The Boys of Winter

The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

By: Wayne Coffey

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Once upon a time, they taught us to believe. They were the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, a blue-collar bunch led by an unconventional coach, and they engineered perhaps the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. Their "Miracle on Ice" has become a national fairy tale, but the real Cinderella story is even more remarkable. It is a legacy of hope, hard work, and homegrown triumph. It is a chronicle of everyday heroes who just wanted to play hockey happily ever after. It is still unbelievable.

The Boys of Winter is an evocative account of the improbable American adventure in Lake Placid, New York. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews, Wayne Coffey explores the untold stories of the US upstarts, their Soviet opponents, and the forces that brought them together.

©2005 Wayne Coffey; foreword copyright 2005 by Jim Craig; afterword copyright 2005 by Wayne Coffey (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Well-written and thoroughly researched.... Filled with primary interviews and exceptional insight, Coffey's effort should delight more than just hockey fans." ( Publishers Weekly)

Great, but...

This book provides phenomenal additional depth to the story of the 1980 gold medal winning USA hockey team. You will not be disappointed.

The one bad part (and this might just be nitpicking) is the narrator mispronounces just about every hockey term, and Russian name throughout the entirety of the book.

Great Story But

Obviously this story needs little help. The author does a great job diving deep into the people involved and fleshing out many details. The narrator is brutal. He has a sort of sissy lisp. He obviously doesn’t know hockey as many of the terms are savages. IE blue line is one words, not two. It’s obnoxious after hearing it over and over. Plus his efforts to jazz up the Soviet names is pointless and distracting.

Do You Believe in Excellence? Yes!

I initially read the book when it was published (and still have it). My son asked for a good book to listen to on tape. Because he started playing hockey a few years ago, I suggested he do a search to see if this book had an audio edition. He really enjoyed it and I decided that I would listen to it also.

I was a sophomore in high school and was the only female who dared to play ice hockey with my brothers and their friends on “the pit”. This book brought back fond memories of those times. We watched In February 1980 on a Friday night with as many friends of ours that could fit into our living room the “Miracle on Ice.”

Coffey does a wonderful job of weaving the stories of all the players and coaches lives both before and after the “miracle.” He glides in and out of the details of each person’s life as though he were a skater on the ice handling the puck and directing the story where he wants it to go.

It is heart warming and at times heart wrenching to learn of those details. In 1980 we took pride in the boys of the 1980 Olympic Hockey team. After reading this book, I gained an even deeper appreciation for all that they endured both on and off the ice before, during, and after 1980.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD... THE AMERICANS WIN

What made the experience of listening to The Boys of Winter the most enjoyable?

This event combined with a phenomenal sophomore NHL season by a guy named Wayne Gretzky helped turn me into a huge hockey fan. I thought I knew this whole story by heart. i was wrong. There was so much I didn't know. I knew the players by number, position, and school, but I never knew the men behind the uniforms. This book gives great insight into them by using a very clever framing device. it will appeal to both the casual fan who may not have been around to experience the "miracle" and to the sports know-it-all.

What did you like best about this story?

The storytelling was really well done. It sounds corny, but I actually got chills as the final seconds of the game ticked off.

Have you listened to any of Kirby Heyborne’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Heyborne did a pretty good job, but after only a few minutes of listening it became very evident to me that he knows very little about hockey. He paces well and gives the text a lot of flair, but each time he said "blue line" as two separate words I would lose my mind. Hulk would have smashed his iPod.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It makes me smile. It's just a wonderful story about a bunch of college kids who were able to defeat the greatest team in the world.

Any additional comments?

Good story for a hockey family to listen to on a long trip.

Going deeper on the personal stories of the players and coaches

This book added more depth to the stories of the players and coaches of the team. I really enjoyed learning more about them and their lives after hockey in the Olympics. It was frustrating how the play-by-play telling of the Russia game was stop and start as they took detours to tell about each participant, But it was worth it in order to learn about them all. Recommend watching the movie miracle before you read this book so you know the basic story

Re-record

When your first reaction to an incredible story is the narrator then you’ve got a problem. Having a narrator that is unfamiliar with the subject and mispronounces “deked” and “Guy LaFluer” creates a credibility issue for the author.

Get someone who knows hockey

I don’t know what is worse; having someone narrate a book about hockey and get names wrong and not know how to pronounce them or say Blue Line… ( like it’s two words) or no one catching it before hitting the send button!!
What an insult to hockey fans!

Great story, legendary

I really enjoyed this story and the results that we all know, but it was very interesting to hear the back story on all the players and coaches. Overall very good, the only issue I have is that the narrator, who does a fantastic job at pronouncing the Russian players had trouble pronouncing various hockey terms, for instance, when talking about the blueline or redline, it was pronounced blue.....line and red...line. Hockey people will know what I'm talking about, but enjoyed the book no-less, except for this. Thanks

Great story!

This is a great story. With really good behind the story Info. I would be more than willing to read/listen to more from this author and voice actor! However I think this particular book doesn't translate as the best to audiobook! I would and will refer this book to family and friends who want to go deeper into the legendary 1980 U. S. Olympic hockey team!

Great insight

This book went into great detail about the game between the USA and USSr in The Mracle on Ice from the 1980 Winter Olympics. I found it to be a very enjoyable walk down memory lane.