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The Series: What I Remember, What It Felt Like, What It Feels Like Now
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A new book by Hall of Fame goalie and bestselling author Ken Dryden celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series
SEPTEMBER 2, 1972, MONTREAL FORUM, GAME
The best against the best for the first time. Canada, the country that had created the game; the Soviet Union, having taken it up only twenty-six years earlier. On the more than the players, more than the fans, more than Canadians and Russians knew.
So began an entirely improbable, near-month-long series of games that became more and more riveting, until, for the eighth, and final, and deciding game—on a weekday, during work and school hours all across the country—the nation stopped. Of Canada’s 22 million people, 16 million watched. Three thousand more were there, in Moscow, behind the Iron Curtain, singing—Da da, Ka-na-da, nyet, nyet, So-vi-yet!
It is a story long told, often told. But never like this.
Ken Dryden, a goalie in the series, a lifetime observer, later a writer, tells the story in “you are there” style, as if he is living it for the first time. As if you, the reader, are too.
The series, as it turned out, is the most important moment in hockey history, changing the game, on the ice and off, everywhere in the world. As it turned out, it is one of the most significant events in all of Canada’s history.
Through Ken Dryden’s words, we understand why.
A new book by Hall of Fame goalie and bestselling author Ken Dryden celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series
SEPTEMBER 2, 1972, MONTREAL FORUM, GAME
The best against the best for the first time. Canada, the country that had created the game; the Soviet Union, having taken it up only twenty-six years earlier. On the more than the players, more than the fans, more than Canadians and Russians knew.
So began an entirely improbable, near-month-long series of games that became more and more riveting, until, for the eighth, and final, and deciding game—on a weekday, during work and school hours all across the country—the nation stopped. Of Canada’s 22 million people, 16 million watched. Three thousand more were there, in Moscow, behind the Iron Curtain, singing—Da da, Ka-na-da, nyet, nyet, So-vi-yet!
It is a story long told, often told. But never like this.
Ken Dryden, a goalie in the series, a lifetime observer, later a writer, tells the story in “you are there” style, as if he is living it for the first time. As if you, the reader, are too.
The series, as it turned out, is the most important moment in hockey history, changing the game, on the ice and off, everywhere in the world. As it turned out, it is one of the most significant events in all of Canada’s history.
Through Ken Dryden’s words, we understand why.
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First published August 23, 2022
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About the author
Ken Dryden
19 books88 followersKenneth Wayne "Ken" Dryden is a Canadian politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former NHL goaltender. He is an officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Dryden was a Liberal Member of Parliament from 2004, also serving as a cabinet minister from 2004 to 2006, until losing his seat in the 2011 Canadian federal elections to Conservative Mark Adler.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
November 21, 2022
A very philosophical and analytical approach to his recollection of this very historic hockey series. Similar to Harry Sinden's "Hockey Showdown", there are no game summaries, just thoughts and reactions on the games from Dryden's perspective from the stands or in his net.
I enjoyed him bringing in the hockey history of Canada and the Soviets all the way back to the 50's with their meetings in World and Olympic championships before this series happened when the Soviets used amateurs and we could not use any professionals at that time. And, now how that has changed since the Iron Curtain is no more and players from Russia, former Eastern Bloc countries, Western Europe now play in North America and players from there play all over Europe.
Dryden also details the length of time Harry Sinden thoughts and concern when four players who had not been dressed for games in Canada and looked like they would not play in Russia, left to go back to Canada - HINT - not long at all! Sinden wanted to win and to do so, had to change tactics and play the best players at every position - scores, checkers, grinders, playmakers.
Lots of great photos that I've never seen before are included as well.
Recommend for hockey fans who want a different view of the 1972 Super Series.
I enjoyed him bringing in the hockey history of Canada and the Soviets all the way back to the 50's with their meetings in World and Olympic championships before this series happened when the Soviets used amateurs and we could not use any professionals at that time. And, now how that has changed since the Iron Curtain is no more and players from Russia, former Eastern Bloc countries, Western Europe now play in North America and players from there play all over Europe.
Dryden also details the length of time Harry Sinden thoughts and concern when four players who had not been dressed for games in Canada and looked like they would not play in Russia, left to go back to Canada - HINT - not long at all! Sinden wanted to win and to do so, had to change tactics and play the best players at every position - scores, checkers, grinders, playmakers.
Lots of great photos that I've never seen before are included as well.
Recommend for hockey fans who want a different view of the 1972 Super Series.
