YORKTON - When it comes to hockey few teams are more famous than the Toronto Maple Leafs.
When it comes to hockey commentators few are more-recognized than Brian McFarlane.
So when the two come together – as they did as McFarlane authored the recent book The Maple Leaf Forever – it is likely to be something quite special.
McFarlane, a noted hockey historian, and a man who has been a player, a writer, and a broadcaster of the game for over fifty years, said his latest book wasn’t really on his radar to write.a
“There are dozens of books about the Leafs,” he told Yorkton This Week in a recent interview.
But the publisher At Bay Press wanted the book.
“(They) thought it was a great idea,” said McFarlane, adding “they convinced me with a contract. . . I took on the job kind of reluctantly.”
Taking on a book project was not something new for McFarlane with some 100 books to his credit, but this one took some time to formalize.
“It was four years in the making,” said McFarlane, adding he is usually a quick writer, but not in this case.
The book finally gained momentum as McFarlane looked into the earliest days of the franchise and found a nugget of information “that was fascinating to me” and he hoped might be fascinating to readers too.
The gem was J.P. Bickell, who was instrumental in the birth of the Leafs and the building of Maple Leaf Gardens.
“I tackled his story,” said McFarlane, adding he was intrigued by Bickell being as instrumental in the team’s earliest days as the much better known Conn Smythe.
“J.P. Bickell was right up there. He was the club president right from the inception.”
McFarlane, who in 2020, was named to the Order of Canada, said Bickell’s story was perhaps the most gratifying aspect of The Maple Leafs Forever.
Not surprisingly McFarlane who for 27 years served as a host and commentator on Hockey Night in Canada is a Leafs fan to the point they even sneak into his dreams. He shared the story where he dreamed he was freezing outside Maple Leaf Gardens and Leaf great Borje Salming came out to help him, snapping his fingers to summon a sports car to take the author home.
McFarlane, who in1995 was inducted into the media section of the Hockey Hall of Fame said he “felt a little foolish” writing of the dream, but it was also illustrative of a connection to the team.
In that regard McFarlane has turned to the Leafs often as an author, going back to one of his earliest books such as Sittler at Centre in 1979, and Clancy: The King's Story written in 1997, and more recently A Helluva Life in Hockey: A Memoir in 2021, reviewed in this space at the time.
Asked what readers think of his latest McFarlane said “I don’t hear from many” at least until he goes out to events such as book signings and memorabilia shows, which he admitted at age 93 can be draining.
“But I enjoy getting out like that,” adding even tired he goes home realizing “I met some great people today.”
You can check out the book via atbaypress.com
