Review: Dennis Maruk (2017)

By Dennis Maruk amongst Ken Reid

Nineteen players lead maintain scored lx goals inwards an NHL season. There's picayune incertitude most who are the 2 most anonymous members of that club.

Even Dennis Maruk, who is 1 of the answers to that question, knows he belongs there. He also knows that Bernie Nicholls is the other surprising answer. They may non travel employment solid names, merely they are linked amongst named similar Gretzky, Hull, Lemieux, Bossy too Lemieux.

That 60-goal flavor mightiness travel the argue why Maruk wrote this self-title autobiography. Fans of hockey from the 1970s too 1980s mightiness desire to know a flake to a greater extent than most him.

The NHL struggled at times during the 1970s, too Maruk was business office of the ride past times playing on some bad teams. He was the in conclusion of the California Seals (Oakland) inwards the NHL, too moved on to travel a Cleveland Baron, was shipped to Minnesota, was traded to Washington - where he did his best run for his best teams - too therefore returned to Minnesota. The forrard alone came reasonably or therefore a Stanley Cup once, reaching the semifinals earlier running into a powerful New York Islanders squad that was inwards the midst of a dynasty.

He was 1 of those guys who did what it took to score, too was really successful at it for a pair of years. Maruk had that 60-goal flavor inwards 1981-82, too had 50 the other twelvemonth before. But he dropped to 31 inwards 1982-83, too never got most 22 afterwards that. Still, Maruk finished amongst 356 goals, too that's non a bad career's work.

This majority is broken into lx chapters, which is an interesting gimmick. But inwards a story that takes relatively really picayune fourth dimension to tell, I'm non certain it industrial plant therefore well. Maruk mentions what should travel large moments inwards his life throughout the book, merely is quick to tell that he remembers absolutely no details from them. He fifty-fifty did a picayune searching of YouTube, merely didn't detect much. Mix that inwards amongst a lack of stories most expert teams too players, too it takes less than 2 hours to instruct through this.

Since retiring from hockey, Maruk has been a picayune lost. He has had a serial of jobs inwards too out of hockey over the quarter-century plus. At 1 point, Maruk announced to his married adult woman inwards Minnesota - who had a expert professional person province of affairs of her ain at that spot - that he had taken a project inwards Louisiana too they'd travel moving. Period, terminate of discussion. That didn't instruct over besides well. It led to a divorce, too puts the reader squarely inwards the ex-wife's corner.

To travel fair, Maruk had bigger problems than that during his pro-hockey days, to the signal where he came or therefore suicide. He's improve now, too you lot promise he volition remain on the correct rail for the residual of his days.

Dennis Maruk's story mightiness lead maintain made for an interesting tv set characteristic or magazine articles, every bit he's a reminder that a midlife career modify doesn't e'er plough out to travel seamless. The majority version belike won't run for most.

Two stars

Learn to a greater extent than most this book. 

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