February 8, 2023
September 2022 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Summit Series, eight hockey games played between Canada and Russia. For the first time, it positioned the best NHL players against the top Russians for the world title. In previous years, the Russians had dominated the world’s hockey stage, earning the prestigious title of World Champions, but those contests were only open to amateur players. It was not until the rules changed and allowed professional NHL players to compete in international tournaments that the Russians had to face the best Canadian players. Despite not carrying the title World Champions, the Canadians always believed they were the best in the world and now had a chance to prove it. A series of eight games, four to be played in Canada and four in the Russia, would decide the title. Canada off course would win and prove they were the winners they always believed themselves to be.
This two-hundred-page coffee table book by Ken Dryden, filled with colorful photographs, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia, celebrates the series that marked an important moment in Canadian hockey and Canadian history. The first four games in Canada were to be played on Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Then the team would move on to Sweden for a two week period to acclimatize themselves to the time change and rest before the final four games played in Moscow.
Dryden, who had just finished his second successful season with the Montreal Canadians, was one of three goalies chosen for the series, with Tony Esposito and Ed Johnson the other two. Harry Sinden and John Ferguson were the two coaches.
Dryden makes it clear this is not an accurate account of what happened during the series. He has written about in other books, most notably his 1973 book “Face-Off At The Summit” and “Home Game” in 1989. What he writes about is looking back at this point in his life to what he remembers, to what it felt like at the time the games were played and what it feels like now in the present day.
Prior to the first games, both the Canadian team and the critics expected easy wins and some even predicted an eight-game sweep. The players went into the series confident, arrogant and vocal, eager to prove themselves. It was all about Canadian pride and their love of what they believed, was their game. Each team wanted to win, for themselves, their team, their country and their way of life. More was on the line than anyone had predicted.
Dryden remembers the time leading up to the Summit, recalling how events unfolded in a very different world than the one we know today. It was the height of the Cold War. Only four years before, Russia had invaded Afghanistan and ten years before, the Cuban missile crisis had unfolded, stuck like glue in everyone’s memory. And then there was the space race that kept the two countries continually competing. Although people were traveling more, few ever visited behind the Iron Curtain; the Russians were considered our enemy. The series was not just a tournament to determine the world championship, but an intense battle over the way of life in two very different cultures and countries.
The two teams trained and played differently. The Russians played year-round as a team, placed a heavy emphasis on physical fitness and played a passing, less physical game. European rinks were larger giving them more room to move around, position themselves and creating a different style of game.
What happened was far from what was expected. After a terrific start in Montreal, with Dryden in nets for game one, the Canadians scored two goals in the first six minutes. The Canadians appeared to be well on their way. But it didn’t take long for things to shift and as everyone watched, the Russians gained the upper hand, showing how much better they were at the fundamentals of the game, skating, passing, goal tending and playing as a team.
They won 7-3. Everyone-- players, fans and critics, were shocked.
Two nights later the series picked up in Toronto and the Canadians did better winning 4-1, but it was their only win on Canadian soil. They rallied for a tie in Winnipeg, but suffered a 5-3 loss in Vancouver. Following that loss, they were booed off the ice and the critics and the media called them a national disgrace. The losses sent the players into a slump and the fans into a shocked, angry, frenzy. The players were still trying to figure things out, still shocked at their performance. It took a powerful speech by Phil Esposito outside the arena following that Vancouver loss to regain fan support, an emotional speech broadcast on TV that proved to be one of the defining moments in the series.
Dryden reflects on his performance and his emotional state having given up twenty-one goals and losing in three of the games in which he played. He had to make a complete change in his style, staying close to the net rather than moving out toward the play to cut down the angles. That style that worked in games in Canada, gave the Russians opportunities to get the puck behind him and into the net.
The games became riveting, as more than 16 of Canada’s 22 million people took time out to watch each game, their eyes glued to the televisions that suddenly appeared in school gyms, business offices and retail stores.
When the team traveled to Moscow for the final four games, few believed they could redeem themselves and with only one win in four games, salvaging their international reputation felt like a lost dream. After a short layover in Sweden, they headed to Moscow where three thousand Canadians had traveled to support them. The fans held up huge signs and became loud and vocal during the games, creating a chant that is still remembered: “Da da, Ka-Na-da, nyet, nyet So-vi-et”. Even when the tabloids criticized the physical play of the Canadians and portrayed them as thugs, the fans became more supportive. Cards and letters from friends, families and people they didn’t know, arrived with messages urging them on and were posted in the locker room. When the space filled up, they posted them on the halls of the corridors. They were a huge boost for the beleaguered team who now had more fan support.
