Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Hockey Book about 1993 Canadiens Just Pubbed


Riverdale Avenue Books has just published The 1993 Canadiens: Seven Magical Weeks, Unlikely Heroes and Canada’s Last Stanley Cup Champions by K.P. Wee on the heels of the annual NHL All-Star games.  This hockey title by veteran sports writer K.P. Wee chronicles the amazing turn of events that gave Canada its last Stanley Cup Championship 27 years ago.

The 1992-1993 Canadiens, whose lone superstar was future Hall-of-Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, were essentially a nondescript team coming off an embarrassing second-round playoff series sweep against the Boston Bruins the previous spring. Yet these Habs, led by the goaltending of Roy and with timely goals from various unlikely heroes, stunned the hockey world by winning a record 10 consecutive playoff overtime games over a magical seven-week run during the spring of 1993. Montreal ultimately captured hockey’s ultimate prize that June—the 24th championship in franchise history—in the last Stanley Cup Finals series ever played at the venerable Montreal Forum.

While the Canadiens had veteran presence in Kirk Muller, Vincent Damphousse, Brian Bellows, Denis Savard and Guy Carbonneau, Montreal might not have won the Cup without unlikely heroes like Gilbert Dionne, Stephan Lebeau and Paul DiPietro scoring goals in the clutch. Others such as Gary Leeman and Mario Roberge, despite not always being in the lineup, contributed in ways that didn’t necessarily show up on the scoresheet. And behind the bench, while Jacques Demers made all the right moves that spring, he isn’t even considered today among the top 50 coaches of all-time.
  
“If you’re not a Montreal fan, you hated seeing them win. But as time as gone by, you learn to appreciate the fact that this group of men exemplified teamwork perfectly,” said author K.P. Wee. “Yes, their goalie, Patrick Roy, stood on his head. But they had so many overtime heroes along the way, guys scoring big goals playing hurt or contributing even when they weren’t regularly in the lineup. Half the guys were Francophones and the other half were Anglophones, and that could have caused a problem in the locker room... and playing in that media market in Montreal, where hockey is religion and there’s so much scrutiny and so much pressure... it’s amazing they pulled together and won that Cup.”

More than a quarter century later, these Habs remain the last Canadian-based team to win the Cup—and in The 1993 Canadiens: Seven Magical Weeks, Unlikely Heroes and Canada’s Last Stanley Cup Champions, K. P. Wee relives the story of this incredible season.

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