Engraved in History: Kenora Thistles by Eric Zweig

Paperback, 312 pages, Rat Portage Press

With a population around 6000 people in 1907, Kenora is the smallest town ever to produce a Stanley Cup champion. The town's team -- the Thistles -- were huge talents!

like the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s, the kenora Thistles of the 1900s played an offensive game that delighted most fans but put off some traditionalists. tommy Phillips, Si Griffis, Tom Hooper, and Billy McGimsie were as well known to hockey fans in their day as Wayne Gretzky, Mark messier, Paul Coffey, and Jari Kurri were in theirs. those four players were the core of Kenora's team and they all grew up together in the tiny town on the Lake of the Woods.

Hockey was already Canada's national passion by 1907, and the game was in the early stages of its transition from amateur pastime to professional business. For the Thistles, like Gretzkey's Oilers, the increasing costs were soon too much to pay. The more things change, the more they stay the same.