Ken Dryden (1947–2025)

If you’re going to trust anyone in Canada to write well about hockey, it’s Ken Dryden. In this beautifully structured, clearly written book, Dryden tells the story of Steve Montador as a way of explaining why the NHL should take concussions seriously and take concrete measures to reduce hits to the head in hockey. Chapters of Montador’s biography alternate with chapters explaining the science of concussion, how brains are injured, what progress has been made in treating them, and how show more the various sports leagues take action to address the issue.

Dryden makes the argument that, while the NHL may not be in outright denial like the NFL is, and while teams may use some diagnostic tools to determine whether a player has a concussion, there are too many loopholes and too much pushback from so-called purists who think the game should never change and that getting rid of fighting or checks that result in hits to the head will somehow sully the game. Dryden has news for them—one chapter explains the many ways in which the game of hockey has evolved since it was first played on a frozen pond in Montreal in the late 1800s.

This book works well on many levels. Dryden’s done the research: he’s talked to the scientists and the doctors. He has experience on the players’ side (from being a legendary Montreal Canadiens goalie) and on the owners’ side (from working for the Toronto Maple Leafs organization). He’s earned the trust of Montador’s family and friends to be able to tell Steve’s story with respect and affection. Dryden’s training as a lawyer and as an MP allows him to express his ideas eloquently and logically. And his focus on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is well chosen: the book is not about raising awareness — we’re aware that concussions cause injury. The book is about getting decision makers to get off their asses and DO something. Dryden talks about Bettman’s experience and strengths and weaknesses, then explains how Bettman can take action and make a meaningful legacy for himself that could finally give him some traction with his many, many naysayers.

This book is highly recommended for everyone who loves hockey and wants to keep its players safe. show less

Ken Dryden retired from the Montreal Canadiens at the age of 31, after spending seven seasons with the Habs and participating in one of their glorious Stanley Cup streaks in the 1970s. This book chronicles his thoughts and memories in his final season as he thinks about where he's been, how he got to his present position, and where he's going next. Along the way there are thoughts on family, teammates, celebrity, and the strangeness of life in general.

I am not much of a sports watcher -- I show more call myself a fan by osmosis because my other half follows hockey, Canadian football and Formula 1, and I'm usually in the room when he is partaking of these sports. Also, my mum's family is from Montreal and old Hab-its die hard, so I had the background and the cultural knowledge to be predisposed to like this book. What surprised me was just how much I liked this book. Dryden writes well and vividly captures the camaraderie of the dressing room, the boredom of a long bus trip, the naughty schoolboy attitude the players have toward the coach, and the weirdness of having people know who you are without you knowing them. What also makes this book special is the fact that Dryden wrote it himself, without the assistance of a ghostwriter or making it an "as told to" book like many sports books do.

Recommended if you pine for the glory days of Le Canadien, want to read a sports book that doesn't feel like a typical sports book, or want a glimpse into a key part of Canadian culture in the 1970s. show less

Boy, I don’t get it. I really don’t. I’m sure I’ll take some criticism for saying this, but I just don’t understand why Ken Dryden’s The Game is considered by most to be the best hockey book ever written and by Sports Illustrated to be one of the greatest sports books ever written. Hell, I hardly read anything about sports in it! Geez, it’s about Dryden’s family, law school, desire and efforts to pass his bar exams, his disillusionment and boredom with hockey and intense show more desire to retire after a measly eight seasons when truly great players like Jaromir Jagr play through age 44 and beyond, or the great Gordie Howe until age 52. Dryden is so uninspiring a player and so uninspiring and dull a person that I have no idea how he accomplished the few, puny things he accomplished in his pathetically few years in the league. Most of my favorite players have played 10, 12, 15, 18 years in the league. Eight years? And he’s considered one of the best ever? By whom? What the hell did he do that was so damn great??? I know he helped Montreal win five Stanley Cups in eight years. While impressive, that’s a team accomplishment and by his own admission, he was surrounded by all stars, superstars even, so I don’t know how much he contributed. He did win at least three Vezina Trophies for best goalie, which says something, but even then, he levels criticisms at himself in this book that make you wonder how the hell he won the damn things. He apparently split time with another goalie. He got lit up repeatedly by opposing players. Was he really a money player? Hard to tell from this book. I don’t know. I do know that he didn’t seem to have much of a passion for the game, something he basically admits from the beginning. Hardly cared at all for it. Oh sure, like every Canadian kid, he said he liked to play every day growing up, but unlike every other Canadian kid, he didn’t even grow up playing ICE hockey! He played TENNIS BALL hockey in his back yard! Excuse me, but WTF? Seriously? And this guy didn’t go into the juniors. Instead, he went to an American college, which was highly unusual at the time. Why? I don’t know why. And this is the reason. I didn’t even make it a full 100 pages into the book before I became so disgusted with this wimp of a man, this pathetic excuse for an athlete and a human being that I gave up on this autobiography and am left wondering why this has a 4.09 rating on Goodreads and why I have read all of these five star reviews. Who are these reviewers? Why are they so impressed with this book? I don’t get it. I mean, who plays eight years when they are allegedly at the top of their game and part of a dynasty. He writes that he could see the wheels coming off the Montreal dynasty his last year, so basically he bailed on the team rather than sail through rough waters. Like a real champ. What a winner. Would definitely want him in my foxhole. Like hell, I would! This book was boring, there are hardly anything at all about his games or specific games or anything very sports-specific (although there was insightful analysis of his old coach, Scotty Bowman, that was actually good), it was depressing, it was cold, it felt dead, and I hated it with a passion, perhaps as much as I’ve hated any bio I’ve ever read. I can’t tell you how putrid I think this book is and how unimpressed I am with Ken Dryden the man. Dryden, the player, was a few years before my time, so I can’t say anything about him in that respect. If you want to be impressed with a book’s good reputation, I suppose you could invest in this, but I sure wouldn’t waste my time. Most definitely not recommended under any circumstances! show less

I'm not a hockey fan any more, though I was a major Montreal Canadiens fan in the 1970s. (It was almost a precondition for living with my father). Even though I knew the players and games Ken Dryden talks about in this book, I struggled to get into it, having lost interest in hockey over the years.

But, as I got past the first few pages, I realized that this is much more than a hockey book. It is a book about teamwork and legends. It is a book about growing up in Canada, about living in show more Montreal around the time the PQ was first elected, about trying to maintain a family life and a demanding (and very public) job. Because hockey is part of our history, our culture, our economy, our life. Even if we've never put on a pair of skates.

Hockey fans shouldn't despair because it's also a book about hockey. Ken Dryden can talk about the broader context, but he also can talk about the game itself in a way that puts you right there on the ice.

I don't remember reading this book when it was written but I must have. There's no way my Dad didn't own it, and I tend to read everything in sight. What I can say is that reading it today is worthwhile; it has stood the test of time. show less