Game Day - by Doug MacLean & Greg Oliver (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From former NHL general manager and bestselling author of Draft Day comes an insider's look at the toughest job in sports.

There is no other job in professional sports more dynamic than that of a general manager in the NHL. Every day--all day--a GM deals with the team's owner and financial staff; the coaching staff; the players, their families, and their agents; the office staff; the sponsors; and the luxury-box holders, season-ticket holders, and corporate boxes. And then there's the media: news-hungry no matter where the team is based, from Toronto and Montreal to Miami and Los Angeles. GMs are responsible for free agency and salary caps, as well as their number one job: team construction. GMs make the final decisions on all hires, fires, trades, and buyouts--after, that is, they have cleared all this with the owner. Through it all, GMs need a thick skin, and they make for easy targets. Keeping the entire fanbase happy is impossible, and their job--while they may enjoy every minute of the experience--is always at risk.

In Game Day, MacLean shares insights from GMs current and past, finding out what makes these hockey executives tick. What trades do they regret making? Which player(s) do they wish they'd drafted? What coaching hire seemed wrong from the first practice? What's it like to hoist the Stanley Cup or, conversely, miss the playoffs and head for the links? Game Day is a must-read for anyone who wants to know the secret moves made behind closed boardroom and locker-room doors.

Review Quotes

"So you want to be an NHL GM? This book is an instruction manual with respect to perseverance, relationships, mentorship, and respect for the game. Doug is a great storyteller, and takes the reader into the inner-sanctum to learn about the joys, the challenges and the disappointments that every GM has. It's all told in great detail with his usual humour, painting a beautiful picture."
-- CRAIG BUTTON, TSN hockey analyst and former NHL GM

"Doug MacLean paid his dues and climbed the hockey ladder. Now he shows us what really goes on day to day in the boardrooms, offices and rinks of hockey, as well as the importance of connections and relationships. I hear Nikolai Zherdev still haunts his dreams."
-- COLBY ARMSTRONG, former NHL winger and Spittin' Chiclets personality

"Doug MacLean's knowledge of the game and countless connections has given us all some amazing insight into the complicated life of NHL general managers."
-- LINDY RUFF, NHL coach

"Nobody tells a story with the candour and humour that Doug does. This book offers a rare look at what it takes to build and run an NHL team."
-- CAROLINE CAMERON, Sportsnet Hockey host

About the Author

Doug MacLean is a former professional hockey coach, general manager, and team executive. He was the president and general manager of the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets and was also the head coach of the Florida Panthers. He became a sportscaster for Sportsnet, eventually cohosting the popular Hockey Central at Noon radio show and regularly appearing as a panelist on Hockey Central television. He splits his time between PEI and Florida.

Greg Oliver is the author of twenty-one books, including the bestselling Gibby: Tales of a Baseball Lifer, with former Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. Oliver's Don't Call Me Goon: Hockey's Greatest Enforcers, Gunslingers, and Bad Boys was also a bestseller. The Society for International Hockey Research presented him with its 2021 Bill Fitsell President's Award, in part for his popular blog about hockey books. His Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series of books have raised the bar for professional wrestling journalism and he has been rewarded with two James C. Melby historian awards. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Meredith. For more, see OliverBooks.ca.