Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey [Hardcover]

Douglas Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

When people wonder who the quintessential hockey coach is, only one name comes to mind-Scotty Bowman. As tough and unyielding as the sport itself and as aggressive and strategic as a general at war, Scotty Bowman typifies the no-nonsense attitude necessary for success in today's NHL. In a career rife with controversy, Bowman is often feared but always respected by the legions of players who have toiled under his reign.

Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey traces the career of one of hockey's most intriguing characters. Every aspect of Bowman's rollercoaster career is highlighted, from his early playing career through his record-breaking Stanley Cup victories. Following his thrilling time with the Montreal Canadiens, the difficult years with the Buffalo Sabres, and up to the Red Wings' historic first Stanley Cup success since 1955, Douglas Hunter (author of A Breed Apart) chronicles the joyous victories and the disappointing upsets.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Only Toe Blake of the Montreal Canadiens coached as many Stanley Cup winners (seven) as Scotty Bowman has over his lengthy NHL career. Bowman worked his way up from coaching at the Junior grade to both coaching and serving in a variety of high-level administrative posts for a number of mostly successful NHL teams. His biography reads like a history of the NHL over the past half-century, detailing the fortunes of its best teams and the backgrounds of its most famous players. In the middle of it all is Bowman, though Hunter (Champions, LJ 10/1/97) doesn't give us much of a personal view of the man. Bowman's own words read like quotes from the next day's newspaper. Interviews with former players and assistants afford some perspective, but more depth is needed. Nevertheless, Bowman's stature and the wealth of detail here will be of interest to hockey fans.?John M. Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 212 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572433124
• ISBN-13: 978-1572433120
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #740,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Just Stop Reading, October 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey (Hardcover)

This is one of the worst books I have ever read in my entire life. On top of the author being extremely boring, he can't even get his facts right. There were numerous errors in the book. The most blatant being the author stating that Mike Vernon won the 1989 Conn Smythe award when in fact is was Al MacInnis. Another error I found was in starting goaltending. The book says that Garth Snow started game one of the 1997 Stanley Cup finals, when in fact it was Ron Hextall. If I picked out these simple errors in the book, how can I believe any of the other information in it? The author and publisher should be ashamed of themselves for letting hockey fans read such a book. The author is a disgrace to hockey. Don't waste your time reading this book.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Reader Beware, December 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey (Hardcover)

Those intrigued with the Bowman legend-mystique will not find the answer to the perennial question "What makes Scotty Bowman tick?" here. This is not a biography and Hunter does not set out to entertain. Next to no attention is paid to Bowman's childhood, youth, or even to what drew him to the game in the first place. Rather this book is a straightforward, if somewhat dry, portrait of post-expansion hockey and Bowman's role in it. Its chief strength is its history of the architecture of the franchises in which Bowman has spent his career. Any gleaning the reader may be pick up as to the creation of Bowman's character or the methods of his success are, at best, inferred (although Hunter does put forth a convincing case to dispel the myth that Jean-Guy Talbot ended Bowman's playing career). Plenty of quotes from Bowman's associates are included, both pro and con (Bowman himself declined to be interviewed for this work). Yet for a volume that appears to be well documented, steeped in statistics and numbers, I found at least five immediate errors, not the least of which are the year of Bowman's birth, and the 1989 Conn Smythe Trophy winner (it was Al MacInnis -- a fact easily verified in the NHL record book -- not Mike Vernon, as Hunter surprisingly states.) If I found these errors, how many others will other readers find, and how reliable is the rest of the information?

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Author and Publisher Should be Ashamed, January 29, 2009

By 

jvh "jvh" (Farmington Hills, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey (Paperback)

This ridiculous effort lacks any meaningful depth on Scotty Bowman and is loaded with a long stream of convoluted hockey history, some of which is factually incorrect.