FISCHLER, STAN

FISCHLER, STAN (1932– ), U.S. author, sportscaster, leading authority on ice hockey. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at Brooklyn College, Fischler covered hockey for over 50 years, beginning as a publicist for the New York Rangers. He wrote for the Brooklyn Eagle, the New York Journal-American, and the Toronto Star from 1955 through 1977, and then began his broadcasting career in Boston as an analyst for the New England Whalers of the WHA in 1973–74. Fischler joined Sports Channel New York (later FOX Sports Net) at its inception in 1975, for which he continued covering New York metropolitan area NHL teams. Known as "The Hockey Maven," Fischler with the help of his wife, Shirley, authored or co-authored more than 90 books on hockey, including Fischler's Hockey Encyclopedia (1975), Great Book of Hockey: More Than 100 Years of Fires on Ice (1991), and Cracked Ice: An Insiders Look at the NHL (1995). He wrote for various publications, including The New York Times, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Sport, Newsweek and the Hockey Digest, and later became a columnist for The Hockey News. Fischler's other passions are subway systems and their history, and he has written a number of books on the subject, including Up-town, Downtown: A Trip Through Time on New York's Subways (1976), Moving Millions: An Inside Look at Mass Transit (1979), and Next Stop Grand Central: A Trip Through Time on New York's Metropolitan Area Commuter Railroads (1986). His writings have been included in Best American Sports Writing of the Century (1999). (Elli Wohlgelernter (2nd ed.)