Читать книгу Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto. Life as a Maple Leafs Fan онлайн

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I had an odd perspective on the trade because the Calgary general manager at the time was Doug Risebrough. Risebrough’s late mother and my father were brother and sister, making us first cousins. Though we were separated in age by almost two decades, his playing career with the Montreal Canadiens and later with the Flames provided a happy sidelight to my obsession with hockey, both playing and watching it, while growing up. I don’t profess to know Risebrough — I’ve had no more than ten meaningful conversations with him in my life. The one enduring memory I have of his days with the 1970s Canadiens dynasty is playing checkers with our shared grandmother and great-grandmother in their home in Collingwood, Ontario, because a photo of him with the Stanley Cup always hung nearby in the kitchen. But many people knew of the connection, and it always meant my buddies asked about him when I was a really young kid growing up. After Risebrough had won four Stanley Cups with the Canadiens as a player, my friends and I were a bit older and the family connection with a real-life NHL player basically lost its appeal.