A Day in the Life of the Maple Leafs
Author: Andrew Podnieks
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 183
ISBN-13: 9780002000802
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Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto
Author: Peter Robinson
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2012-09-22
Total Pages: 290
ISBN-13: 1459706854
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor many, being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan has become a curse from cradle to grave. False hope, hollow promises, and a mind-numbing lack of success - these words describe the Toronto Maple Leafs and the hockey club’s inexplicable mediocrity over much of the past decade. Author Peter Robinson has attended some 100 games over the past six seasons and has little to show for it except an unquenched thirst that keeps him coming back. Why does a team that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, long before many of its followers were even born, have such a hold on its fans? Robinson tries to answer that question and more while detailing what it’s like to love one of the most unlovable teams in all of professional sports. Being a Leafs fan requires a leap of faith every year, girding against inevitable disappointment. This book tells what that’s like, how it got to be that way, and what the future holds for all who worship the Blue and White.
The Toronto Maple Leafs
Author: Eric Zweig
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2017-10-28
Total Pages: 457
ISBN-13: 1459736206
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA complete oral history of Canada’s most iconic team, compiled from interviews with some of the biggest names in hockey, then and now. Eric Zweig takes readers through the storied history of the Leafs through the eyes of their players, coaches, managers, and fans.
The Last Good Year
Author: Damien Cox
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2019-10-22
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 0735234787
DOWNLOAD EBOOKNominated for the 2019 Toronto Heritage Book Award We may never see a playoff series like it again. Before Gary Bettman, and the lockouts. Before all the NHL's old barns were torn down to make way for bigger, glitzier rinks. Before expansion and parity across the league, just about anything could happen on the ice. And it often did. It was an era when huge personalities dominated the sport; and willpower was often enough to win games. And in the spring of 1993, some of the biggest talents and biggest personalities were on a collision course. The Cinderella Maple Leafs had somehow beaten the mighty Red Wings and then, just as improbably, the St. Louis Blues. Wayne Gretzky's Kings had just torn through the Flames and the Canucks. When they faced each other in the conference final, the result would be a series that fans still talk about passionately 25 years later. Taking us back to that feverish spring, The Last Good Year gives an intimate account not just of an era-defining seven games, but of what the series meant to the men who were changed by it: Marty McSorley, the tough guy who took his whole team on his shoulders; Doug Gilmour, the emerging superstar; celebrity owner Bruce McNall; Bill Berg, who went from unknown to famous when the Leafs claimed him on waivers; Kelly Hrudey, the Kings' goalie who would go on to become a Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster; Kerry Fraser, who would become the game's most infamous referee; and two very different captains, Toronto's bull in a china shop, Wendel Clark, and the immortal Wayne Gretzky. Fast-paced, authoritative, and galvanized by the same love of the game that made the series so unforgettable, The Last Good Year is a glorious testament to a moment hockey fans will never forget.
Cujo
Author: Kirstie McLellan Day
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2018-11-27
Total Pages: 371
ISBN-13: 1641252448
DOWNLOAD EBOOKCurtis Joseph, known affectionately to hockey fans around the world as Cujo, was an unlikely NHL superstar. The boy from Keswick, Ontario, didn't put on a pair of skates until most kids his age were already far along in organized hockey, and he was passed over by every team in the NHL draft. Despite an unorthodox start, he would go on to play 18 seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes, and Calgary Flames, winning an Olympic gold medal along the way.For the first time, in this revealing memoir, Joseph talks about his highly unusual upbringing and what led him to pursue hockey. Fans will not want to miss this untold story of perseverance and finding one's own path.
Marcel Pronovost
Author: Marcel Pronovost
Publisher: Biblioasis
Published: 2012-11-13
Total Pages: 201
ISBN-13: 1926845994
DOWNLOAD EBOOK“Marcel was the most underrated defenceman ever to play in the league. When he hit you, you were hit. He was a tremendous skater and defensively, he was as good as anyone. He might have been overlooked by the press, but he was never overlooked by his teammates. Years later, I brought him back to Detroit as a coach. He is very knowledgeable and a very astute observer of the game.” —Hall of Fame left-winger Ted Lindsay (Pronovost’s teammate from 1949-57 and 1964-65) In the spring of 1950, Marcel Pronovost was called up from the minor leagues to play for the Detroit Red Wings during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The 18-year-old defenceman had never seen NHL ice time before, but his performance in the playoffs was so impressive that he took regular turns in the final series against the New York Rangers. That year, Marcel Provonost became the ninth player in history to win a Stanley Cup before playing a single regular-season NHL game. So began Pronovost’s 65-year career in pro hockey. As a Red Wing he became a star defenceman in Detroit’s golden age, winning three more Stanley Cups between 1952 and 1955, and skating side-by-side with Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, and Terry Sawchuk (who became a lifelong friend). He played a pivotal role in the Toronto Maple Leafs' last Stanley Cup win in 1967. He earned recognition on the NHL's First and Second All-Star Teams. And he has continued to serve the game for decades, becoming one of the few NHLers to have success as a player, a coach, and as a scout. Now, with Marcel Pronovost: A Life in Hockey, this legendary defenceman and Hockey Hall of Famer tells these and other stories for the first time. With over 125 photos and with on-the-ice recollections from the most exciting Original Six Era games ever played, A Life in Hockey is a hard-hitting memoir, and an insider’s take on playing, coaching, and scouting that spans seven decades, and surveys one of the longest hockey careers of all time. A must-have autobiography for Red Wings fans, Leafs fans, and hockey buffs everywhere.
