Although I was a bit dissapointed with the rave reviews from "The Globe and Mail, Mordechai Richler, New York Times ... etc", this is a very well written book by a Great Canadian; even though he often comes accross as a negative critic of the NHL ... and the money hungry team owners ...

Ken Dryden is one impressive individual. There is no doubting that. I was amazed at the quality of the writing in this book. It is literature. I have read quite a few biographies of sports legends, some have been good and some not so good. I was really looking forward to reading this book especially since all of the reviews were so positive. I welcomed the idea of a well written book by an intelligent athlete. But, I regretfully have to say that this book is less intersting than I had hoped. Dryden provides you with a perspective of hockey life that I seriously doubt that you will get from any other human being on the planet. He made me realize how little time I spend analyzing my own life, at least what I believe to be the less important aspects of it. I found myself amazed at how keenly observant he is about the little stuff. But, as much as I appreciate his intellect, I have to say that this book contains a little too much introspection and not enough details about hockey and the players in it to satisfy me. I am glad that I read it and I would recommend it to fans, but I kept waiting for a little something more and it never quite came. This man has some important things to say though about life in general and for that reason alone the book is worth reading.

I must disagree with the original reviewer. Though this book was originally written in 1989, it is a wonderful illustration of our game and why it means so much to us. See in particular, chapters one and two, and the late chapters. Indeed the middle is called "the money game", and I read that section only once instead of twice. The comments made on hockey and its meaning to Canada are precise, accurate, and well ahead of their time. Even today, we are oft saying the same things, but nothing has been done to save the great game. Read Ken Dryden's the game, and you will read what it is to be Canadian.

Not being from these shores, I picked up this book in the hope of finding out why ice hockey as it's called is so popular in Canada. Imagine my disappointment in finding out almost halfway through that the game of hockey is not mentioned once!! Instead we get a thinly veiled attack on the Catholic Church as an institution and a painfully detailed assessment of a Revenue Canada tax audit. If I had picked up a book with these topics in mind I might have been interested in the material. But, I wanted to learn why Canadians are obsessed with Ice Hockey. I guess I will have to read Revenue Canada's latest pamphlet on out of country dependants to learn all about body checking and high sticking(!)