THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. de Ferguson, John. With Stan & Shirley Fischler - 1989

Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall, 1989. 334 pp, 9 1/4" H. B&w photographs. "If the Montreal Canadiens had a weakness in the early 1960s it was size. Too often, small Canadiens were being battered against the boards and checked out of action. In 1963, that problem was solved, and a big part of the solutions was John Ferguson. Chosen out of the American Hockey Leauge by Frank Selke, Ferguson showed up in training camp with a reputation as a good hockey player, and one who hadn't lost a fight in the AHL. He lived up to his reputation during his first game in Boston. At the opening faceoff, he got into a fight with Ted Green, which he won. Not only that, Ferguson proceeded to score twice in that game, which ended in a 4-4 tie. John Ferguson played for the Canadiens for eight years, until he retired in 1971. During those years, he shared in five Stanley Cups, played five hundred games, scored 145 goals and 158 assists, and spent 1214 minutes in the penalty box. An extremely aggressive forward, he acted as the club's policeman and extended his dislike of opposing players off the ice. Ferguson retired from the Canadiens in 1971 to begin a new career as a businessman. He came back to hockey as Coach and General Manager of the New York Rangers in 1976, then as General Manager of the Winnipeg Jets, and finally as General Manager of Team Canada. Having retired once more from hockey, (he) will dedicate himself to his second great sporting love, as President of The Windsor Raceway." Minor wrinkling to top/bottom of text block, tiny dent to top edge of front board. Dust jacket has very light edge wrinkling - mainly at top/bottom of spine and flap-folds, minor rubbing, minor edge browning light crease down front flap.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good.