Books for Red Wings Fans

Mr. Hockey: My Story by Gordie Howe

Best Quote: "“You never learn anything if you're the one talking”

Summary: An autobiography of one of the greatest (On he Mount Rushmore of Greatest Hockey Players) hockey players ever to lace on the skates. The book carries the reader through Gordie’s early days growing up in the Great Depression, which gives him a life long sense of humility. His career spanned five decades, meaning he was witness to the evolution of the game, both on ice and off the ice (train travel to plane travel). His career included time in the World Hockey Association, and playing on a line with both his sons Mark and Marty. In the latter, Gordie describes his time in the WHA playing with his sons as the happiest time of his hockey career. Howe gives credit in the book to his wife Colleen, describing how she protected him and his career off the ice with her business skills.

The Russian Five: The gears that powered the Detroit Red Wings to the Summit by Keith Gave

Best Quote: “The only place you can really identify a hockey player is on the ice, in the game.”

Summary: In this book Keith Gave tells the story of how Sergei Fedorov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Igor Larionov left the Soviet Union to join the NHL and eventually skate together to form the nucleus of a Red Wings Dynasty under Scotty Bowman. At times, this book reads like spy thriller with secret meetings and bribes to public officials. The insights into various defections of players such as Sergei Federov showcase the risks players, agents, and NHL franchises took to bring talent to North America. The Russian Five brought with them their theory of hockey that the best form of defense was control of the puck, and Red Wings Coach Scotty Bowman carefully chose when to put the Five on the ice to display this type of hockey. The Russian Five would be instrumental in returning Lord Stanley’s Cup to Detroit. The book will make you search on YouTube videos of the Russian Five skating together and making opposing lines look like Squirts on the ice.

The Grind Line: The Gears that Powered the Detroit Red Wings to the Summit by Keith Gave

Best Quote: “If you want to go anywhere in this sport, then you’ve got to do something better than anyone else,” the coach said. “You’ve got to find your niche, whether it’s goal scorer, passer, whatever you do, you’ve got to be the best at it.”

Summary: Published in May of 2025, this book centers on the Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Joey Kocur and Darren McCarty, the players who would make up the “Grind Line” in the late 1990s and early 2000s, an era that saw the Red Wings win 4 Stanly Cups. (1997-2008). With the focus on the Grind Line, Gave shows how scoring goals is not the only way to reach the highest levels of hockey, bt shot blocking, checking, and hard physical play are paramount to a team’s ability to win a championship.

VLAD THE IMPALER: And More Epic Tales From Detroit's '97 Stanley Cup Conquest by Keith Gave

Best Quote: “the genius of Scotty Bowman. He was never afraid to try something.”

Summary: "Vlad the Impaler" was the nickname given to Vladimir Konstantinov, a punishing defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings of the 1990s. This book covers the Red Wings 1997 Stanley Cup season and the tragedy that immediately followed their triumph. The book generally covers various anecdotes or tales from the season and serves a s a tribute to Vladimir Konstantinov, a hockey player who had the potential to be a hall of fame caliber defenseman. The power of the book comes from the author’s access to many of the Red Wings players and coaches at the time. There are interview excerpts from notables such as Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, and coach Scotty Bowman.

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

Best Quote: “When I got older and actually had an opinion on things, he would ask me after a game, ‘What’d you think?’ I think the thing that was pretty innovative about him—and it’s actually a pretty basic thing—was that he listens to people.”

Summary: Adrian Dater was a beat writer who covered the Colorado Avalanche and he provides a fun and enjoyable history of the best sports rivalry to emerge in the mid-late 1990s. The author takes the readers back to Claude Lemieux’s brutal hit on Kris Draper in the 1996 season, and walks the events over the next six years highlighted by the famous “Fight Night at the Joe” in March of 1997, where Darren McCarty exacted revenge. More than covering the famous brawls, the author provides insights to the players and coaches who made this such a rich rivalry and story. Chapters cover players such as Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy, and Detroit’s Grind Line players. The 1990s were a unique time in NHL history, a pre-salary cap era where rosters stayed together allowing rivalries to grow. The author captures the essence of the era.

Hockey Gods: Inside the 2001-02 Red Wings' Hall of Fame Team by Nicholas Cotsonika and Gordie Howe

Best Quote: “One day at practice, according to the Dallas Morning News, coach Ken Hitchcock preached about positioning and defense and said goals didn’t matter. During the ensuing drill, Hull dumped the puck in a corner on a couple of 2-on-1s. Asked why, he said, “Goals don’t matter.’’ Hitchcock threw him out of practice.”

Summary: A story of the 2001-02 Stanley Cup winning Red Wings, a team that for one season may be the greatest team ever assembled. The author tells the story of how the team was put together from the coaching staff, to the all-stars, the rookies, and the Hall of Famers. Their head coach was Scotty Bowman, arguably the greatest coach in hockey, if not sports history. In addition to the hall of fame laden roster, a number of players would rank in the “Hall of Very Good” including players such as Steve Duchesne and Fredrik Olasson. The team had ups and downs, some moments in the season where the team did not look as dominant as they should have been, but with a locker room full of experienced leaders they were able to grind their way through the playoffs, even defeating their hated rivals the Colorado Avalanche on the way.

Detroit Red Wings’: Greatest Moments and Players by Stan Fischler

Summary: Prolific writer and author Stan Fischler does a deep dive into the history of the Detroit Red Wings, describing their rich history and legendary players and coaches from Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, and Sid Abel, to more modern day players such as Steve Yzerman, Nick Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, and Scotty Bowman. Like all of Stan’s books, it is a snapshot in time, and as it was published in 2002, is missing their past 25 years, including the 2008 Stanly Cup Championship Team. Fischler’s long and in depth interviews of various personalities provides a richness to the book that is hard to find in any other book on the organization.

Nicklas Lidstrom: The Pursuit of Perfection by Nicklas Lidstrom, Gunnar Nordstrom, and Bob Duff

Best Quote: “Usually, when a defenseman gets penalties, it’s because of his stick—you cross-check someone at the net, you get beat and give the guy a tug. Since Nick rarely got beat, he didn’t have to rely on that. He was such a good positional player that he rarely had to take penalties.”

Summary: An autobiography of Nick Lidstrom, a four-time Stanly Cup Champion and arguably on the Mount Rushmore of all-time NHL defenseman. More than telling his own story, the book provides perspectives of coaches and players (who played with and against him) during Lidstrom’s tenure in the League. The book provides the reader an understanding of just how Lidstrom was respected by his peers for both his off-ice preparation and his on-ice play.