Game Day

From former NHL general manager and bestselling author of Draft Day comes an insider’s 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 day—all day—a GM deals with the teams 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 there’s 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 buyouts—after, 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 job—while they may enjoy every minute of the experience—is 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 they’d drafted? What coaching hire seemed wrong from the first practice? What’s 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.