Get to know the men who fulfilled their childhood dream

From the beer league to the minor league, hockey players from coast to coast often say they’d give anything to play just one game in the NHL. One Night Only brings you the stories of 39 men who lived the dream — only to see it fade away almost as quickly as it arrived. Ken Reid talks to players who had one game, and one game only, in the National Hockey League — including the most famous single-gamer of them all: the coach himself, Don Cherry.

Was it a dream come true or was it heartbreak? What did they learn from their hockey journey and how does it define them today? From the satisfied to the bitter, Ken Reid unearths the stories from hockey’s equivalent to one-hit wonders in the follow-up to his bestselling Hockey Card Stories.

Ken Reid has been adding his unique brand of humour and style to Sportsnet Central since joining Sportsnet in 2011. Throughout his more than twenty years in sportscasting, he has covered the Olympics, the Stanley Cup Finals, Grey Cups, and the Super Bowl. He is the bestselling author of Hockey Card Stories: True Tales from Your Favourite Players, as well as five other books. A proud native of Pictou, Nova Scotia, Ken now lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his family.

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“We all scoff at one-hit wonders, but most of us would give our right arm to spend a couple of minutes in the limelight. Ken Reid shines a light on the one-game wonders of the NHL, who were good enough to get there, but couldn’t stick for a variety of reasons. You’ll find yourself pulling for these gentlemen, hoping they could get that second game under their belt. Another winner from Ken Reid!” — Mick Kern, Sirius XM NHL Network Radio

“The 60-minute NHL careers of this diverse group of players are quite a tale, but all hockey fans will identify with their difficult path to and from The Show. An entertaining and detailed account of some fascinating characters who've been overlooked in hockey history.” — Lance Hornby, Postmedia Hockey Columnist

“Each story eats at you—on one hand you feel sorry for the player because he didn't get another opportunity, but on the flip side, they all got to play that one game in The Show! Who knew one game could create so many great stories. Well done, Ken!” — Daren Millard, Host NHL on Sportsnet

“A brisk and occasionally uplifting volume for hockey nerds everywhere . . . It’s easy to hold up Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby as hockey inspiration, but statistically speaking, they are the outliers. The players in this book offer a much more practical guide to making it in life.” — Quill & Quire

“Fascinating.” — Publishers Weekly