Title/Author:
“The ‘Down Goes Brown’ History of the
NHL: the World’s Most Beautiful Sport, the World’s Most Ridiculous League”
written and narrated by Sean McIndoe
Tags:
Ice Hockey, humor, professional,
history
Publish date:
October 30, 2018
Length:
272 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
Having just recently celebrated its
100th anniversary, the National Hockey League (NHL) has had an
interesting and colorful history. Sean McIndoe, also known as “Down Goes Brown”
with his popular hockey blog, writes and narrates an excellent book on this
history, highlighting some of the more strange moments.
While the book follows the history of
the league in a chronological format, that is about the only thing that is “regular”
about this book. Sure, the reader will
learn about the origins of the league and how it began with four teams, nearly
folded when it was down to three, the Original Six era (which nearly became the
Original Seven in the early 1950’s when the league nearly added the Cleveland
Barons), the Great Expansion of 1967 and the future expansions to the current
league of 31 teams.
There is also mention of equipment,
great players of each era, the styles of play from the wide open offenses of
the 1980’s to the trap defensive style made popular by the surprise Stanley Cup
championship of the New Jersey Devils in 1995. BUT…and this is a big BUT…this
type of writing is not what sets this book apart from the rest.
What DOES make it memorable and one
that every hockey fan should read, whether or not they know about “Down Goes
Brown”, are the quirky stories that fill every chapter and also serve as a segue
between each chapter. Most likely, many
fans have not heard about these occurrences or near-occurrences in the league’s
history. One of my favorites occurred in
1970 when two new teams, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks, entered the
league. One of them would be able to get
the first pick in the entry draft. The best player in the draft that year was
Gilbert Perrault by far and away. So, to try to be fair, the league decided to
use a wheel with various numbered slots to determine which team gets the pick –
each team had an equal number of slots.
But how to determine who spins?
Well, that was easy – flip a coin.
Now, you may ask, why didn’t they just use that coin flip for the
pick? As the book notes time and time
again, this is the NHL – they don’t do anything the easy way. For the record, the Sabres won the pick and
Perrault enjoyed a Hall of Fame career playing 18 seasons in Buffalo.
This was just one of the many crazy
stories told with humor (mostly – the discussion on the violence in the sport
certainly was not). For a funny line,
try this on for size – but first a little background. In 1984, the Montreal Canadiens and Quebec
Noridques had a huge brawl that became known as the Good Friday Massacre. Then in 1991, the Chicago Blackhawks and St.
Louis Blues had a similar melee known as the St. Patrick’s Day Massacre. They got their monikers because of the
holidays on which these took place.
McIndoe wrote the “The NHL – the only sport where you make reference to
a holiday-themed massacre and you have to ask to be more specific.”
This book is a must-read for all
hockey fans no matter their interest level or their favorite teams or
eras. Very entertaining, very easy to
read and informative as well, it is one that is sure to be added to many hockey
libraries.
Book Format Read:
Audiobook
Buying Links:
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