Dropping the Gloves: Inside the Fiercely Combative World of Professional Hockey

BARRY MELROSE is one of the few athletes who has played and coached in all three major organizations within the sport of hockey: Junior Hockey, the American Hockey League, and the National Hockey League. As an NHL coach he took the Los Angeles Kings -- and Wayne Gretzky -- to the Stanley Cup finals. For the past fifteen years, Melrosehas been a commentator and hockey analyst for ESPN TV. ROGER VAUGHAN has published biographies of Ted Turner and Herbert von Karajan in addition to 12 other books including The Art of Hitting, with Tony Gwynn; Golf, The Women's Game; and Fastnet: One Man's Voyage; and the story for a feature film (Wind). He has written more than 100 shows (both live and taped). The author lives in Glens Falls, New York.

Barry Melrose's life is hockey. From the time he was old enought to skate, he knew it's what he was meant to do. Growing up in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, he was one of a generation of future NHLers that included Wendel Clark, Bernie Federko, and the Kocur brothers. He fought his way through the Canadian minor league system, eventually getting drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. But Melrose chose instead to play for the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers, beginning a professional career that saw him sent up and down, between the big leagues and the minors, before ending his playing career as a player coach in the AHL. As a coach, he saw success at every level, winning a Memorial Cup, a Calder Cup, and reaching the Stanley Cup Final as coach of the LA Kings. Dropping the Gloves shares Barry's years of experience. He explains the psychology of the game, the inner workings of the locker room, and how many different elements are required to create a winnning team.Told in the same plain-spoken style that has made him ESPN's best-known hockey commentator, Dropping the Gloves is a fantastic compendium of hockey knowledge.