 1982 involvement in a car crash that took the other driver's life, and Neal Broten's post-NHL horse farming.
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| Putting things in a larger context is a Coffey trademark: "The legacy of the game went far beyond clapping hands. In the 17 years of the NHL draft to that point, there had been 1,780 players selected and not one was an American high school player. Two years later, 47 of 252 — nearly one in five — was an American high schooler." |
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 And while his primary focus is understandably American, it's not myopic in that regard, which is good when you're dealing with an international subject like the Olympic Games.
This New York Daily News sportswriter's style is engaging and fast-paced. Any true sports fan would be well-advised to purchase The Boys of Winter, the definitive account of a truly amazing odyssey. |
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To buy this product try one of these retailers. They are competitively priced and reliable:
Amazon.co.uk - The UK arm of the world’s biggest book store
Amazon.com - The US arm of the world’s biggest book store
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