FFWD Weekly
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Books by Mark Sproxton Ever wonder what's wrong with the National Hockey League? On second thought, perhaps a better question is: Why are so many things wrong with the top professional hockey league on the planet? Unfortunately, there are far too many reasons. Even those with only a passing knowledge of the game could fill the next issue of Fast Forward with their complaints. And that list is even longer for those who regularly follow the infinite seasons of the NHL. In The Death of Hockey, or: how a bunch of guys with too much money and too little sense are killing the greatest game on earth (Macmillan Canada), authors and veteran hockey writers Jeff Z. Klein and Karl-Eric Reif compile a solid list of complaints about the ailing NHL. Outraged by unbridled, nonsensical expansion, pathetic team names and logos, and the ever-increasing cost of ticket prices for North America's most expensive pro sport, the New York-based hockey fans finally had enough. "If there was any one incident that triggered this book it was the '96 cup final between Colorado and Florida," Klein says from New York. "It was boring to watch, and even though the Florida fans were great, it was silly being in Florida in June. "Because of that, the next year I found I wasn't interested. And last year I really didn't care." His feelings were shared by many, including Scotty Bowman, coach of last year's champion Detroit Red Wings, who was correct when he was quoted as saying that outside of Detroit and Washington, the cities with teams in the finals, no one cared. While the book makes many valid points and rightly asserts that changes are desperately needed to "save the NHL," at times it seems too much like two guys sitting around griping about the league. One argument will start, then wander to another unrelated topic, and return to the original argument. Chapter four, for example, starts out as a humorous and searing indictment of "the malling of the NHL," then sidetracks into discussion of the insidiousness of teams with a singular collective noun name – i.e., Lightning – before returning to lament the introduction of Fox's glowpuck in order to "sell" the game. Other arguments Klein and Reif make are incomplete. They argue it is the NHL's fault Americans know so little about hockey's history and have no context for the sport. They don't, however, acknowledge that some members of the media being paid to cover hockey won't spend the time required to become knowledgeable about the game. "You're right," said Klein. "And it's not like it's a hard game to pick up. They seem to be afraid of showing hockey on its own merits." The authors ignore that perhaps the amateur associations in the States have failed to create enough grassroots interest in hockey to have it carry over to the NHL, regardless of how good, or bad, the product is at the professional level. But they do have many interesting perceptions on the history of the game themselves. "If you look at the indictment rate of NHL (executives) it's scary," Klein says. "It's like a youth gang." Although Klein and Reif, both Buffalo Sabres fans, spend the entire first chapter defending their knowledge of the game – both have worked as sportswriters at major papers such as The Village Voice and The Hockey News – their understanding and love of the professional game comes out clearly in the remainder of the book. These are, first of all, two hockey fans who want to see the NHL get better, not disappear from U.S. television or small-market, hockey-friendly cities. More importantly, they're hoping to create a dialogue about improving the game. And, as Klein says, "We're hoping that maybe all the people in the league office will notice they're not gaining new fans, but losing the old ones."

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