Ballard: A Portrait of Canada's Most Controversial Sports Figure.

The biography of Harold Ballard, controversial Canadian sports figure, former owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and other sports teams. Chronicles a young man's rise to power from somewhat humble beginnings in downtown Toronto at the turn of the century; through the Roaring Twenties, by this time a wealthy, life-of-the-party type, a big guy who wore a raccoon coat and always seemed to be driving the fastest car; and in the Thirties, his involvement with amateur hockey teams and eventual link-up with the Smythe family, the owners of the Gardens and Leafs. This book is also about the Smythes, the famous Leaf teams, and how Ballard was able to achieve control of these possessions in 1972, dramatically ending the Smythe dynasty.