The Handy Hockey Answer Book - Paperback

by Stan Fischler (Author)

Hockey's history, its origins, rules, players, and more!

Stick handlers without helmets rushing goaltenders without masks on rinks lacking sideboards gives way to a faster game with bigger players and overtime shootouts. The National Hockey League goes from a Canadian and regional sport to one that is watched by more fans throughout North America than ever. Hockey may have changed, but its essence and appeal remain.

Stan Fischler, a hockey journalist since 1954 and a Lester Patrick Award-winner "for contributions to hockey in the United States," covers the sport's history, statistics, players, rules, and more in The Handy Hockey Answer Book. He traces hockey's early spread, Lord Stanley's involvement, and the cup's birth. Then, he explains the rules, equipment, strategies, and positioning, before following the ups and downs of the National Hockey League, its teams, and its players. From the traditions, all-time cup- and award-winners and record-breakers to the modern game, The Handy Hockey Answer Book answers more than 800 questions on the game, greats, goals, and growing popularity of hockey, including ...

Where does hockey come from?

What was the Stanley Cup first called?

When was six-man hockey invented and who was its creator?

What is a "Zamboni" and after whom was it named?

What was the Gretzky Rule?

How did the hockey puck develop its present shape?

Why is the term "Original Six" a misnomer?

Which team was the first to come back from being down 3-0 in a series.

Who was the first European player to lead the league in scoring?

What NHL team won and lost the Stanley Cup on the same day?

Starting with a Middle Ages game resembling ice golf to the NHL's Original Six to the modern high school, college, and professional games, this is a clear, concise, and illuminating primer to the game of hockey! A glossary of terms and a bibliography for further reading round out this helpful primer on the sport.

Author Biography

Stan Fischler, whom some have called The Hockey Man, has been covering the ice game longer and more actively than any living journalist. He began working professionally as a hockey journalist in 1954 and is a Lester Patrick Award-winner "for contributions to hockey in the United States." Currently appearing on MSG Networks Hockey Night Live weekly program, he made his television debut as an announcer working in Boston and covering the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers in 1973. His NHL debut took place two years later, when he began a long association with the New York Islanders doing telecasts. Fischler still does Islanders telecasts for the Madison Square Garden Networks, and he has no less than seven Emmy Awards to his credit, also winning a writing award for his work on Subway Series, which was carried on MSG's Metro Channel. He wrote his first of more than 90 hockey books in 1968, an autobiography of Hall of Famer Gordie Howe. Fischler has "ghosted" autobiographies for such notables as Brad Park, Don Cherry, and Derek Sanderson. His Bobby Orr and the Big, Bad Bruins was a bestseller, as was Hammer, the autobiographer of Philadelphia Flyers tough guy Dave Schultz. Before his wife, Shirley, died in May 2014, she collaborated with her husband on two definitive hockey encyclopedias, as well as other NHL books. He is a Brooklyn native.