Blood Feud: Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche: The Inside Story of Pro Sports' Nastiest and Best Rivalry of Its Era

This purchase was the first time I have contacted a seller on Amazon (I didn't even know you could lol). I wanted to purchase this book with expedited shipping as it is a gift for a family in quarantine... unfortunately it was right after Christmas and just before New Years and I was having no luck. Michelle from A Plus Textbooks contacted me back immediately and said they could ship that day and it would arrive in 2-3 days (on time for quarantine!!). I, however, was not so quick to reply haha and I missed my perfect window. Nonetheless, Michelle kept following up and updated me when the item shipped and when it should be arriving. It was such a pleasure ordering from them and working with them, I'd HIGHLY recommend using them as a seller.THE BOOK: My fiance is a hockey fanatic and the person receiving this book is a diehard Red Wings fan. I asked my fiance to find a few things that the father of the quarantine family would like and he found this book and knows that the dad/friend is going to LOVE it. I can updated my review on condition the book is in on arrival once received :)

This is a great book for any hockey fan, but especially if you've been watching for years. I knew very little about this rivalry, so this book was perfect for me. The book is littered with little tidbits about the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche as well as the Montreal Canadiens and others. More interesting is the interviews with the players and coaches. The author is excellent at describing the game, I'm sure he's a great reporter. And his knack for "hockey gossip" makes the book an entertaining read. There's only really one flaw:The two pictures of Patrick Roy in fights: one is with Vernon and one is with Osgood. Now the reason I'm upset is, I saw those two fights on youtube: Roy kicks their asses. However, on the cover and the picture at the end of the pictures section, shows the Detroit goalies with the upper hand. On the cover Vernon appears to have the upper hand as Roy's head is ducking. That was probably the only moment in the fight when that happened. Roy killed Vernon. Same with the other picture: Osgood has Roy down on the ice and Osgood is on top of Roy. But if you watch the fight on Youtube, Roy pummels Osgood the entire fight and that picture is right at the end when Osgood finally got the upper hand. But immediately the referees seperated the two, so...I don't know, those pictures piss me off. (Obviously I'm a Patrick Roy fan!!!)Still, great book, buy it and read it!

Good sports books are few and far in between. Good hockey books are even fewer and further in between. This isn't "The Game" and the author is no Ken Dryden. There's no romanticism here, no "mystique," no clash between cultures or any of the other story lines that often take sports rivalries beyond the scope of the pitch. This is the story of two incredibly talented teams that pissed each other off just enough to make the rest of the hockey world take notice.I read this book cover to cover in one weekend (I wouldn't recommend reading the index or the legal stuff near the front cover, though) and I was instantly transported back to the NHL of the late 1990's. The post-Gretzky/Lemieux era was quickly dawning and the NHL desperately needed new torchbearers. In what should have been Eric Lindros' crowning moment, two teams (one built primarily around players acquired for Lindros and the other from ex-Soviets) set the stage for one of the most thrilling periods in hockey.This wasn't Habs-Leafs, Habs-Nordiques, Habs-Bruins (hell, there's no mention of Les Habs at all in this book unless you count the back-stories of Roy and Bowman). The names Sakic, Yzerman, Forsberg, Federov, Shanahan, Roy may or may not sound familiar but the story and the emotions it provoked in those that were fortunate enough to witness it is as timeless as triumph and tragedy. This was a blood feud. This was Wings-Avs.