Former Maple Leaf Coach Doug Carpenter grew up in Cornwall and won the All-Ontario juvenile softball title at the age of 17, and a host of football awards and championships, prior to skating with the Montréal Junior Canadiens. A dedicated student, he obtained his teaching credentials at Macdonald College, affiliated with McGill University, and a B.A. from Loyola (now Concordia University) while pursuing a career in professional hockey in the USA. Firstly as a player, and later as a head coach. Doug then accepted the challenge of leading his hometown Royals in the Québec Junior League, and capped his two year tenure by winning the Memorial Cup in 1980. Doug was then hired by Punch Imlach to coach in the American Hockey League, and he did so before being named head coach of the New Jersey Devils. During his four year tenure with the Devils, he led Team Canada to the silver medal in the 1985 World Men's Hockey Championship, becoming the first head coach to defeat the Russians in the medal round in three decades. Finally, in 1989, he was named the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, guiding his team to the playoffs in his first season.

Doug sets out his memoirs in a series of in-depth thematic conversations with his neighbour, Gilles Renaud. Imagine, if you will, having a coffee with your neighbour as he explains how he came to coach Canada's team. This informative and relaxed format enhances the pleasure of the reader, as Doug discusses his personal and sporting life. Of note, all of the royalties earned by the authors are being donated to the Children's Treatment Centre in Cornwall.

"A splendid account of one of Cornwall's best-known sports personalities. It is a book that Is long overdue and a must read for the thousands of fans who followed his career."
- Claude Macintosh
retired Sports Editor of The Standard-Freeholder


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