Champions: The Illustrated History of Hockey's Greatest Dynasties

Raymond B. Blake is director of the Centre for Canadian Studies at Mount
Allison University, the author of Canadians at Last: Canada Integrates
Newfoundland as a Province, and co-editor of Social Welfare Policy in
Canada: Historical Readings.

This splendidly illustrated hockey book by Douglas Hunter, the author of
three previous books on hockey, traces the evolution of the sport
through the exploits of 10 hockey dynasties. Hunter defines a hockey
dynasty as the team that wins the Stanley Cup several times within a
short period of time. As he reminds us, many NHL teams have enjoyed
remarkable regular seasons, but have failed to win the coveted Stanley
Cup, the mark of hockey supremacy in North America.

Dynasties have been built in many different ways. In the 1960s, the
Toronto Maple Leafs won by developing talent within the organization and
also by trading for older, veteran players. The Montreal Canadiens and
the New York Islanders created dynasties by drafting wisely. Boston
built a dynasty by picking up players who no longer fit in on other
teams. The Philadelphia Flyers followed a similar route, becoming a
powerhouse with nine players who had once toiled for the Bruins. The
Edmonton Oilers became a dynasty in part because of the financial
problems of another team owner, who eagerly sold some of his players to
Peter Pocklington. Hunter explains how the rules of the game have
changed over the last 80-odd years, and how the talent was discovered
and cultivated (the chapter on the talent pool in Northern Ontario is
particularly interesting).

Notwithstanding an excess of graphs and charts, this handsome volume
should score with hockey fans.