The Habs: An Oral History of the Montreal Canadiens, 1940-1980

Albert Stray is Head of Mobile Library Services at the London Public
Library.

Irvin is well qualified to compile this chronicle of the Canadiens’
rise from mediocrity in 1940 to sports dynasty of the 1950s, 1960s, and
1970s. Now in his twenty-sixth year of broadcasting Canadiens games,
this member of the Hockey Hall of Fame has been associated with the Habs
since the 1940s, when his father coached the team.

During the 1990-91 season, more than one hundred players, past and
present, and many well-known hockey personalities were interviewed for
this book. A few older interviews, such as the one with the late Aurel
Joliat, were included out of necessity. The lineup includes Jack
Portland, one of the oldest living ex-Canadiens; “Rocket” Richard;
Guy LaFleur; Ken Dryden; Frank Mahovlich; Dave Keon; Gordie Howe; Bobby
Orr; Don Cherry; and coach Pat Burns.

Read what it was like to wear the red sweater and to play on the
opposite side of the rink. Listen to the players involved in the
celebrated and the infamous moments in hockey history: the Morenz
funeral, the war years, the Barilko goal, the Forum riot, the trades,
the feuds. Through their memories, you are there. The book is divided
into seven sections, concluding with the Habs of today. To put events
into context, Irvin augments the interviews with his own commentary. The
appendix will interest those fascinated with statistics, while the index
reads like a Who’s Who of hockey. Eight pages of black-and-white
photographs add to the book’s appeal. A must for hockey fans and for
sports collections in public libraries.