17-03-2025
An Ex-Ranger Recalls Another Country's "Miracle On Ice"
When Bobby Holik played for the Rangers, he not only was renowned for his hockey skills but his intellect as well.
In my more than half-century on the hockey beat, I've never encountered a more well-read hockey player than the one who left Czechoslovakia to star in the NHL.
Holik came to mind the other day while I was reading Ken Morrow's brilliant new book "Miracle Gold, Four Stanley Cups And A Lifetime Of Islanders Hockey, co-written with Allan Kreda.
As superb as the Morrow-Kreda volume is, I want you to know that an equally brilliant book was written about another country's "Miracle On Ice."
Only this one has nothing to do with Uncle Sam, it's about the 1969 World Championships between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.
The book is called "Freedom To Win," published by Pegasus Books. The subtitle is "A Cold War Story Of The Courageous Hockey Team That Fought The Soviets For The Soul Of Its People – and Olympic Gold."
Author Ethan Scheiner – professor of political science at the University of California Davis – unfolds a European hockey version of a melodramatic contest as thrillingly as Morrow's.
"You had better read it," Holik urged me; and I'm glad I did; just as I was with Morrow's Miracle Gold.
My personal conclusion is that "Freedom To Win" is both gripping sports – and world – history and deserves to be made into a movie.
Thank you former Ranger Bobby Holik for recommending it. Now The Maven is recommending it to you – as I did Morrow's magnificent opus.
