Towels, Triumph & Tears: The Vancouver Canucks' Amazing Drive to the Stanley Cup Finals

Madeira Park, BC, Canada: Harbour Publishing Company, Limited, 1982. Book. Good. Paperback. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 155 pages. "For eleven years the Vancouver Canucks toiled without distinction in the nether reaches of the Natioinal Hockey League. The twelfth season started the same way, and after six months the team was firmly lodged in the bottom half of the standings. Then, in one of the most amazing transformations ever witnessed in the history of the game, the team caught fire and played its next 22 games with only two losses, finally challenging the mighty New York Islanders for hockey supremacy in the 1982 Stanly Cup Finals. Along the way, the Canucks' home province, British Columbia, was consumed with hockey madness. At the opera hall in Vancouver, concerts were interrupted to announce game results. The airport was brought to a standstill by huge crowds waiting to greet players. Political leaders vied with each other to prove themselves the truest hockey fan. During game broadcasts, city streets were deserted. And even after the team failed to overcome the strong New York club in the final, 50,000 attended a parade to show their support. How did the Vancouver Canucks accomplish their remarkable feat? And why did the people of British Columbia succumb so completely to the influence of 'Canuck Fever?' To answer these questions, Vancouver Province hockey writers Tony Gallagher and Mike Gasher probe the team's history and relive those wild towel-waving weeks in the spring of 1982 from the viewpoint of the players and the fans." - from back cover. Cover features the unforgettable scene of coach Roger Neilson raising a white towel at the end of a hockey stick to silently voice his disapproval of officiating in the semi-finals against Chicago. Includes several pages of excellent black and white photos. Pages have gently yellowed with age. Binding intact. Unmarked. A wonderful gift for the true die-hard Vancouver Canuck fan..