When the players regrouped in Moscow, they had begun to work as a team, and came out with three wins, two with Dryden in the net. But getting there felt like living through a war.
Dryden’s narrative follows the games in Moscow as the stakes grew, feeling bigger and bigger with each game. There were issues over biased officiating, a goal from the Russians that was disputed, and even more serious events with Bobby Clarke’s controversial slash on Valeri Kharlamov their star player. And who can forget Alan Eagleson’s skirmish with a Russian military official in the stands that ended with his famous dash across the ice to the Canadian bench, escorted by the players as the place hummed with the threat of violence. There was also the strange food, the steaks they had flown over that mysteriously disappeared, their stark, uncomfortable accommodations, elevators that clanged and banged sounding like they would fall apart and always landing stuck between floors. Despite the numerous head games, the Canadians found a way. They had become more fit, were working better as a team and Sinden and Ferguson had carefully adapted their game plan.
When Dryden talks about the final game, he admits he doesn’t remember much of it, just seeing the red light at the other end of the ice and the other players suddenly all over the ice jumping up and down and hugging one another.
And he also remembers the deep, deep relief.
What is interesting about this book is Dryden’s observations of what was going on around him, what was happening to the team and himself as they lived through this exciting but very stressful time. As a lifetime observer of the game, he has insight into the game itself. He is also a respected writer with several volumes about the game to his credit, including “The Game”, which many consider one of the best books ever written about hockey.
The series changed how the game was played. In later years, more emphasis was placed on skills, puck possession and off ice-conditioning. As the world changed, more European and Russian players came to play in the NHL, and nutrition, kinesiology and specialized coaching became integral parts of the game.
In looking back, Dryden says he had never experienced the pressure, the stress and the thrill of winning that series. None of the Olympic games or the six Stanley Cup Championships he won, even comes close. He puts it down to the fact the Russians were such great opponents, saying it is always the really tough times that create the deepest feelings and the biggest moments.
For those who lived through these events, this book brings back great memories and many will remember the winning goal that Henderson scored. It has been replayed thousand of times on television, keeping that thrilling moment in our heads forever.
This is a beautifully packaged book, an enjoyable read which includes food for thought about the game, about winning and about memories.
This two-hundred-page coffee table book by Ken Dryden, filled with colorful photographs, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia, celebrates the series that marked an important moment in Canadian hockey and Canadian history. The first four games in Canada were to be played on Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Then the team would move on to Sweden for a two week period to acclimatize themselves to the time change and rest before the final four games played in Moscow.
Dryden, who had just finished his second successful season with the Montreal Canadians, was one of three goalies chosen for the series, with Tony Esposito and Ed Johnson the other two. Harry Sinden and John Ferguson were the two coaches.
Dryden makes it clear this is not an accurate account of what happened during the series. He has written about in other books, most notably his 1973 book “Face-Off At The Summit” and “Home Game” in 1989. What he writes about is looking back at this point in his life to what he remembers, to what it felt like at the time the games were played and what it feels like now in the present day.
Prior to the first games, both the Canadian team and the critics expected easy wins and some even predicted an eight-game sweep. The players went into the series confident, arrogant and vocal, eager to prove themselves. It was all about Canadian pride and their love of what they believed, was their game. Each team wanted to win, for themselves, their team, their country and their way of life. More was on the line than anyone had predicted.
Dryden remembers the time leading up to the Summit, recalling how events unfolded in a very different world than the one we know today. It was the height of the Cold War. Only four years before, Russia had invaded Afghanistan and ten years before, the Cuban missile crisis had unfolded, stuck like glue in everyone’s memory. And then there was the space race that kept the two countries continually competing. Although people were traveling more, few ever visited behind the Iron Curtain; the Russians were considered our enemy. The series was not just a tournament to determine the world championship, but an intense battle over the way of life in two very different cultures and countries.
The two teams trained and played differently. The Russians played year-round as a team, placed a heavy emphasis on physical fitness and played a passing, less physical game. European rinks were larger giving them more room to move around, position themselves and creating a different style of game.
What happened was far from what was expected. After a terrific start in Montreal, with Dryden in nets for game one, the Canadians scored two goals in the first six minutes. The Canadians appeared to be well on their way. But it didn’t take long for things to shift and as everyone watched, the Russians gained the upper hand, showing how much better they were at the fundamentals of the game, skating, passing, goal tending and playing as a team.
