Tuesday, November 4, 2014

I'm back with a new review! Today I'm looking at Frozen in time: A Minnesota North Stars History, by Adam Raider.

The North Stars entered the NHL as part of the Great Expansion in 1967, becoming one of six teams to join the league. While the team never won a Stanley Cup during its tenure in Minneapolis, they had two improbably runs at the title in 1982 and 1991.

This book was a fun look at the team and their history. First, the lean years as they tried to establish themselves against stronger competition. Rivalries were forged, especially against the Chicago Blackhawks. These would produce some of the best games in North Stars history, both wins and losses.

The merger with the Cleveland Barons is discussed, as are various other highlights in small sidebars throughout the book.

There is a chapter titled Fan Favorites, highlighting some of the best loved, most memorable players to suit up for the North Stars, followed by a chapter of the "best of the rest." For the stats gurus, there is a section with all the players who ever suited up, and their point totals, as well as the entire draft history of the team.

Finally, there is a postscript to the North Stars, a section about the rebirth of the NHL in Minnesota. They talk about the Wild, and their slow but steady rise in the NHL, and how Minnesota deserved to be in the NHL a second time.

All in all, it's a wonderful book. Very well laid out, easy to keep up with, definitely worth reading.

Special thanks to University of Nebraska Press for making this book available for reviewing!

Link to Amazon:   http://www.amazon.com/frozen-time-minnesota-north-history/dp/0803249985/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=utf8&qid=1415140356&sr=1-1&keywords=frozen+in+time+north+stars


Link to Powell's City of Books:   http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780803249981-0


Link to Barnes & Noble:   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/frozen-in-time-adam-raider/1119277681?ean=9780803249981


Link to University of Nebraska press:  http://nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/frozen-in-time,675997.aspx