#VGKBookClub Review: The Game

We’ve officially wrapped our first selection of the #VGKBookClub! Broadcasters Daren Millard and Stormy Buonantony share their thoughts on the book.

Host Daren Millard

The Game by Ken Dryden is the book I have read more than any other. I first opened the pages as a teenager, then for a work project early in my broadcasting career, and now as part of the VGK Book Club. I tell you this, not to brag that I have read the same book cover to cover three times, but to say I have enjoyed it at the same level on every occasion.

I am struck by how similar the NHL environment is all these years later. Sure the equipment and the salaries have changed dramatically, but the pressure to perform and how a team functions inside the environment of it’s own bubble is strikingly similar.

I feel like it would be easy to attach names to the characters on Dryden’s team. The jokesters, stars who welcome pressure, role players pushing for more, and players who are far more casual behind the curtain than we see in public.  

This book is about a journey, both by a man who’s approach to the game has never been duplicated, and a team that dominated the National Hockey League. On the outside they had it all, on the inside there was bone crushing pressure, anxiety, and disputes. They walked a fine line that balanced the greatness of a dynasty that was backed by a deeply intellectual super star goaltender with the fears and motivations that defeat, or the thought of losing can present.

I have been fortunate to meet Ken Dryden. I wouldn’t say they have been deep or personal conversations, in fact I don’t think I would welcome one. Ken is on a different level, but that is also what I like about this book. I get to feel that connection with him without feeling like I don’t belong in the discussion.

I have read The Game by Ken Dryden cover to cover three times,  used it as a reference on many more occasions and as I write this, I am confident I have not cracked it’s pages for the last time.

Thank You to Alyssa Girardi and the VGK Book Club.  This Game was a  gift at a time our game wasn’t available.

Rinkside Reporter Stormy Buonantony

Now that I have officially completed The Game by Ken Dryden, the early thoughts and feelings I shared of his recall and intelligence in line with his athleticism has simply intensified. 

My early review for reference:

“As a first-timer reading this book, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Just a few chapters in and it’s already glaringly obvious how unique and special a talent Ken Dryden is in so many more ways than one. 

On the surface, you don’t often think of athletes as eloquent and intellectual due to their physical gifts, but Dryden is the perfect example of why that’s a misnomer. A Hall of Fame goalie, lawyer and author, and as if that’s not enough, later in life he’d enjoy a future of politics, business, color commentary and likely anything else he set his mind to. 

In “The Game,” the detail with which Dryden recalls conversations—words spoken and unspoken—childhood memories, dress room antics and the state of the sport of hockey in relation to his surroundings truly puts you in his shoes.

Having not been around during the 70s to watch Dryden and the historic Canadiens team of that time, it’s been fun for me personally to look up certain players and their backstories and get a better feel for what the game was like in that time.”

It’s been more than 35 years since The Game was written in 1983, yet so much of it felt timely and remains relevant in 2020. 

Whether it be detailing life on the road, his view on the history of the game, handling the spotlight or simply sharing the inter-workings of a goaltenders mind.

He also verbally paints such a vivid picture of the great Habs team and its characters that won those six Stanley Cups: Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Bob Gainey, Scotty Bowman and so on. 

My favorite line came late in the book as Dryden details approaching his retirement at the young age of 31. "It is hockey that I’m leaving behind. It’s ‘the game’ I’ll miss.”

Be sure to join the VGK Book Club Facebook Group to connect with other members and stay tuned for the next selection!