They won 7-3. Everyone-- players, fans and critics, were shocked.
Two nights later the series picked up in Toronto and the Canadians did better winning 4-1, but it was their only win on Canadian soil. They rallied for a tie in Winnipeg, but suffered a 5-3 loss in Vancouver. Following that loss, they were booed off the ice and the critics and the media called them a national disgrace. The losses sent the players into a slump and the fans into a shocked, angry, frenzy. The players were still trying to figure things out, still shocked at their performance. It took a powerful speech by Phil Esposito outside the arena following that Vancouver loss to regain fan support, an emotional speech broadcast on TV that proved to be one of the defining moments in the series.
Dryden reflects on his performance and his emotional state having given up twenty-one goals and losing in three of the games in which he played. He had to make a complete change in his style, staying close to the net rather than moving out toward the play to cut down the angles. That style that worked in games in Canada, gave the Russians opportunities to get the puck behind him and into the net.
The games became riveting, as more than 16 of Canada’s 22 million people took time out to watch each game, their eyes glued to the televisions that suddenly appeared in school gyms, business offices and retail stores.
When the team traveled to Moscow for the final four games, few believed they could redeem themselves and with only one win in four games, salvaging their international reputation felt like a lost dream. After a short layover in Sweden, they headed to Moscow where three thousand Canadians had traveled to support them. The fans held up huge signs and became loud and vocal during the games, creating a chant that is still remembered: “Da da, Ka-Na-da, nyet, nyet So-vi-et”. Even when the tabloids criticized the physical play of the Canadians and portrayed them as thugs, the fans became more supportive. Cards and letters from friends, families and people they didn’t know, arrived with messages urging them on and were posted in the locker room. When the space filled up, they posted them on the halls of the corridors. They were a huge boost for the beleaguered team who now had more fan support.
When the players regrouped in Moscow, they had begun to work as a team, and came out with three wins, two with Dryden in the net. But getting there felt like living through a war.
Dryden’s narrative follows the games in Moscow as the stakes grew, feeling bigger and bigger with each game. There were issues over biased officiating, a goal from the Russians that was disputed, and even more serious events with Bobby Clarke’s controversial slash on Valeri Kharlamov their star player. And who can forget Alan Eagleson’s skirmish with a Russian military official in the stands that ended with his famous dash across the ice to the Canadian bench, escorted by the players as the place hummed with the threat of violence. There was also the strange food, the steaks they had flown over that mysteriously disappeared, their stark, uncomfortable accommodations, elevators that clanged and banged sounding like they would fall apart and always landing stuck between floors. Despite the numerous head games, the Canadians found a way. They had become more fit, were working better as a team and Sinden and Ferguson had carefully adapted their game plan.
When Dryden talks about the final game, he admits he doesn’t remember much of it, just seeing the red light at the other end of the ice and the other players suddenly all over the ice jumping up and down and hugging one another.
And he also remembers the deep, deep relief.
What is interesting about this book is Dryden’s observations of what was going on around him, what was happening to the team and himself as they lived through this exciting but very stressful time. As a lifetime observer of the game, he has insight into the game itself. He is also a respected writer with several volumes about the game to his credit, including “The Game”, which many consider one of the best books ever written about hockey.
The series changed how the game was played. In later years, more emphasis was placed on skills, puck possession and off ice-conditioning. As the world changed, more European and Russian players came to play in the NHL, and nutrition, kinesiology and specialized coaching became integral parts of the game.
In looking back, Dryden says he had never experienced the pressure, the stress and the thrill of winning that series. None of the Olympic games or the six Stanley Cup Championships he won, even comes close. He puts it down to the fact the Russians were such great opponents, saying it is always the really tough times that create the deepest feelings and the biggest moments.
For those who lived through these events, this book brings back great memories and many will remember the winning goal that Henderson scored. It has been replayed thousand of times on television, keeping that thrilling moment in our heads forever.
This is a beautifully packaged book, an enjoyable read which includes food for thought about the game, about winning and about memories.
September 12, 2022
I should have seen this coming.
When Ken Dryden's first-hand look at the 1972 Team Canada matchup against Russia, The Series, was announced, there were lofty expectations that this was going to be a tell-all exposé from the "missing link" on the team, which was going to go in-depth into the understanding, play-by-play and thought processes necessary to see the series through to completion and ring in one of Canada's most resounding hockey victories.
