The Goaltenders’ Union
Hockey’s Greatest Puckstoppers, Acrobats, and Flakes
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A fresh, comprehensive, and entertaining take on hockey goalies
In hockey, goalies have always been a contradiction — solitary men in a team game, the last line of defence and the stalwarts expected to save the day after any and every miscue and collapse from his teammates. It’s no wonder that anyone who played the position has had his sanity questioned; yet some of the biggest innovations in the game have come from its puckstoppers.
In The Goaltenders’ Union, Greg Oliver and Richard Kamchen talk to more than 60 keepers of yesterday and today, finding common threads to their stories, and in dozens of interviews about them with other coaches and players. From Gilles “Gratoony the Loony” Gratton, who refused to play because the moon was out of alignment with Jupiter, to Jonathan Quick, the athletically gifted master keeper of today’s game, the book is an entertaining and enlightening peek behind the mask.
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Oliver and Kamchen (Don't Call Me Goon) examine the brotherhood that exists amongst goaltenders and the support they give one another both during their careers and beyond. Looking at the careers of more than 60 goalies from Georges Vezina (1910-1925) and George Hainsworth in the 30s to current goaltenders Martin Brodeur and Jonathan Quick, the book illustrates how the game has changed over more than 100 years, focusing on the struggles and challenges of goaltending in professional hockey. The authors provide accounts of the eccentric behavior of Gilles Gratton's eccentricities, Clint Malarchuk's terrible injury and Pelle Lindbergh's death but also provide hilarious accounts throughout, such the Fred Brophy goal in 1905 when he and Paddy Moran were the only skaters left on the ice while other players were serving penalties. The authors provide an entertaining account of goaltender personalities, the mental toughness required, and valuable insight into the careers of the best before, during and after their stints in the National Hockey League. Along the way, readers will learn about the in uence television had on the introduction of the two-goalie system and many other interesting facts.
