Distinguished sportswriter Elmer Ferguson called him the "greatest defensive" defenseman of his day. The NHL's revered chief referee Cooper Smeaton ranked him ahead of his defense partner, Eddie Shore. Legendary manager of the Boston Bruins, Art Ross, wouldn't sell him "at any price." And yet he goes unrecognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Lionel Hitchman, or "Hitch," played 12 seasons in the NHL. First with the Ottawa Senators, helping them to a Stanley Cup win, and then with the Boston Bruins for ten years. As the Bruins' captain and first "money player," Hitch led them to their first Stanley Cup final and championship and to the NHL's best winning point percentage season of all time.
His hockey stats belie his real contribution to the success of the Boston Bruins. Hitch was the last original Bruin and the first to have his sweater retired. After his playing career, he went on to coach in the Boston system for several years before parting ways with the franchise.
Hitch, Hockey's Unsung Hero, is the story of an unheralded "superstar," the times he lived through and the fascinating people who helped shape his character and life choices. Told through the "scribes" of the day with interjections by some notable people who knew him well. A few family tales are revealed, including one that helps explain Hitch's absence from hockey's highest shrine.
"While Eddie Shore got most of the attention, those in the know understood that it was Hitchman who was key to the Boston defense. . . . Pam Coburn's biography of her grandfather does more than tell the story of a hockey player, it tells the story of the man that Lionel Hitchman was. Perhaps it will even be enough to finally bring this prototypical defensive defenseman his long overdue place in the Hockey Hall of Fame."
—Eric Zweig, hockey historian and author of Art Ross: The Legend Who Built the Bruins
"A great read about one of hockey's unsung heroes. . . . Hitch should be a hockey Hall of Famer."
—Brian McFarlane, noted broadcaster, hockey historian and author of the Bruins
