The "Down Goes Brown" History of the NHL: The World's Most Beautiful Sport, the World's Most Ridiculous League

Quick interesting read for any hockey player or fan!

Sean McIndoe has long been one of my favorite writers and Twitter follows. His humor and eyeball for oddities are everywhere in this book, which makes it such an informative read. A near perfect balance of information and fun stories.

One of the most unique voices in hockey journalism has written his first full-length original book and it lives up to his lofty goal of making it both educational as well as fun. Secrets of how Rangers would have had Gordie Howe if they hadn't been stocked by a bunch of obnoxious New Yorkers, where the Predators got the pick they used to draft Shea Weber, how the first outdoor game of the modern NHL was played in a Las Vegas parking lot, why the NHL chose to use a wheel to see who got to pick Gilbert Perrault (and why they flipped a coin to pick who got to spin it), as well as a (more) serious look at the history of violence in hockey and what happens to the league when they invent a way to test for brain damage on a living person, are explained in just enough detail. That should suggest that you will need a certain baseline familiarity with the NHL - particularly the 80s and 90s - to get full entertainment value out of it. That said, it's just a baseline. The joke about Pierre Dagenais can be understood even if you don't remember him. I read the book in a little under four hours during an plane flight, so again, not a heavy lift.

The best NHL history I've read? Certainly the easiest and most fun. His method and choices are good IMO. Its a hard game in a league comprised of passionate guys who sometimes do odd funny things. And his telling proves it. Having the last Sabre to hit anybody on the cover doesn't hurt. ENJOY!

Best history of NHL book available.

Well written. Sean always makes me laugh. Would be enjoyable for hardcore hockey and casual sports fans alike.

I've been reading Sean McIndoe's online columns for most of this decade, so when I saw he was releasing a book on hockey history, there was no question that I would buy it, read it, and love it. What McIndoe does here is rather brilliant, not unlike his articles -- he merges his cleverly sardonic writing style with deep and informed research. In other words, he takes what could in other hands be either dry or overly irreverent material and makes it both extremely entertaining and remarkably intelligent. Personally, given my career path, I have very little time to do "pleasure reading," but I made the exception for DGB's history, and I'm glad I did. Now I feel well-equipped to regale friends at dinner parties with stories of water bottle warfare, ineffective earmuffs, and draft selections that never existed. If *that* doesn't sell you on the book, I don't know what will...

Sean McIndoe is a terrific and knowledgeable writer, whose humorous style of writing about hockey has made him a standout in his column and byline for The Athletic. So glad I acquired this copy of The DGB History of the NHL.

As an NHL fan from Europe (and a relatively young fan) I didn't know much about the history of the NHL. This was a great book outlining the quirks of the league and it's evolution. I enjoyed the numerous stories on the illogical and absurd - definitely pay attention to the footnotes.

Great book. Humorous and full of interesting stories about how the NHL became what it is today. Well worth the read!

The best sport, the worst league. Sean McIndoe does a great job summarizing the history of the NHL in a fun, entertaining and knowledgeable way. Behind the humour one of the smartest writers in the business. This book could have easily been over 1000 pages, and I wish it was.

Picked this book up and did not put it down until it was finished - a must read for any hockey fan. Sean keeps you captivated throughout the entire book with some incredibly interesting stories that have occurred throughout the history of the NHL, with his usual (and welcomed!) sense of humour mixed in.

Un libro muy bueno para cualquier aficionado al hockey hielo. Es fácil de leer y está muy bien escrito. Se lee con una sonrisa de oreja a oreja de inicio a fin.