Dennis Maruk

If asked to name the 20 men who’ve scored 60+ goals in an NHL season, most hockey fans would likely be able to name the big stars who did so but would likely be hard-pressed to recall that Dennis Maruk achieved this fear in 1981-82, achievement that was overshadowed by Wayne Gretzky’s recordsetting season. Playing for such teams as the California Golden Seals, the Cleveland Barons, and the Minnesota North Stars, Maruk was probably best known for his Fu Manchu mustache.

This excellent book helps show what an excellent, though unheralded, NHL career Maruk had, as a prolific scorer (with 356 goals and 878 career points) and tough guy. Beyond that, Maruk is brutally honest in discussing his post-hockey challenges. He also offers up plenty of insights into the guys he played with and against, as well as the coaches he played for, such as Herb Brooks. As an added bonus, he talks about celebrities he met in his various post-hockey jobs, including setting up furniture for Goldie Hawn and working as a farmhand for John Oates (of Hall & Oates).

Hockey fans should love this book. It certainly brings back memories from 1970’s/80's hockey era and talks about what like really was like in the NHL back in those days. Definitely recommended reading for the hockey fan.

Nineteen players have scored 60 goals in an NHL season. There's little doubt about who are the two most anonymous members of that club.

Even Dennis Maruk, who is one of the answers to that question, knows he belongs there. He also knows that Bernie Nicholls is the other surprising answer. They may not be household names, but they are linked with named like Gretzky, Hull, Lemieux, Bossy and Lemieux.

That 60-goal season might be the reason why Maruk wrote this self-title autobiography. Fans of hockey from the 1970s and 1980s might want to know a bit more about him.

The NHL struggled at times during the 1970s, and Maruk was part of the ride by playing on some bad teams. He was the last of the California Seals (Oakland) in the NHL, and moved on to be a Cleveland Baron, was shipped to Minnesota, was traded to Washington - where he did his best work for his best teams - and then returned to Minnesota. The forward only came reasonably close to a Stanley Cup once, reaching the semifinals before running into a powerful New York Islanders team that was in the midst of a dynasty.

He was one of those guys who did what it took to score, and was very successful at it for a couple of years. Maruk had that 60-goal season in 1981-82, and had 50 the other year before. But he dropped to 31 in 1982-83, and never got about 22 after that. Still, Maruk finished with 356 goals, and that's not a bad career's work.

This book is broken into 60 chapters, which is an interesting gimmick. But in a story that takes relatively very little time to tell, I'm not sure it works so well. Maruk mentions what should be big moments in his life throughout the book, but is quick to say that he remembers absolutely no details from them. He even did a little searching of YouTube, but didn't find much. Mix that in with a lack of stories about good teams and players, and it takes less than two hours to get through this.

Since retiring from hockey, Maruk has been a little lost. He has had a series of jobs in and out of hockey over the quarter-century plus. At one point, Maruk announced to his wife in Minnesota - who had a good professional situation of her own there - that he had taken a job in Louisiana and they'd be moving. Period, end of discussion. That didn't go over too well. It led to a divorce, and puts the reader squarely in the ex-wife's corner.

To be fair, Maruk had bigger problems than that during his pro-hockey days, to the point where he came close to suicide. He's better now, and you hope he will stay on the right track for the rest of his days.

Dennis Maruk's story might have made for an interesting television feature or magazine articles, as he's a reminder that a midlife career change doesn't always turn out to be seamless. The book version probably won't work for most.

There have been only 20 players who have scored at least 60 goals in one season during the 100 year history of the National Hockey League. Most of them are well known stars such as Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Phil Esposito. There was also a player who was considered too short to be successful in the game and often toiled for poor teams who was the seventh player to scored 60 goals. That player is Dennis Maruk. His memoir, co-written with hockey scribe Ken Reid, tells of the story of a player who always had to prove he belonged in the game and lived just as obscure a life after hockey.

The consistent theme throughout the book for Maruk is that he always would do what he felt needed to be done. Whether it was on the ice during his days in junior hockey or the NHL, he would always believe he had to prove himself. Whether it was to show his junior coaches he could play, to prove in NHL training camp that he didn’t need to go to the minor leagues (the only time he played in the minor leagues was well into his career when he did a rehab stint in the minors) or to gain more ice time, Maruk’s stories about his career sounded like he played with a constant chip on his shoulder.

Even during his amazing season in 1981-82, when he scored 60 goals for the Washington Capitals, he felt responsible for the fact the team did not make the playoffs. In those days, that was not easy as 16 of the 21 teams in the league would do so. Also, that season is when Wayne Gretzky set the all-time record for goals scored with 92 and points with 212. In comparison, Maruk’s 60 goals seem small potatoes and because so much attention was given to Gretzky’s accomplishments, this was barely noticed, even in Washington. While Maruk doesn’t express any bitterness toward this, the overall tone set in the book will make the reader wonder whether deep down, he does.

This also the case with his teams – his first professional team, the California Golden Seals, was a lost soul among NHL clubs, first struggling in the Bay Area, then moving to Cleveland and playing in a large empty arena and finally merging with the Minnesota North Stars. After the merger, the North Stars traded Maruk to the Capitals, where he had that magical season. Later, he headed back to Minnesota and played there for a few more seasons before retiring in 1989. His life after hockey was filled with many encounters with celebrities. Maruk talks most about his interaction with Kurt Russell, who played Herb Brooks in the movie “Miracle.” Maruk played for Brooks for one season with the North Stars, and was the coach with whom he had the most pleasant memories in the book.

Maruk also talks about the problems he had in his personal life, including his two divorces and his depression in which his daughter talked him out of a dark place in his life. He held various jobs after hockey, including working on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. These stories made this memoir a little different than many. Also, another unusual aspect of this sports memoir is that Maruk often states that he didn’t remember many of his career milestones, such as his first NHL goal, although at least that wasn’t the case for his 60th in 1982. It wasn’t because he was in a fog, hung over (although he does talk about alcoholism) or high – he simply states he doesn’t remember. Aside from some drinks, he wasn’t a hard partier or seen with many women – he just did the work that he felt needed to be done.

This book was a very quick read – it took me less than a two hour sitting to complete it, another rarity in sports memoirs. It is one that is recommended for hockey fans who either remember him and his play, as I did, or for readers who want to learn more about the forgotten 60-goal man.

I wish to thank ECW Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.