Title/Author:
“Art Ross: The Hockey
Legend Who Built the Bruins” by Eric Zwieg
Tags:
Ice Hockey, history,
biography, Bruins
Publish date:
October 6, 2015
Length:
308 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review:
Casual hockey fans most
likely do not know who Art Ross is. Some
may know of him because of the name of the trophy that is given to the NHL player
who has the most points at the end of the regular season. Others, especially who are knowledgeable
about hockey history, may know that he was the general manager for the Boston
Bruins in their formative years and made them the popular franchise that they
still are today.
While this well-researched book by Eric Zweig covers those years when Ross built the Bruins, that was not the most interesting subject he writes about in this book. It covers the entire hockey career of Art Ross including his days as a player. The positions and game were not nearly as defined as they are today. His position was not really a forward and not really a defenseman. The style in which he played would be most like a defenseman in today’s game but he was not called one. That really didn’t matter as he was considered one of the best players in professional hockey during that era.
At that time, the NHL
was not in existence. Instead, professional hockey was a hodge-podge of various
teams and leagues. Ross played many of his seasons with the Montreal Wanderers,
an appropriate team name for the time.
The business side of the game was cutthroat as well, with player
salaries soaring because they could often sell themselves to whomever would be
willing to pay. If this sounds familiar, it is because this book illustrates
the well-known fact that no matter which game or era, players always did
whatever they could to get higher salaries and the owners would always do
whatever it took to keep them down.
While Ross’s success in
Boston is also well-researched, I found this part of the book not quite as
interesting as his playing days. The Bruins’ seasons, both good and bad, are
chronicled here and a reader will learn some interesting facts about Ross in
this part, such as it was his idea to paint the center red line as a striped
line so that it would be easier to distinguish it from the blue lines on a
black– and–white television set.
Overall, this is a good
book for readers interested in learning more about the early days of
professional hockey and for a good insight of the game in the early 20th
century. It may be a tougher read for
more casual fans as it does dig deep into details of the games and later the
front office moves. Hockey historians
should make this one part of their libraries.
I wish to thank Mr. Zweig for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
Paperback
Buying links:
It's interesting to find out that player positions were more flexible in those days. The game must have been more creative and less about systems.
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