Game Day

From former NHL general manager and bestselling author of Draft Day comes an insiders look at the toughest job in sports.There is no other job in professional sports more dynamic than that of a general manager in the NHL. Every dayall daya GM deals with the team's owner and financial staff; the coaching staff; the players, their families, and their agents; the office staff; the sponsors; and the luxury-box holders, season-ticket holders, and corporate boxes. And then theres the media: news-hungry no matter where the team is based, from Toronto and Montreal to Miami and Los Angeles. GMs are responsible for free agency and salary caps, as well as their number one job: team construction. GMs make the final decisions on all hires, fires, trades, and buyoutsafter, that is, they have cleared all this with the owner. Through it all, GMs need a thick skin, and they make for easy targets. Keeping the entire fanbase happy is impossible, and their jobwhile they may enjoy every minute of the experienceis always at risk. In Game Day, MacLean shares insights from GMs current and past, finding out what makes these hockey executives tick. What trades do they regret making? Which player(s) do they wish theyd drafted? What coaching hire seemed wrong from the first practice? Whats it like to hoist the Stanley Cup or, conversely, miss the playoffs and head for the links? Game Day is a must-read for anyone who wants to know the secret moves made behind closed boardroom and locker-room doors.