Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Because the Detroit Red Wings haven’t made the playoffs the past eight seasons, you would think there wouldn’t be much of a market for books about the Original Six franchise these days.
Well, you would be wrong. In fact, in October, Helene St. James’ third book about the Wings since 2020 will be published by Triumph Books. St. James has covered the team since 1995 for the Detroit Free Press and has been its beat reporter since 2005. During her tenure, she has become only the second woman to be voted Michigan’s sportswriter of the year and six other times has been a finalist for the award.
Her latest book is called “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of Hockeytown.” It follows 2020’s “The Big 50: The Men and Moments That Made the Detroit Red Wings” and 2022’s “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft.”
Before more on her new book, a little more about St. James. She joined the Free Press in September 1995 after a globetrotting life: born in Denmark, grew up in Colombia, graduated from the University of Michigan and taught English in Taiwan. She was on the scene when the Wings ended their 42-year Stanley Cup drought in 1997 and again for their Cups in 1998, 2002 and 2008. She followed the Cup to the Czech Republic (with Dominik Hasek) and to the White House (with Vladimir Konstantinov). She has covered Olympics in Russia, China and Italy.
Full disclosure: I hired St. James during my 22½ years as the sports editor at the Free Press. And I think it’s criminal that only one woman has won the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, voted by sportswriters for their peers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” That woman was Helene Elliott, a longtime hockey writer at the Los Angeles Times.
My two cents: The second woman to receive the Elmer Ferguson Award also should spell her first name Helene.
Back to the book. I asked St. James a few questions about “The Franchise.” Her answers follow.
Myers: For 25 straight seasons the Red Wings made the playoffs through 2016. But they haven’t since, and their only winning season was the last one. Why is there a market for so many Wings books when the team has been in the doldrums for so long?
St. James: The immense success of the franchise dating back nearly a century, and the icons who wore the Winged Wheel. I get emails regularly from people who watched Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay and Terry Sawchuk back in the day — everyone who watched them has a special memory to share. Then the next generation of greats, in Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom and the Russian Five. Generation after generation has a personal connection with the team.
Myers: Provide a quick synopsis about your latest Wings book. What differentiates it from your prior books?
St. James: I delve deeper into the history of the club — how the team first came to Detroit, what those first few years were like, and how it transformed into an iconic franchise boasting players whose names became synonymous with the team. The wheeling and dealing, the mythmaking and the community integration — it’s all in this book.
Myers: Who are your favorite figures in your curated history of the franchise whose accomplishments have been mostly forgotten? (And I bet I can guess your top answer.)
St. James: I loved writing about the early men on the team — players like Frank Fredrickson, who anglicized his name from the Icelandic Friðriksson — he was a hockey player, World War I pilot and Olympian. I never tire of writing about Gordie Howe — nor, for that matter, as you guessed, Marguerite Norris. She was a trailblazer, handpicked by her dad, James E. Norris, to run the Wings upon his death. She was 33 years younger than Jack Adams, the dictatorial and vindictive general manager at the time — but she stood up to him, and under her leadership the
Wings thrived in the 1950s.
Myers: What was your favorite part of the book to research and write? And why?
St. James: The early years, which weren’t very successful, and how that changed over the decades. The 1950s, which began with a binge of winning (and then Bruce Norris ousted his sister, and all went awry). How the fortunes changed again from the 1970s to the 1980s with the arrivals of Mike Ilitch and Steve Yzerman. Yzerman’s return to the franchise in 2019, and his efforts to restore its glory.
Myers: Your cover to “The Franchise” features the best use of a giant tentacle since Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Your thoughts? How did it come about?
St. James: I love the reference to Jules Verne! We threw around some ideas, but no one photo could better encapsulate the Red Wings franchise than an octopus flexing a tentacle.
Myers: When you update your latest book in five or 10 or 25 years, what will it include about the 2024-25 season?
St. James: Hopefully that it ends the playoff drought.
Myers: You get the last word — unlike when I was your boss. Final thoughts?
St. James: I enjoyed writing this book, and I know fans of all ages will enjoy reading it. It really is a privilege and a joy to cover a franchise with such a rich and engaging history, and that’s what I’ve endeavored to convey.
“The Franchise” and Helene St. James’ other Red Wings books are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Here’s a link to the Triumph website: https://www.triumphbooks.com/the-franchise–detroit-red-wings-products-9781637276488.php. Personalized copies are available via her email, [email protected].
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