NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Rick Vaive sets the record straight as he tells his story of turmoil
in Toronto's Ballard years (and with Don Cherry's Mississauga Ice Dogs),
growing up in an environment filled with alcohol and alcoholism, and his
own struggles and battles.
In the storied history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, no player scored
fifty goals in a season until Rick Vaive in 1981-82--and he did it three
years in a row. So why isn't his number 22 hanging from the rafters of
the Leafs' rink and his name as revered in Leafs lore as more recent
stars like Gilmour, Sundin and Clark?
You could blame it on a team that lost far more than it won. You could
blame Harold Ballard and his erratic ownership. You could blame the
fans, the media... but Rick Vaive doesn't blame anybody. Sometimes, life
just doesn't go your way. Growing up in a household plagued by
alcoholism, the gifted young hockey player took shelter in the company
of his grandmother and a blind and severely disabled uncle. Rick learned
quickly that there are more valuable things in life than hockey. Even
after his promising coaching career stopped dead when it ran into Don
Cherry in Mississauga--one of the worst seasons in Ontario junior hockey
history--he still doesn't point fingers. Life is too sweet for regrets,
but learning that lesson can be one hell of a ride.
