Blood Feud: Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche: The Inside Story of Pro Sports' Nastiest and Best Rivalry of Its Era

Personally, from my reading experience, journalists make the most entertaining book writers. Blood Feud by sports journalist Adrian Dater is a splendid example of such. The work is a thrilling read about the heated rivalry between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche, two NHL Western Conference powerhouses, during the late 1990s and early 2000s who have competed against one another in a whole list of playoff series during that time period. Both sides boasted various legends of the game. The Avalanche had Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy, Claude Lemieux, and Joe Sakic while the Red Wings had the likes of Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Osgood, and legendary coach Scotty Bowman. Lots of epic games, series, and incidents between both sides occurred and this is described in a very balanced and impartial way by Adrian Dater. To conclude, an exciting read about one of the greatest rivalries in NHL history.

As an avid Wings fan, I lived this rivalry. Loved the deep drives on the players and coaches. Excellent! Enjoy

I remember this game and this book brought back so many memories. Well written and enjoyable

All in all, this was a very entertaining book, with lots of insight into what went on behind the scenes of perhaps the biggest hockey rivalry in the modern era. I was expecting more details about the games themselves, not as much about the players' personal lives, but I think it was more interesting this way. What I didn't like about it (and maybe this is hard to avoid, as the author was a writer for the Avalanche) was the bias in coverage. I think the book started out very well, as close to 50/50 as can be expected. However, as it went on, it's almost like he ran out of resources to do research on the Wings. The last 1/4 of the book seemed very biased. For example, when it finally came time to talk about game 7 in the 2002 series, Dater spends as much time talking about how brave Patrick Roy was to sit on the bench as he does talking about the goals that chased him. Now, as a Wings fan I'll say I enjoyed hearing stories about the Avs players because I haven't heard most of them before, but the ever-growing bias talked me out of buying a copy for friends and family.

This is a great book for any hockey fan, but especially if you've been watching for years. I knew very little about this rivalry, so this book was perfect for me. The book is littered with little tidbits about the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche as well as the Montreal Canadiens and others. More interesting is the interviews with the players and coaches. The author is excellent at describing the game, I'm sure he's a great reporter. And his knack for "hockey gossip" makes the book an entertaining read. There's only really one flaw: The two pictures of Patrick Roy in fights: one is with Vernon and one is with Osgood. Now the reason I'm upset is, I saw those two fights on youtube: Roy kicks their asses. However, on the cover and the picture at the end of the pictures section, shows the Detroit goalies with the upper hand. On the cover Vernon appears to have the upper hand as Roy's head is ducking. That was probably the only moment in the fight when that happened. Roy killed Vernon. Same with the other picture: Osgood has Roy down on the ice and Osgood is on top of Roy. But if you watch the fight on Youtube, Roy pummels Osgood the entire fight and that picture is right at the end when Osgood finally got the upper hand. But immediately the referees seperated the two, so...I don't know, those pictures piss me off. (Obviously I'm a Patrick Roy fan!!!) Still, great book, buy it and read it!

This purchase was the first time I have contacted a seller on Amazon (I didn't even know you could lol). I wanted to purchase this book with expedited shipping as it is a gift for a family in quarantine... unfortunately it was right after Christmas and just before New Years and I was having no luck. Michelle from A Plus Textbooks contacted me back immediately and said they could ship that day and it would arrive in 2-3 days (on time for quarantine!!). I, however, was not so quick to reply haha and I missed my perfect window. Nonetheless, Michelle kept following up and updated me when the item shipped and when it should be arriving. It was such a pleasure ordering from them and working with them, I'd HIGHLY recommend using them as a seller. THE BOOK: My fiance is a hockey fanatic and the person receiving this book is a diehard Red Wings fan. I asked my fiance to find a few things that the father of the quarantine family would like and he found this book and knows that the dad/friend is going to LOVE it. I can updated my review on condition the book is in on arrival once received :)

Fantastic read for any hockey fans

great Story about the brawl - great storys around the competitors

the game and the cold war were good reads.this is a well written almost un-biased interesting hockey book.full of behind the scenes and explaination of events and the lead up to the feud.will keep you going through off season

I loved this book the stories the pictures i am a huge redwings fan and I highly recommend this book you will not be able to put it down.

Outstanding book, as an Avs or hockey fan, its s must