Vlad the Impaler: More Epic Tales From Detroit's '97 Stanley Cup Conquest

by Keith Gave

Picking up where the international best-selling book The Russian Five left off, Vlad the Impaler will have readers alternately laughing—and in tears—with dozens more memorable, untold stories and anecdotes from the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup championship season in 1997, 25 years ago. The book includes a foreword by Hall of Fame defenseman Slava Fetisov, along with lengthy excerpts from interviews of several members of that team, from captain Steve Yzerman, teammates Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Slava Kozlov, and coach Scotty Bowman, among many others. A portion of the proceeds from the book will be earmarked for the Vladimir Konstantinov Special Needs Trust to help ensure the care he needs after suffering catastrophic injuries just a week after he helped the Wings win their first Stanley Cup title in 42 years. #Believe

Genres: Sports, Hockey, Nonfiction

248 pages, Paperback

Published April 5, 2022

About the author

Keith Gave spent six years in the United States Army as a Russian linguist working for the National Security Agency during the Cold War. Nothing could have better prepared him for a career as a sports writer covering hockey for the Detroit Free Press.

His 15 years with the newspaper were the highlight of a career spanning nearly 40 years in the news industry, which include 14 years as a college journalism instructor. He also contributed as a writer/producer to the documentary film, The Russian Five, scheduled for release in 2018. He lives in Roscommon, Michigan, where he continues to write when he’s not sneaking off to cast a fly to the trout on his home waters of the Au Sable River.

Reviews

[Lynn Bickley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome!!! So fun to relive the runs for The Stanley Cup!!

[Susan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful book about the inner workers of the Detroit Red Wings Hockey team During the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 seasons when the team won back-to-back Stanley Cups. The book is dedicated to Vladimir Konstantinov who was injured in an auto accident just after winning the cup in 1997. The proceeds from the of this book are donated to a fund to assist Konstantinov in his continuing struggles to lead as normal a life as possible. The book is a series of short vignettes and personal memories of those players and coaches from that time period.

Being a hockey fan, especially of the Detroit Red Wings I enjoyed the book. As a fan I would have rated it 5 stars, and for what it was intended to be, it is worth that rating. But in general, 4 stars is a more accurate assessment of the book.

[Jason Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe the author should have left Vlad the Impaler out of the title of the book. I enjoyed it, but it was more about the 97-98 Red Wings team than it was about Vlad.
The author’s other book “The Russian Five” was great, and this was like a part 2, or some leftovers from that book, how the Five helped Detroit win the Cup.
What happened to Vlad was a travesty, and cut his NHL career way too short, who knows how great he could have been. Google his hit on Dale Hawerchuk in the 97 playoffs! BEAST!
If you are a hockey fan, this book is still worth the read.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for more of a story strictly about Vladdie, given the title of the book. It was a bit disappointing for it to be instead a collection of short stories about the team in general and a lot of stuff that Gave already included in his fantastic “The Russian Five.” Nevertheless, I did enjoyed all the firsthand accounts from former players and coaches.