Blood Feud: Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche: The Inside Story of Pro Sports' Nastiest and Best Rivalry of Its Era

This is a great book for any hockey fan, but especially if you've been watching for years. I knew very little about this rivalry, so this book was perfect for me. The book is littered with little tidbits about the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche as well as the Montreal Canadiens and others. More interesting is the interviews with the players and coaches. The author is excellent at describing the game, I'm sure he's a great reporter. And his knack for "hockey gossip" makes the book an entertaining read. There's only really one flaw:The two pictures of Patrick Roy in fights: one is with Vernon and one is with Osgood. Now the reason I'm upset is, I saw those two fights on youtube: Roy kicks their asses. However, on the cover and the picture at the end of the pictures section, shows the Detroit goalies with the upper hand. On the cover Vernon appears to have the upper hand as Roy's head is ducking. That was probably the only moment in the fight when that happened. Roy killed Vernon. Same with the other picture: Osgood has Roy down on the ice and Osgood is on top of Roy. But if you watch the fight on Youtube, Roy pummels Osgood the entire fight and that picture is right at the end when Osgood finally got the upper hand. But immediately the referees seperated the two, so...I don't know, those pictures piss me off. (Obviously I'm a Patrick Roy fan!!!)Still, great book, buy it and read it!

Good sports books are few and far in between. Good hockey books are even fewer and further in between. This isn't "The Game" and the author is no Ken Dryden. There's no romanticism here, no "mystique," no clash between cultures or any of the other story lines that often take sports rivalries beyond the scope of the pitch. This is the story of two incredibly talented teams that pissed each other off just enough to make the rest of the hockey world take notice.I read this book cover to cover in one weekend (I wouldn't recommend reading the index or the legal stuff near the front cover, though) and I was instantly transported back to the NHL of the late 1990's. The post-Gretzky/Lemieux era was quickly dawning and the NHL desperately needed new torchbearers. In what should have been Eric Lindros' crowning moment, two teams (one built primarily around players acquired for Lindros and the other from ex-Soviets) set the stage for one of the most thrilling periods in hockey.This wasn't Habs-Leafs, Habs-Nordiques, Habs-Bruins (hell, there's no mention of Les Habs at all in this book unless you count the back-stories of Roy and Bowman). The names Sakic, Yzerman, Forsberg, Federov, Shanahan, Roy may or may not sound familiar but the story and the emotions it provoked in those that were fortunate enough to witness it is as timeless as triumph and tragedy. This was a blood feud. This was Wings-Avs.

Read this if you’re a hockey fan. I am a disregard Wings fan but came away from reading this book feeling mad respect for the Avs. The author vividly captures the whole gamut of emotions that stemmed from this rivalry—the best of all-time in sports.

You simply cannot go wrong with the Avalanche-Red Wing rivalry. It is such a unique, exciting, and violent tale that you cannot help but sit and watch it like some kind of "car wreck in slow motion," to quote Darren McCarty's description of the infamous Lemieux-Draper hit. Dater does an excellent job of writing a reasonably objective (considering that Dater was a Denver-based sports writer) description of what happened, when, how, and why. Trying to dig deeper than simply a play-by-play, Dater provides perspectives from many of the involved players, officials, coaches, and sports writers. This was essential to making this a successful book. This is more than just a box score or game breakdown. Dater gets down to the emotions and feelings of the men involved, gives a brief background for key characters, and shows the good and bad side to one of sports' most fierce rivalries. This was both the most exciting hockey of the time, and also the most brutal. In some cases, Dater pulls no punches, and even though Dater clearly is in the Av's corner, he paints a very negative picture of Claude Lemieux, and especially Patrick Roy. Dater's attempt at objectivity is not perfect, but the fact he tried at all is a testament to his writing character.All that said, I was a little disappointed with the writing itself and what was missing. There are so many examples of missing information, poorly written blurbs, unnecessary additions, and simple bad writing that I am not even sure where to begin. To start with, I could care less about Dater's high school experiences, divorce, or non-hockey background, although it did help explain why he has always been such a mediocre hockey writer. His description of the infamous Marc Crawford meltdown provides a great transcript, but he never explains why exactly it happened. Brendan Shanahan had been in a fight with Rene Corbet and had, allegedly, knocked Corbet's head into the ice again and again. This spurred Crawford into a frenzy, as he felt the officials just sat there and let it happen (as they frequently seemed to do whenever the going go rough). Dater never discusses this. Dater also overly relies on the sports writing of his Denver cronies, especially Woody Paige, who is proven here to be one of the biggest homers in sports writing history. Pretty sad when a sports writer resorts to insulting impoverished autoworkers, instead of focusing on what is happening on the ice. Dater lets Paige off a little too easy. Dater is critical of homerism, but sure seemed to demonstrate it himself in sticking up for his fellow sports writers. Although Dater gets into the head of Roy, Lemieux, Bowman, and McCarty and does provide quotes from a host of players, I would also have liked to have seen more of that, and less from the writers. What did the likes of Foote, Sakic, and Yzerman have to say? There just seemed to be so much missing from this book.But I don't mean to get overly critical. I still give this book 4 stars. It might be a little clunky for a supposed professional writer, but it is a can't-miss story that provides a lot of behind-the-scene information. I read it in a day... then read it again. For a hockey fan, I can't recommend this book more.