Description
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Bruins' 1970 Stanley Cup championship season by reliving all the moments in Kooks and Degenerates on Ice.
While the United States seethed from racial violence, war, and mass shootings, the 1969-70 "Big, Bad Bruins," led by the legendary Bobby Orr, brushed off their perennial losing ways to defeat the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals for their first championship in 29 years.
In Kooks and Degenerates on Ice: Bobby Orr, the Big Bad Bruins, and the Stanley Cup Championship That Transformed Hockey, Thomas J. Whalen recounts all the memorable moments from that championship season. Behind the no-nonsense yet inspired leadership of head coach Harry Sinden, the once laughingstock Bruins became the talk of the sporting world. Nicknamed the "Big, Bad Bruins" for their propensity to out-brawl and intimidate their opponents, the team rallied around the otherworldly play of Bobby Orr and his hard-hitting teammates to take the NHL by surprise in a season to remember.
Kooks and Degenerates on Ice brings to life all the colorful personalities and iconic players from this Stanley Cup-raising team. In addition, the season is placed into its historical context as the United States struggled with issues of war, race, politics, and class, making this a must-read for sports enthusiasts, hockey fans, and those interested in twentieth-century American history.
About the Author
Thomas J. Whalen is an associate professor of social science at Boston University. Whalen's social/political commentary has appeared in the New York Times, ABCNews.com, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and the AP. He has also appeared on several national broadcast outlets including CNN, NPR and Reuters TV. Whalen is the author of multiple books, including Dynasty's End: Bill Russell and the 1968-69 World Champion Boston Celtics (2003), When the Red Sox Ruled: Baseball's First Dynasty, 1912-1918 (2011), and Spirit of '67: The Cardiac Kids, El Birdos, and the World Series That Captivated American (R&L, 2017).
Reviews
Whalen vividly takes readers through the arc of the winning season, from early season struggles to the eventual Stanley Cup victory over the St. Louis Blues with Orr's game-winning goal, captured in the famous flying Superman photo. This exciting slice of hockey history is an open-net goal for Bruins fans. * Publishers Weekly *
If you know-without going to Google-the significance of the figure 13,909 (a full house in the old Boston Garden), whom Ted Green fought with in his greatest ice bout (Wayne Maki), and the hometown of Bobby Orr (Parry Sound, Ontario), then Thomas J. Whalen has written a book specifically for you. If all this is a mystery, then Whalen also has written a book specifically for you. -- David Shribman, Massachusetts native and Pulitzer Prize-winning former Washington bureau chief of The Boston Globe
If you are one of the thousands of New England Baby Boomers who can never get enough of Bobby Orr and the Bruins of the 1970s, here's another book for your collection. -- Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe, and author of the New York Times bestseller Francona
Tom Whalen provides an excellent concise history of the Bruins while placing their legendary swashbuckling teams of the late sixties and early seventies in the rich social context of their times. Much like those Bruins, this is a book that should delight non-hockey fans as well as diehards. -- Richard A. Johnson, curator, The Sports Museum
Boston, the city on the hill, has been blessed above all others in sports history. The run of the Celtics was incomparable, the Patriots have accomplished the nearly impossible, and though long in coming the Sox have had their moments in the sun. Although the Bruins have never quite matched the others, they, perhaps more than the rest, have captured the heart of the city, especially during the Bobby Orr era. Legendary stuff. And Thomas J. Whalen brings it back in all its salty, crazy drama. -- Randy Roberts, co-author of War Fever: Boston, Baseball and America in the Shadow of the Great War
Book Information
ISBN 9781538155936
Author Thomas J. Whalen
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 363g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 153mm * 18mm
While the United States seethed from racial violence, war, and mass shootings, the 1969-70 "Big, Bad Bruins," led by the legendary Bobby Orr, brushed off their perennial losing ways to defeat the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals for their first championship in 29 years.
In Kooks and Degenerates on Ice: Bobby Orr, the Big Bad Bruins, and the Stanley Cup Championship That Transformed Hockey, Thomas J. Whalen recounts all the memorable moments from that championship season. Behind the no-nonsense yet inspired leadership of head coach Harry Sinden, the once laughingstock Bruins became the talk of the sporting world. Nicknamed the "Big, Bad Bruins" for their propensity to out-brawl and intimidate their opponents, the team rallied around the otherworldly play of Bobby Orr and his hard-hitting teammates to take the NHL by surprise in a season to remember.
Kooks and Degenerates on Ice brings to life all the colorful personalities and iconic players from this Stanley Cup-raising team. In addition, the season is placed into its historical context as the United States struggled with issues of war, race, politics, and class, making this a must-read for sports enthusiasts, hockey fans, and those interested in twentieth-century American history.
About the Author
Thomas J. Whalen is an associate professor of social science at Boston University. Whalen's social/political commentary has appeared in the New York Times, ABCNews.com, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and the AP. He has also appeared on several national broadcast outlets including CNN, NPR and Reuters TV. Whalen is the author of multiple books, including Dynasty's End: Bill Russell and the 1968-69 World Champion Boston Celtics (2003), When the Red Sox Ruled: Baseball's First Dynasty, 1912-1918 (2011), and Spirit of '67: The Cardiac Kids, El Birdos, and the World Series That Captivated American (R&L, 2017).
Reviews
Whalen vividly takes readers through the arc of the winning season, from early season struggles to the eventual Stanley Cup victory over the St. Louis Blues with Orr's game-winning goal, captured in the famous flying Superman photo. This exciting slice of hockey history is an open-net goal for Bruins fans. * Publishers Weekly *
If you know-without going to Google-the significance of the figure 13,909 (a full house in the old Boston Garden), whom Ted Green fought with in his greatest ice bout (Wayne Maki), and the hometown of Bobby Orr (Parry Sound, Ontario), then Thomas J. Whalen has written a book specifically for you. If all this is a mystery, then Whalen also has written a book specifically for you. -- David Shribman, Massachusetts native and Pulitzer Prize-winning former Washington bureau chief of The Boston Globe
If you are one of the thousands of New England Baby Boomers who can never get enough of Bobby Orr and the Bruins of the 1970s, here's another book for your collection. -- Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe, and author of the New York Times bestseller Francona
Tom Whalen provides an excellent concise history of the Bruins while placing their legendary swashbuckling teams of the late sixties and early seventies in the rich social context of their times. Much like those Bruins, this is a book that should delight non-hockey fans as well as diehards. -- Richard A. Johnson, curator, The Sports Museum
Boston, the city on the hill, has been blessed above all others in sports history. The run of the Celtics was incomparable, the Patriots have accomplished the nearly impossible, and though long in coming the Sox have had their moments in the sun. Although the Bruins have never quite matched the others, they, perhaps more than the rest, have captured the heart of the city, especially during the Bobby Orr era. Legendary stuff. And Thomas J. Whalen brings it back in all its salty, crazy drama. -- Randy Roberts, co-author of War Fever: Boston, Baseball and America in the Shadow of the Great War
Book Information
ISBN 9781538155936
Author Thomas J. Whalen
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 363g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 153mm * 18mm
