THE BOOK

The history of U.S. amateur hockey overflows with an array of unique and colorful characters. In the decades leading up to Team USA’s 1980 “Miracle on Ice,” one man’s work can be found threading through it all. Only Murray Williamson scored a hat trick against a team of collegiate all-stars led by superstar John Mayasich; played alongside and coached the legendary Herb Brooks; fired Minnesota hockey icon, John Mariucci; and became the first U.S. hockey coach to go behind The Iron Curtain to watch the mighty Soviets train.

This is the story, warts and all, of a national hockey team that won Olympic gold in 1960 only to hit rock bottom with a humiliating 17-2 loss to Sweden at the World Championships in Stockholm a mere three years later; a defeat so embarrassing it prompted President John F. Kennedy to quip, “Who we sending over there, girls?”

Drawn from Williamson’s personal journals, contemporaneous writings and countless interviews, The Road to Respectability offers rare and unfiltered access to many of U.S. amateur hockey’s key turning points, momentous decisions and needless blunders. With characteristic wit and candor, Williamson highlights the invaluable contributions of the largely unheralded men whose selfless dedication, passion and seemingly endless grunt work laid the foundation for future teams that went toe to toe with the best hockey teams on the planet.