FENN/McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 2011
384 pp., illus., $32.99 hardcover
Let’s face it, Canada truly is a nation of have- and have-not provinces — those that have NHL teams and those that don’t.
And for those of us who grew up far from the NHL-blessed echelons of sport, choosing the team we threw our allegiance behind was a complicated alchemy fraught with repercussions. Pick the right squad, and bragging rights are yours. But pick the wrong team, and you doom yourself to a lifetime of misery and disappointment.
Growing up in rural Nova Scotia in the 1970s, my hockey world consisted of whatever tilt was beamed through the rabbit ears on our old TV on Saturday nights. And while some of my fellow Maritimers fell under the sway of the nearby Boston Bruins, for the rest of us, our options were clear: either the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens.
Myself, I pulled for “Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge.” I still remember watching with jaw-dropped awe as Guy “The Flower” Lafleur led the rush into his opponents’ end of the rink. This was the Canadiens squad of the late 1970s — to my seven-year-old eyes, they were perfection on ice. And victory for the Habs was always that much sweeter when it came at the expense of the hated Maple Leafs.
I suppose I should feel pity for the blue and white. After all, they haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967. But there’s just something so smug about the team and its fans that rankles still. Maybe it’s that CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada too often seems like Hockey Night in Toronto. Maybe it’s TSN’s misguided belief that everyone from Memramcook to Moose Jaw hovers near their flat screens on bended knees, craving live Leafs updates from that morning’s practice session. It’s enough to compel you to cancel your cable.
For those of us who are not denizens of “Leafs Nation,” Kelly McParland’s new book on the early days of Toronto’s team is a surprisingly absorbing read. The Lives of Conn Smythe: From the Battlefield to Maple Leaf Garden: A Hockey Icon’s Story is the biography of the man who made the Maple Leafs into a national obsession.
Smythe was one of hockey’s most dominant and flamboyant figures in the early to mid-twentieth century. A self-made millionaire businessman, he fought in two world wars and was at once admired, hated, and respected.
“Irascible, tempestuous, outspoken, and controversial … [Smythe] not only constructed a hockey team that ruled the league for long stretches, but was critical to the growth and shaping of the NHL itself,” writes McParland. “By building Maple Leaf Gardens and hiring Foster Hewitt to fill Canada’s living rooms with weekly broadcasts, he turned Saturday night into hockey night, creating institutions and a culture that became central to Canada’s character.”
McParland writes in a conversational style, and there’s plenty in his book for Leafs fanatics and general fans of hockey. It fleshes out the larger-than-life personas behind the original six teams and tells the dramatic behind-the-scenes story of the powerful owners who for decades held the upper hand over players. For those who wonder why the NHL Players’ Association seems so militant at times, this book will prove especially illuminating.
There’s plenty here, however, for non-fans as well. Smythe lived his life large and craved the limelight. Awarded the Military Cross in World War I, he volunteered for action in World War II, demanding to be given men to lead into battle. He got his wish and was promptly injured. During his convalescence, he concluded that conscription was crucial if Canada hoped to make a real contribution to the fight against the Nazis.
Returning to Canada, Smythe quickly found himself embroiled in a war of words with Prime Minister William Lyon Mack-enzie King over the conscription issue. Their battle would lead to a crisis in Parliament and forced King to sack his defence minister.
Today, most of us know Conn Smythe simply as the name attached to the trophy handed out each year to the most valuable player in the NHL playoffs. With The Lives of Conn Smythe, McParland — a self-confessed Leafs fan — has written a tough but fair assessment of the life of a man who helped grow Canada’s game.
If his goal was to write a truly readable hockey book for the masses, then McParland has scored with this insightful and fascinating skate through the game’s early years.
— Mark Collin Reid (Read bio)
Mark Collin Reid is the Editor-in-Chief of Canada's History.