What's the Score?

A one-of-a-kind compendium of hockey lore, legend, facts and stats from Canada’s trivia expert.

By the time he was sixteen, Liam Maguire’s passion for the game of hockey had turned into an obsession for its details. Today, Maguire makes his living talking about hockey and answering trivia questions. What makes him extraordinary are the magical connections he builds between the numbers, the players and the game’s history. Whenever he answers a question, besides the straight goods, you also get the ultimate, “And did you know…” with each query. For instance, on October 17, 1998, Wayne Gretzky scored his first goal of the last season he would ever play in the NHL. This goal had wonderful historical and statistical implications but nobody ever reported them — except for Liam Maguire in this book. What’s The Score weaves Maguire’s unique approach to hockey’s fine points with his undying passion for the game to create a matchless look at the teams and players, past and present.

From the opening “30 Teams, 30 Questions,” prepare to be amazed by Maguire’s knowledge of hockey’s oddities, history and statistics. In “Stanley Cup Archives” — great for referral at play-off time – you’ll find out not only who played, who won and who scored the cup winning goal for every year of the NHL Stanley Cup final but incredible Cup stories many of which have not been seen in print before. Sure to inspire debate is “Best of the Best.” Maguire gives us his top ten picks of players in their particular eras, but he’s also created a second list of players who rivalled those top ten players for talent and heart. Who were these “shadow men” and why were they so crucial to the game? A passionate advocate for the game and Canadians’ participation in it, one of Maguire’s missions in life is to see Paul Henderson inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Find out why Maguire believes Henderson deserves this highest of hockey honours.

Jam packed with hockey facts and stats, filled with anecdotes that will have you saying “Where did he find that?,”What’s The Scoreis one of the only hockey trivia books a red-blooded hockey fan will ever need.

Test Your Knowledge
1) On May 10, 1970 Bobby Orr scored possibly the greatest goal in the history of the National Hockey League. This goal has a very unusual association to the number four. What are the seventy different correlations to the number four at the moment Orr scored the goal and ended the Stanley Cup playoffs?

2) Only eighty players have recorded a fifty goal season. One of those accomplished this feat five times — three times hitting the mark on his birthday, one time scoring his fiftieth goal on his brother. Who is this player?

3) One member of this family scored the first goal ever in Philadelphia Quaker history; one assisted on the goal that decided the NHL’s longest game; one scored the first goal ever in the Los Angeles Kings history. Two brothers and a nephew. Who are they?

Answers: To find out the answers to these and many other questions, you’ll have to read Liam Maguire’s fascinating book.