HOCKEY DYNASTIES

Family ties have been an enduring part of hockey history since the beginning of the NHL. Hockey Dynasties is an era-by-era look at the proliferation of family ties in professional hockey. The book will examine why there are so many families in professional hockey, and will include tales by the players about their time at center ice, playing with and against their siblings/fathers/cousins/uncles. Ken Dryden was asked why it is that family ties are so prevalent in hockey as opposed to any other professional sport league. Part of it, he theorized, was the nature of the long Canadian winter that leaves kids without much else to do. Dryden also thought that hockey's rural roots may have something to do with it: 'Hockey players have historically come from smaller places rather than bigger places. In a smaller place you have fewer options and it is more likely in a smaller place that if one kid from a family gets involved in hockey, other kids are going to get involved too.' Hockey families included are: Ken and Dave Dryden, Wayne and Brent Gretzky, Eric and Brett Lindros, Charlie, Roy and Lionel Conacher, Bobby and Brett Hall, Maurice and Henri Richard, Pete and Frank Mahovlich, Gordie, Mark and Vic Howe, and many other notable hockey families.