The John Kordic Story: The Fight of His Life

Ian A. Andrews is a high-school social sciences teacher and editor of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association’s Focus.

Adored by his fans and feared by his opponents, John Kordic was the bad
boy of major-league hockey—the designated “goon” on every
professional team for which he played. He was also addicted to alcohol
and drugs, and died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 27, his
death officially attributed to a drug overdose. How a career that had
started with so much promise and success fizzled in a haze of booze and
cocaine is the subject of this book.

Journalist Mark Zwolinski traces Kordic’s life from minor-hockey
days, to junior hockey in the Western Hockey League, to the minors and
majors with the Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Capitals, and Nordiques.
Kordic’s supportive family did not condone the fighting promoted by
his junior coaches, but Kordic enjoyed the adulation that came with
being a successful scrapper. His involvement with drugs and alcohol, and
his wild lifestyle, was common knowledge among hockey insiders. As
portrayed by Zwolinski, the National Hockey League and many team coaches
and leaders were content to look the other way rather than provide
assistance or supervise therapy.

Zwolinski alludes to the reasons for Kordic’s descent into the abyss
that ultimately led to his death, but he does not show any conclusive
proof. This book was written before the revelations of Sheldon Kennedy
and the untoward activities at Maple Leaf Gardens came to light, which
raises the possibility of a follow-up investigation by Zwolinski.