When the Detroit Red Wings were rebooting their franchise after more than two decades of relative futility, they knew the best place to find world-class players who could help turn things around more quickly were conscripted servants behind the Iron Curtain. All they had to do then was make history by drafting them, then figure out how to get them out. That’s when the Wings turned to Keith Gave, the newsman whose clandestine mission to Helsinki, Finland, was the first phase of a of a years...

"Hockey Hall of Fame Coach Scotty Bowman: 'Those four guys, they made all the difference' The Grind Line, featuring some of the most popular athletes in Detroit sports history, is one of the most successful units in the history of the National Hockey League, and without peer among so-called 'fourth' lines, for those who insist on numbering them. Kris Draper, flanked by Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur, and later Darren McCarty, deserve their rightful place in Detroit shoulder to shoulder with The...

By the author of the award-winning best seller, 'The Russian Five.'The 'Grind Line' is one of the most successful units in hockey history, and without peer among so-called fourth lines, for those who insist on numbering them. Kris Draper, flanked by Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur, and later Darren McCarty, deserve their rightful place in Detroit shoulder-to-shoulder with the Production Line, the most famous forward unit in National Hockey League history: Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay alon...

Like the group of players who stunned the world by upsetting the mighty Soviet Union in the iconic "Miracle Game" at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid in 1980, few gave the Team USA women much of a chance to beat the Canadians in the inaugural women's tournament in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. After all, Canada's women had dominated their game for decades, winning every major international tournament until then. But when the Gold Medal game had ended, Team USA was standing atop of the podium a...