The book The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team by Wayne Coffey is a winner of the New York Times Bestseller Award. This book tells the story of the US Men’s Ice Hockey Team and their amazing story of the 1980’s Gold Medal win and how they got there.
The book is aimed at an audience that loves stories on how the underdog wins it all, or even for fans of ice hockey who haven’t already heard of The Miracle on Ice. This book features many true to life statistics from the games that were played, even down to the players’ names and how many goals, assists, even playing time minutes they had. On top of being a sports book, the story of how the team got there is an emotional rollercoaster filled with highs and lows for both the coach and the players. The reader can relate to these struggles, and feel like they were out there on the ice along with those players.
The reader gets to learn a lot about our nation’s historic game winner against the Soviet Union, a game the US should not have won. The story telling is so eye catching that the reader can envision the game playing out right before them. From the big time saves from American goaltender Jim Craig, to the thrilling goal that ties the game from Mark Johnson, the reader feels as if they were right in the stands as the game played. Every emotion can be felt by reading this book, the exciting moment when the US beats Soviet Union to the overwhelming sadness when coach Herb Brooks dies, and every emotion in between. In the middle of this book are pictures from the actual game that played between USA and the Soviet Union.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It keeps the reader interested at all times; there really aren’t any slow moments of the book. It also informed me about a lot of the events that happened back then. Wayne Coffey wrote an amazing book that won prestigious awards from top name newspapers and websites. As stated before, this book won the New York Times Bestseller Award. Coffey, author of this book, is an award-winning sportswriter for New York’s Daily News and the author of more than thirty books.
Overall, this book deserves more positive feedback and needs more attention from all readers. It’s a solid classic that captures a moment in American history that nobody will forget. The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team is without a doubt a book I will always remember.
