Ken Dryden's The Game

[RedLightDistrict]

Just finished reading it after I had found it in my closet two days ago. It seems to me Dryden had a very good view of the history and flow of the game. It got me thinking: in order for the NHL to return to its glory days, it needs to things:

1)Hockey needs an owner who is willing to take the time to shill out money to create a skilled team. (through scouting and trading, etc.) Not skilled like skilled in the art of being a total goon, but player who have fast legs, endurance, stamina, and a creative mind to pick the game apart as it goes in order to dazzle the crowds. If the player also happens to be a guy that runs around and hits people, more power to him. But i stress that in order for hockey to be successful, it needs to be fluid, and fast

2) Take out the instigator rule. We can't have guys as mentioned above to be tortured so they can't score such pretty goals

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[Rather Gingerly 1*]

It's been more than 20 years since I read Dryden's book but I remember it as one of the most boring books I ever read. The only reason I was able to finish it was because Dryden was the author.

 

[DownFromNJ]

Boring? I couldn't put it down.

 

[Snap Wilson]

It's a great book with some fantastic insights, if you can get past the fact that Dryden is basically whining throughout. That was the 70s, though. Lots of introspection, lots of whining.

If there's one thing you should take away from the book about how the game is played, it's that everything old is new again. People were complaining about the flow of the game back then, wanting it to be the way it "used to be" which it never was. Dryden rather smartly points that out when he talks about looking at film from the 50s and 60s. There was always clutching and grabbing and interference and so on. Dryden didn't even realise what was to come in the 1980s, when the game finally opened up.

 

[mcphee]

The Game and Ball Four were the best sports books I ever read. Dryden's book, to me, gave a great insight of what it was like to be part of a functioning member of a team at a high level. There've been a lot of books where a writer will accompany a team over a season and document the experience, lots where a player will make a cash grab and hire a ghost writer to wax on about the journey from outdoor rink to the show, but none with his insight. I can see where some might get bored, Dryden never uses one word where 10 will fit, but I still think he gives a great peek inside what many consider the best there ever was.

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

It's a great book with some fantastic insights, if you can get past the fact that Dryden is basically whining throughout. That was the 70s, though. Lots of introspection, lots of whining.

If there's one thing you should take away from the book about how the game is played, it's that everything old is new again. People were complaining about the flow of the game back then, wanting it to be the way it "used to be" which it never was. Dryden rather smartly points that out when he talks about looking at film from the 50s and 60s. There was always clutching and grabbing and interference and so on. Dryden didn't even realise what was to come in the 1980s, when the game finally opened up.

That's closer to my recolleciton. It could have been a stupendous book but Dryden whining / trying to be smart throughout held it back.

If you want to read a real doozie, read Tretiak: the Legend. Don't read it before bed, you may wake up with strongly communist tendencies.

 

[MacDaddy TLC*]

It's been more than 20 years since I read Dryden's book but I remember it as one of the most boring books I ever read. The only reason I was able to finish it was because Dryden was the author.

Dryden's writing is amazingly even more over rated than his on ice ability. Thankfully he finally found his calling: Blowhard in the Nation's Capital! The walking Fillibuster is finally at home!

 

[mcphee]

Dryden's writing is amazingly even more over rated than his on ice ability. Thankfully he finally found his calling: Blowhard in the Nation's Capital! The walking Fillibuster is finally at home!

Mac, you posted this gleefully waiting for me to take the bait. Nope,not gonna do it. Drat, seems I already did.

 

[Rather Gingerly 1*]

I think I will try and read the book again. Now, that I am older, I may appreciate it more

 

[Granny99]

I think I will try and read the book again. Now, that I am older, I may appreciate it more

I first tried to read it when I was about 10 and couldn't get through it. However, I found it again a couple years ago (now 27) and I found that it was quite easy to read. I guess I just understood what he was talking about a lot better after being an adult and having played at a fairly high level of hockey for some of those years.

I found it interesting and insightful, but it did seem a little whiney. One thing I found strange was how he never believed he could compete after age 30 (was he about 30, going off memory here?) and he had to retire before a rapid decline. Now, many goaltenders are just entering their prime at that age and if they stay in shape many can play until they're 40.

 

[jaws]

Great book. I got the Home Game, just curious if that's any different or not. But anyways, reading about Radison and the rink, man ohh man, if that doesn't make you proud to be Canadian, nothin' will.