A must read for any hockey fan and/or sports enthusiast. Tim Falconer gives life to this team of under dogs who would face every challenge in their quest to play. My mid 20 year old grandson, a hockey devotee, read this and then had to share with his fellow fan club members. That's one of the best recommendations anyone could have.

A great read about the early days of hockey, the Stanley Cup, and the Canadian Yukon. It is a riveting story of characters, stories, and fables. A recommended read for hockey and history fans.

This was an absorbing story of the introduction of the Stanley Cup to the early world of hockey in Canada, how hockey made its mark as Canada's national sport, and the group of players from Dawson in the Yukon who travelled across the country to challenge the reigning champions for the Cup. Sections alternated between the early history of hockey and the growing fandom that led Governor General Lord Stanley to donate a trophy "like any other" to be rewarded to the hockey champions each year; and the early history of the Klondike as the gold rush ended and people decided to stay or go, the town of Dawson grew, and eventually hockey grew entrenched there as well. Towards the beginning the alternating scenes were uneven and a bit jarring, with the history of hockey and the Stanley Cup being the better written sections. But as the book progressed I thought things evened out. The different leagues, the different challenges faced by early game developers, and the trek the Dawson team had to get to Ottawa were fascinating to read and anyone interested in hockey, sports history, or Canadian history will get a lot out of this book. Be sure to pick up a copy!

This story is focused around two different events in Canada, one is the founding of and start of hockey and the development of Dawson City located in the Klondike area when gold was discovered. Dawson grew and developed so much it was known amongst some as the Paris of the North and eventually the residents of Dawson city putting a team together to challenge for the Stanley Cup it was considered David taking on Goliath. This taking place between 1890 and 1910. Can you imagine that one time Lacrosse was a bigger sport then hockey ? Hard to imagine. It was also interesting to learn how hockey was being promoted as way to gain exercise in the winter. Another benefit that hockey developed was to help Canada gain more independence form British culture. It should be no surprise to learn that hockey rinks and method to play for Lord Stanley's Cup were far different then what they are today. There was quite the cast of characters both in Dawson City and in the various hockey players. One who bought all the fresh eggs in Dawson City some costing as much as $2 dollars a piece
just because he was smitten with a lady. The other being a hockey player who sends a letter to a minister in Glasgow with three ladies names and a marriage proposal on his behalf if one would come to Canada and it worked and became a 50 year marriage. While there was a lot of interesting information in this book I felted that it was like walking through mud to try and through it was a real slow read along with a disappointing ending. Thank to Netgalley and ECW press for an ARC for a fair and honest review.

While many sports books, no matter the sport, do combine history, social events of the time and even national pride while discussing a particular event in the sport's history, this book about a hockey team from the Yukon competing for hockey's most prized trophy, the Stanley Cup, is a masterful combination of all these subjects.
Tim Falconer takes the story of a rag-tag hockey team from Dawson City and follows them not only on their journey to Ottawa to take on the defending Cup champions, but also provides readers with excellent information on the Klondike gold rush that resulted in the formation of Dawson City. He also paints a very good picture of both the social situation in Canada as they were emerging into the 20th century and becoming less influenced by Victorian-era norms.
Not only Canadian history is portrayed in the book – two excellent hockey history subjects are discussed as well. Readers who may not be familiar with either the origin of the Stanley Cup or how the early version of the sport was even rougher than it is today will enjoy learning more about hockey in the early 1900's.
The person most important in the transformation of the Stanley Cup to become hockey's most holy grail, P.D. Ross, is portrayed extensively here as well as Weldy Young, who was the player who was most responsible for the success of Dawson's team and made them believe that their amateur team could compete for the Cup. At the time, amateur teams, not professional, were competing for the trophy as Dawson competed with Ottawa about 15 years before the creation of the NHL and one of the more stubborn Victorian-era traditions still in vogue was the purity of amateurism. While not explicitly stated by Falconer, it was clear that this was still the belief in the country and professional players would somehow taint this image. That quickly came to pass, but the nation's fascination with the voyage that Dawson took to play those two games was clearly a nod to the amateur status.
Unfortunately for Dawson, the weeks-long journey caught up to them and their lack of conditioning resulted in an easy victory for Ottawa. Nonethless, the entire nation was captivated by the Klondikers and this story is part of the legacy of how hockey became the national sport for Canada. Even after the tourney, Dawson played more games in the east and Maritimes, some with great attendance, in order to not only raise funds for the trip back but also to allow the fans who followed them to see them play.
No matter which aspect of the Klondikers' interests a reader, they are sure to be pleased with this book. It is detailed and will have to be read carefully to fully appreciate all the information, but when all is said and done, this book is well worth the significant amount of time required to invest in it.
I wish to thank ECW Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

How could you not love this book! If you are Canadian, you likely have some knowledge of the hockey universe. This book is the story of how hockey became Canada's beloved pastime.
It begins with a group of untrained hockey players from Dawson City, who travelled for three and a half weeks to play for a championship in Ottawa. This captured the hearts and minds of people, and it started the whole hockey religion.
The information was well researched, and the minutiae is fascination., the story just so well written. Even if you aren't a hockey person, you would love this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my unpaid, honest review.