Review of "The Original Six"

Okay, back to sports books.  With the NHL playoffs in full swing, I am watching more hockey than I did for most of the regular season (despite my favorite team, the Minnesota Wild, getting eliminated).  Most hockey fans know who the Original Six teams are, but many may not know their history during that time frame.  This book is a good look back at that era. 

Title/Author:

“The Original Six: How the Canadiens, Bruins, Rangers, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings Laid the Groundwork for Today’s National Hockey League” by Lew Freedman

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

From 1942 to 1967, the National Hockey League consisted of six teams – Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. While these six teams were not all part of the NHL when it was organized in 1917, these six were the franchises who were able to survive the chaos the league went through in World War II and created what many considered to be a golden age of hockey.  The history and most notable people for each team is chronicled in this book by Lew Freedman.

The format for each chapter is the same – the team’s history up to the 1966-67 season, stories about key players, front office staff and coaches during that time frame, and what the team has done since 1967.  That year is key because it was the year of the “Great Expansion” when the NHL doubled in size from 6 teams to 12.  If a player, coach or executive started their time with the team during the Original Six era but had most of his success after the Great Expansion, he will still warrant a mention in this book.

The depth of the stories depends on the star power of the person.  A player like Gordie Howe (Red Wings) or Maurice Richard (Canadiens) garnered a lot more ink in this book than someone like Camile Henry (Rangers) or Jimmy Thomson (Maple Leafs).  While that was to be expected, it was nice to see some not-so-well-known players get mentioned in this book. It’s especially nice to see this for readers like me to learn about these players who played for small salaries in a league that had limited exposure.

Each club in that era has a colorful history and Freeman does an admirable job of bringing that to life in this time of 32 NHL teams (although there were 30 at the time of the book’s publication in 2016.) Avid hockey fans like me always enjoy matchups of these teams and this book brings the colorful history of that era to life.

Link: Original Six: How the Canadiens, Bruins, Rangers, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings Laid the Groundwork for Today's National Hockey League: Freedman, Lew: 9781613219492: Amazon.com: Books