William Houston

A book that is one of those "unauthorized" biographies; in this case, of the controversial figure that was a major player in the affairs of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team from the 1950s to the date this book was published, in the mid-1980s, a gentleman by the name of Harold Ballard. (Ballard would die in 1990, still owner of the Leafs.) The last third of the book seems to be score-settling between the author (a reporter for the Toronto Globe & Mail) and Ballard and his organization. It show more detracts significantly from the book, in my view. The last few chapters are more blow-by-blow discussions of the failures of the Maple Leaf teams of the 1970s and 1980s; while Ballard's influence was a factor, it does tend to slow down the book even more. Overall, somewhat disappointing. show less