Legacy on Ice

Blake Geoffrion and the Fastest Game on Earth

By: Sam Jefferies

Narrated by: Bill Nevitt

In 2010, Blake Geoffrion became the first player from the University of Wisconsin hockey team to receive the Hobey Baker Award, recognizing him as the best player in men’s college hockey. Blake was a rising scion of hockey royalty, descendant of legendary Canadian players Howie Morenz and Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, and he would soon be the first fourth-generation player to reach the NHL. His professional career promised to cement his family’s storied legacy on ice. But in 2012, while playing for the Montreal Canadiens’ minor league team beneath Morenz’s and Boom Boom’s retired numbers, Geoffrion suffered a devastating injury that ended his career—and nearly his life.

With sure-footed and swift-moving prose, Sam Jefferies tells Geoffrion’s story against the backdrop of modern North American hockey. Thorough research and scores of interviews fuel this tale of soaring success and terrible tragedy, offering insight not only into one man’s athletic journey but also into the rise of American hockey on the national and international stage. Geoffrion’s brief career, marked by tribulation and triumph, illustrates the subtle but omnipresent currents of American media, sports labor, and the interplay between college and professional athletics. It tells the story of what was, what is, and what may yet be for the fastest game on earth.

The book is published by University of Wisconsin Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2023 Sam Jefferies (P)2025 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“A wonderful book about the fastest, meanest, greatest sport in the world and a man who lived it to the core.” (Rich Cohen, author of Pee Wees)

“Jefferies tells the story in descriptive, quick to the punch prose.” (Shepherd Express)

“A must read...easy to devour the book in short order.” (The Mitchell Advocate)

Engaging Storytelling!

I love the flow of this story! It really came to life with narration. The devotion to college hockey is something I really didn’t quite understand until reading this book. Looking forward to the author writing another one soon!