Saving the Game: Pro Hockey's Quest to Raise its Game from Crisis to New Heights

In September of 2003 Mark Moore, at the age of twenty-six, was forced to call the Montreal Canadiens, the team he had idolized since childhood, and inform them that he was turning down an offer to tryout for their organization. He had no choice; the doctors wouldn't clear him to play, and after battling post-concussion syndrome for nearly a year, the truth was he couldn't. As he accustomed himself to his first year without playing hockey since the age of three, he was able to observe the game from the outside - as fans and others saw it- and he quickly noticed the cracks forming in the ice.A few months later, on March 8, 2004, the ice shattered. Watching from home, Mark saw his younger brother Steve of the Colorado Avalanche attacked from behind by Vancouver’s Todd Bertuzzi, in one of the most vicious acts hockey fans had ever seen.Mark could easily have turned away from the game at that point, after all that had happened, but instead he has written a soul-searching look at the game he loves. Taking on all of hockey’s most burning issues - from the “boring” style of play in recent years, to changes in the nature of the competition, to violence and injuries, to financial troubles - Mark brings us on a deep and fascinating investigation into the “mysteries” behind them.