Publisher's Synopsis
The most comprehensive look at championship hockey culture: Why some teams always win, why some teams perennially lose, why some surefire stars never become superstars, and what execs see in unheralded players who grow into fan favorites.
Team builders make the biggest decisions in hockey, and indeed in all of sports. They set the culture. They are the ones ultimately responsible for whether a Stanley Cup is raised at the end of the season. In the NHL, it all starts at the top. In this book, journalist Craig Custance takes readers behind the scenes of championship hockey culture where the most impactful (and most secretive) leaders in the NHL operate. For over three years, he has journeyed everywhere to get exclusive time with the most powerful people in hockey: an owner's suite, a private championship ring ceremony, a Pennsylvania country club, a Florida pickleball court, and a bookstore in a northern Michigan resort town, among other locations. In total, the owners, presidents, general managers, and executives featured in this book have won twelve Stanley Cups, an Olympic gold medal and, in one case, led a boycott that changed the sport forever. For hockey fans, there are stories behind memorable trades, the biggest free agent signings and insights into how some of the most successful teams of the last two decades were built. There are never-been-told details about trade demands, a prominent hire that was regretted immediately, and the story of how one general manager risked his life to sign a player he thought could alter his franchise. For those interested in the secrets of sports management, this book details the hiring process, the path to the highest levels of success in hockey, the values in risk-taking, and the character traits most consistent in eventual champions.
