Behind the Bench: A Biographical Directory of Professional Hockey Coaches since 1904 by Jeff Marcus

Although hockey’s origins are still very much subject to debate, nearly every hockey historian agrees that the first professional hockey league was basically in the United States. The league (the International Hockey League), was organized in 1904 by Dr. J. L. (Doc) Gibson and had five teams, four in the United States and one in Canada on the border. Author Jeff Marcus documents the coaches in this and every major professional league to follow, but not just with dry statistics. He covers the lives of these coaches, their families, their college and junior hockey careers, professional playing careers, other family members in the sport, in a full biography of the well known and the unknown.