the first editions were edited by hockey hall of fame honoured member james c. hendy. league publicist ken mckenzie took over editing beginning in 1947. he would later become the founding editor-publisher of the hockey news. statisticians ron andrews and carol randall managed the book during the nhl's expansion eras of the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s. benny ercolani had been the head statistician from the 1980s to the last edition in 2017-18.