Original Six: How the Canadiens, Bruins, Rangers, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings Laid the Groundwork for Today's National Hockey League

by Lew Freedman

Since the inception of the National Hockey League on November 26, 1917, the sport of hockey has been one of the most popular games across the globe.

After the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909, ceased operations, the NHL took over and became a mainstay for the sport. While there had been teams that dated back to the 1800s and many that came and went through the years, there are six teams which are considered to be the Original or Traditional the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Detroit Red Wings.

In The Original Six , Lew Freedman ( Clouds Over the Goalpost , A Summer to Remember ) takes readers on a trip down memory lane, not only introducing the NHL’s humble beginnings, but how far the game has actually come.

Broken up into six sections, Freedman tells the history and stories of the teams that represent the heart and soul of the NHL. From how these teams came to be and the steps that were taken to get them established to their early years and how they helped shape the game we love today, The Original Six is not only for lover’s of these teams, but for the sport itself.

Whether you’re a diehard supporter or fair-weather fan, learn how this incredible sport began and of the teams that helped it grow into one of the most entertaining and enjoyable games in the world.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.

Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Genres: Sports, Hockey, Nonfiction, History

328 pages, Hardcover

Published October 4, 2016

Reviews

[Ivo Stoyanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Като фен на хокея ми беше интересно да прочета за началото .За тези велики шест отбора основали хокейната лига на САЩ и Канада .

[Jasmine L · Rating 2 out of 5]

A stat heavy book about the original six teams in the NHL. The stories of players are interesting and tells of well-known players and those maybe barely heard of. However, for a book that has an update from 2021, there are things missing. Such as where the Red Wings currently play, and the name change of Air Canada Centre to Scotiabank Arena. I also think this book glossed over some of the darker aspects of certain things, which was kind of disappointing. For example, the book praises Don Cherry but barely discussed the reasons for his firing. It also didn’t discuss Wayne Gretzky, who played for the Rangers, an original six! It makes no sense to me how he could just be mentioned and not fully discussed for his large impact on the sport!
Overall, I liked reading this book but found myself disappointed with certain things. I would recommend to fans of the sport to learn more about the origins of the league and those that helped with the teams.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book about the beginnings of the NHL and the original six teams that got this whole thing started. Read about some players I know of and plenty I didn’t. Fascinating book for a hardcore hockey fan.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating and learned a lot but lost a star for saying Zdeno Chara played for the Rangers

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess a sportswriter can just do a book based on their previous success. But this book desperately needs an editor. Or two or three.
The background stories of the Original Six teams are interesting, to be sure, but the writing is clunky and there are a lot of places where the connection between sentences is not clear. Or even the subject of a given sentence is fuzzy. Then follows a set of player profiles of sorts--more just a series of annecdotes with some better organized than others, suffering from the same unfocused writing. Apparently Freedman just typed a bunch of things he remembered or learned. It seriously reads like a grade school book report. Albeit with an occasional interesting quote thrown in.
Oh, and you want to see if a particular player is included? Or go back easily to one you already read? Too bad, jokes on you, no index.
There is good sports writing out there, but this isn't it. Bummer. I love hockey.

[Kalli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unbalanced and lacking organizational structure beyond chapters dedicated to each team. No effort is made to set the stage of the narrative by addressing the state of hockey prior to the establishment of the league or the actual circumstances that led to the eventual foundation of it. This is problematic when the author makes references to other teams of the era, especially when they shared the same name of later NHL clubs. The subtitle of the book is also highly misleading as the book does not offer any analysis of how the original six teams impacted the expansion or later success of the league. It reads like a hockey fan’s jumbled collection of factoids, interspersing random anecdotes with typical stats. I gave it a second star only because die hard hockey fans might be interested in some tidbits like the origin of the goalie mask, cup-lifting tradition, post-goal celebrations, etc.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suppose I'm an oddity based on the 3.31 star average given this book. Well, I'm a fan of history and a hockey fan, so I really enjoyed the book. I guess it helps that I'm a fan of one of the original six teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs. I found the book both informative and entertaining with historical references, and stories and anecdotes about the various team's star players. I'm assuming that perhaps the marginal rating the book has been given is due to the length of time that has elapsed since the "Original Six Era" and the contemporary hockey fan being enamored with a 32 team NHL chocked full of the young stars of today.

[Amanda (abookishinvasion) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-rounded

I enjoyed this. I like that it gave a good overview of The Original Six teams and many of the most famous, inaugural, and game changing players of each team. It was a perfect place to start delving into the history of the sport, and overall I’m glad I picked it up.
I wish it had been edited better because the format continuously changed and with all of the skipping around sometimes it was difficult to figure out who was being referred to. But other than that it had a lot of good information, and kept it as concise as possible.

[John Matney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect blend of history and hockey

Too often, books of this type are dry descriptions of names and statistics. Here, Freedman provides considerable context of the times that the founders of the team lived in. The short biographies of the star players in the early years of each team was very interesting to me. Most hockey fans are familiar with the stars of the last 30 years. The photos were a nice touch as well. All in all, a very enjoyable book.

[Dawn McWilliams · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone that loves hockey, The Original Six tells the tales of the first six hockey teams and their star players. Its a great introduction into the start of the beloved NHL!!

Although my favorite team, Pittsburgh Penguins, are rarely mentioned it is incredible to understand how the original six introduced the sport and helped to build the incredible game we all.

Proud to be a HockeyMom! 💚💛🏒🥅❤️🖤

[ken derbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memories

This book brought back so many memories.
Born and raised in montreal, I have been a lifelong maple leaf fan. This resulted in many a interesting night at the old Montreal forum

[Shari Mellin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is only for serious hockey fans. Too many statistics that I skipped over, but some interesting facts about the original games and teams. I read about some players whose names I've heard, and learned some interesting things about the sport. Again, as I say, only for the most diehard fans.

[Rich Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Hockey lover's

Pretty good read portraying the original six teams, their key personnel and players. Lots of little know facts on the teams and players revealed.

[Howie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice review of the Original Six Era

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed through this. Mr. Freedman is snarky, opinionated, and fun to read. My knowledge of hockey history isn’t wide enough to appreciate the whole story, but it was cool to read about the Bruins.

[Alexandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty solid primer to early NHL history, although there were a couple misprint errors in my copy. A solid “hockey 101” book to start out with.

[Bookwormgyrl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on the Original Six Hockey teams. Great for old and new fans of hockey. 5.0 bookworms

[z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, but not bad. Wish it was a more historical narrative about how the NHL and the Original Six era was built rather than “X player did Y and now he’s in the Hall of Fame.”

[Shari Suarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not often that one sees a book about just the Original Six era of hockey. Lew Freedman tells the history of the Original Six and the notable players and coaches from each team during that era. He also notes the players from each Original Six team that made a difference after 1967 when expansion began. It was very well researched and very entertaining. The only complaint that I have was that the Red Wings section didn't seem as expansive as the other sections.