The Lives of Conn Smythe
Author: Kelly McParland
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Published: 2012-10-02
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 0771056842
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhile the story of the Toronto Maple Leafs has been told many times, there has never been a full biography of the man who created, built and managed the team, turning it from a small-market collection of second-rate players into the hockey and financial powerhouse that dominated Canadian sports and created a collection of Canadian icons along the way. From the 1920s to the mid-1960s, Conn Smythe was one of the best-known, highest-profile figures in the country -- irascible, tempestuous, outspoken, and controversial. He not only constructed a hockey team that dominated the league for long stretches, but was critical to the growth and shaping of the NHL itself. By building Maple Leaf Gardens and hiring Foster Hewitt to fill Canada's living rooms with weekly broadcasts, he turned Saturday night into hockey night, creating institutions and habits that became central to Canada's character and remain with us today. Smythe's story is much deeper and richer than the tale of a cantankerous hockey owner. Smythe fought in both world wars, fighting at Ypres and Passchendaele in the first war and landing at Normandy in the second. He was wounded in both and spent two years as a POW in a German camp after being shot down in 1917. He grew up in poverty and vowed to escape the life that was so incredibly hard on his family. Smythe was active in politics and ignited a national crisis over conscription that split the Liberal government in two and brought Mackenzie King to the brink of resignation. This book tells the life of one of the country's great characters, a man who helped shape and define us and who left behind national habits and institutions that continue to lay at the heart of what makes Canada, Canada.
My Leafs Sweater
Author: Mike Leonetti
Publisher: Scholastic Canada
Published: 2012
Total Pages: 34
ISBN-13: 1443107433
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis nostalgic tale of a young boy's love for the Toronto Maple Leafs is now available from Scholastic! Journey back to 1976 and meet Michael, who wants to be just like his hero Darryl Sittler, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. From his living room perch in front of the television, Michael watches Hockey Night in Canada and dreams of playing for the Leafs. He sets out with his father on a search for a sweater that he can proudly wear on the ice while playing with his friends. He tries every store only to find out they are sold out. He tries one more, at Maple Leaf Gardens, and although they, too, have sold out of the Sittler sweater, Michael's father is able to get tickets to what will be an historic game for the Leafs' captain! As Michael roots Sittler on, he learns that there is much more to the love of hockey than just having the sweater of your favourite player.
Shift Work
Author: Tie Domi
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2015-11-02
Total Pages: 240
ISBN-13: 1476782520
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom hockey’s most prolific fighter comes a sports memoir unlike any other—passionate, funny, and candid, Shift Work chronicles Domi’s sixteen tumultuous seasons in the NHL. Making it through a single fight as an enforcer in the NHL is a sign of toughness. Making it through 333 of them is a mark of greatness. Whether it was on the ice or off it, Tie Domi was driven to be the best at his job and was gifted with an extraordinary ability to withstand pain. He made a career out of protecting the people around him and became known as someone who would stand up for the people who needed it most. Raised by immigrant parents in Belle River, Domi found success from an early age on the field and the rink. A gifted athlete in whatever sport he played, Tie eventually focused his sights on hockey. As he moved up the junior ranks, he made a name for himself as a player who was always ready to take on anyone who dared to cross his teammates. Tie’s reputation followed him into the NHL, and it wasn’t long before he ranked among the game’s most feared—and fearless—enforcers. From New York to Winnipeg to Toronto, Tie quickly became a fan favourite in whatever city he played. As he went about working his name into the record books, Tie surrounded himself with people from every walk of life, learning from each one as he evolved into a respected leader who was never afraid to tell it like it was. In Shift Work, Tie recounts the ups and downs of his life on and off the ice, showing what he has learned and how he has grown as both a player and a person. He offers insight into the most memorable points of his career, sharing his successes and mistakes with unparalleled honesty. Shift Work shows Tie Domi as he is—a devoted father and friend, a valued and loyal team player, a magnetic personality, and an athlete of immense skill and courage.
Leafs AbomiNation
Author: Dave Feschuk
Publisher: Random House Canada
Published: 2009-08-11
Total Pages: 290
ISBN-13: 0307372812
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLove them or hate them, they’re the most successful team in professional hockey … just not on the scoresheet. The Toronto Maple Leafs are an exception to every law of the sporting jungle. They miss the playoffs and the sellouts keep coming. They haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, but the earning power of that blue-and-white maple leaf, no matter the chronic woes of the blue-and-white’s power play, never ceases to increase. In this description of failure and prescription for hope, Toronto Star sports columnist Dave Feschuk and Globe and Mail sports reporter Michael Grange draw the illogical roadmap that pinpoints how the once-proud Leafs got lost in the sporting hinterlands, who’s to blame for stranding them there, and how they might extract themselves from this historic mire.
