Review of "The Toronto Maple Leafs"

First, let me wish everyone who is celebrating a very merry Christmas and I hope that your holiday season, no matter which holidays you celebrate, are all joyous.  In the spirit of the season, I thought a hockey book would be appropriate for a review this time of year (at least for those of us in the Northern hemisphere).  This is a terrific account of the history of one of the NHL's legendary teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Eric Zweig leaves nothing out in his oral history.  If you received a gift card for books, this is one that would certainly be worth obtaining with that card.  Here is my review of the book:

Title/Author:

“The Toronto Maple Leafs: The Complete Oral History” by Eric Zweig

Tags:

Ice Hockey, Maple Leafs, history

Publish date:

October 28, 2017

Length:

456 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the most iconic franchises in all of sports and they recently celebrated their 100^th anniversary. The team has changed its name twice and its home arena twice to go along with 13 Stanley Cup championships. That makes for a very colorful history – that history is told in a unique manner by this wonderful book by Eric Zweig.

What makes this book unique is that instead of writing the story as a narrative after doing the research, he takes quotes and snippets from his sources and simply puts them together with very small doses of narrative between topics.  The reader will still get the complete story of the player discussed, the playoff series being contested (I thought this format worked especially well for the years when the Leafs won the Stanley Cup) or the general manager’s vision for the team – whether rebuilding, re-tooling or just starting out in 1917. It does make for a slower read, as a reader will have to carefully read each article or quote, but it does teach the reader a lot about the team.

The reader will also learn a lot about the men behind the history of the Maple Leafs – from King Clancy and Conn Smythe to Austen Matthews and Mike Babcock, the personal stories are just as engrossing as those of the games.  The reader will know that these quotes and excerpts from newspapers, books and other sources will tell how important the subjects are to the history of the team. 

Every important and memorable event in team history is covered.  From the historic comeback in 1942 to win the Stanley Cup (the Leafs became the first team to rally from a 3 games to none deficit in that year’s finals) to the devastating 4-1 lead that was blown to the Bruins in game 7 in the 2013 playoffs, the same style that worked for the team and the people tells the story of the emotions, both highs and lows, that were felt by all.

This book is a complete and comprehensive history of the team that is rich in detail, exhaustive in its research and will be loved by any hockey fan, even if the Leafs are not the reader’s favorite team.

I wish to thank Mr. Zwieg for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

Paperback

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Toronto-Maple-Leafs-Complete-History/dp/1459736192/ref=ed_oe_p