Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey

By Morey Holzman, Joseph Nieforth, Eden O'Neill

Hockey lovers will be fascinated by the truth about how the National Hockey League was founded and how, through less than savory means, it captured permanent possession of the Stanley Cup. Deceptions and Doublecross begins with the 1917 conspiracy among a Montreal contingent of the National Hockey Association to oust Toronto owner Edward James Livingstone from the league. The result was the transformation of the NHA into the NHL, with Frank Calder as president, leaving Livingstone out in the cold. Under Calder's iron-fisted direction, the NHL became the only major hockey league in North America, and gained exclusive claim to the Stanley Cup.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550024132
• ISBN13: 9781550024135
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Dundurn Press
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

"Deception and Doublecross" an appropriate title!

The authors contend that the consolidation of pro hockey teams in Eastern Canada to form the National Hockey League was often a heavy handed, nasty affair. Nieforth and Holzman make a convincing case to restore the honour of Toronto's EJ Livingstone, who Frank Calder and the Ottawa and Montreal interests despised and wanted expelled from their company at all costs. "Deception and Doublecross" seemed to be the order of the day to reach this end. Holzman and Nieforth illustrate how the arm's length relationship that is incumbent on today's media was quite different in pro hockey's formative years where newspapers editors and columnists often held controlling interests in pro teams and arenas.I also found the book quite rewarding in that it provided some insight into the character of many players and the forces that conspired to have them play on a particular team.What is particularly impressive about the book is that the authors have clearly spent a lot of time carefully searching primary sources to arrive at their conclusions. All are footnoted and properly catalogued to allow interested parties to do further research.I recommend this book for any hockey fan interested in the history of the game.Irv OstererOttawa, ON