"A languorous, almost wistful tale. Like a raft drifting down a southern waterway on a summer day. What a beautifully written story! Taking the point of view of a man now in his 90s recalling memories of his heydays as a member of the vaunted New York Rangers. You will love this ride even if you're not a sports fan. If you are a sports fan, find an easy chair and settle in: you're about to take an evocative, magical journey across a historical frontier in this novel by a new writer whose confident, comforting voice is deliciously masterful."
- Author M. Rutledge McCall (Archangel House Publishing)
1926, an unexpected letter invites a young accounting graduate in Winnipeg, Manitoba to try out for a new professional hockey team in New York City.
Thus begins an unimagined life-long adventure for Murray Murdoch and his new wife Marie.
In 1994, Murray invites his distant relative, Mark Messier, perhaps the greatest leader in professional sports and captain of the same legendary hockey franchise, the New York Rangers, to a frozen pond in the suburbs of Manhattan.
Together they do more than reminisce and share secrets about the team's remarkable first season and a prodigy that would have changed the sport forever. Mark is introduced to his unheralded predecessors; true-life characters named Bunny, Ching, Taffy, Raffles, and the team's first captain, Bill Cook. Their inspiring tale of courage, comradery, and perseverance built a foundation that would last 100 years and well beyond.
But time is the enemy. Mark, at thirty-three and already considered old in hockey years by some, is battling a long, grinding season in the hopes of winning a championship that has long alluded the city. He knows this might well be his last chance. At ninety, Murray is keenly aware it might also be his last chance to seek the recognition his former teammates have long deserved, as Murray Murdoch is the last original Ranger of New York.