Power plays

About this book

This explosive book, by the most recent past president of the NHL, reveals what really goes on behind the scenes in professional hockey. Gil Stein served as NHL vice president and general counsel for fifteen years and as president in 1992 and 1993. He details the antics of the NHL's multimillionaire owners, whom he calls "the Haves and the Have-Mores," which often resemble those of the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. He shows how the 1989 Plan of Sixth Expansion was motivated solely by the short-term greed of a majority of NHL owners and why the 1994-95 lockout was the result of "a major goof by Bob Goodenow of the Players Association.". The reader will learn the truth about how Disney and Blockbuster were brought into the NHL; the Broad Street Bullies in criminal court; NHL croquet matches in Palm Beach; how John Ziegler became president; how the NHL-WHA war ended while Ziegler slept; the NHL collective-bargaining charade; how Goodenow's mistake cost players 43 percent of their salaries; what went on behind the scenes in the Hockey Hall of Fame fiasco; and much, much more.