There was -- perhaps -- too much hype around the book, particularly when several hundred interested readers (including myself) ponied up the money for a signed copy, which promised access to a livestream hosted by retailer Indigo Books... which was a short, abrupt affair where Dryden tossed out a handful of anecdotes about his memories of the series before taking a couple questions and calling it a night.
That event was a harbinger of the book itself -- a short, breezy affair that takes a largely-superficial look at the game and its background with few, if any, answers to the questions fans have wanted to know for years. This is not "The Game II", a play-by-play of the mood of the locker room between periods, not a deep dive into the thoughts and camaraderie between the players, nor much of anything. The kind of analysis it should have been shooting for was already offered before, and better, in works like Henderson's "Shooting for Glory". (Tellingly, Dryden admits in the penultimate chapter of the book that he hasn't rewatched the series since writing a chapter on it for the 1991 book "Home Game" -- 30 years ago -- and judging by the way he writes this, I'm not sure he watched it here either beyond a handful of clips he saw on Youtube).
I legitimately don't get it. Dryden's turned in fantastic work -- the biography on Scotty Bowman was a fantastic deep-dive into a legendary coach's career. Game Change tackled a very prescient topic in CTE injuries, and he even had me gripped in The Moved and The Shaken, a biography about a blue-collar worker at Imperial Oil (Esso). This book comes across like a cash-grab that McClelland & Stewart spearheaded to get something out for the 50th anniversary of Team Canada, and that Dryden had to be dragged into it while complaining all the while.
I get the sense that Dryden views himself as an "outsider" in the series -- a sort of "pinch-hitter" who got called up when asked and did what was expected of him, but doesn't take any sort of fondness from the experience -- and that sense is borne out by the book, which is half-text, half-pictures with fleeting captions that don't really describe what's being shown. It doesn't help that Dryden tends to gloss over things like training camp (excusing the experience by saying that because everyone who came in was the best, they just all knew what to do), several games in the series (because he was either absent or recuperating from a couple of unintentional injuries) and much of the mood that accompanied the final games in Russia beyond some superficial analysis of the crowds.
I expected better, and was let down by the experience. Unless you`re a superfan of Team Canada `72 and want a few more musings, avoid this book.
When Ken Dryden's first-hand look at the 1972 Team Canada matchup against Russia, The Series, was announced, there were lofty expectations that this was going to be a tell-all exposé from the "missing link" on the team, which was going to go in-depth into the understanding, play-by-play and thought processes necessary to see the series through to completion and ring in one of Canada's most resounding hockey victories.
There was -- perhaps -- too much hype around the book, particularly when several hundred interested readers (including myself) ponied up the money for a signed copy, which promised access to a livestream hosted by retailer Indigo Books... which was a short, abrupt affair where Dryden tossed out a handful of anecdotes about his memories of the series before taking a couple questions and calling it a night.
That event was a harbinger of the book itself -- a short, breezy affair that takes a largely-superficial look at the game and its background with few, if any, answers to the questions fans have wanted to know for years. This is not "The Game II", a play-by-play of the mood of the locker room between periods, not a deep dive into the thoughts and camaraderie between the players, nor much of anything. The kind of analysis it should have been shooting for was already offered before, and better, in works like Henderson's "Shooting for Glory". (Tellingly, Dryden admits in the penultimate chapter of the book that he hasn't rewatched the series since writing a chapter on it for the 1991 book "Home Game" -- 30 years ago -- and judging by the way he writes this, I'm not sure he watched it here either beyond a handful of clips he saw on Youtube).
I legitimately don't get it. Dryden's turned in fantastic work -- the biography on Scotty Bowman was a fantastic deep-dive into a legendary coach's career. Game Change tackled a very prescient topic in CTE injuries, and he even had me gripped in The Moved and The Shaken, a biography about a blue-collar worker at Imperial Oil (Esso). This book comes across like a cash-grab that McClelland & Stewart spearheaded to get something out for the 50th anniversary of Team Canada, and that Dryden had to be dragged into it while complaining all the while.
I get the sense that Dryden views himself as an "outsider" in the series -- a sort of "pinch-hitter" who got called up when asked and did what was expected of him, but doesn't take any sort of fondness from the experience -- and that sense is borne out by the book, which is half-text, half-pictures with fleeting captions that don't really describe what's being shown. It doesn't help that Dryden tends to gloss over things like training camp (excusing the experience by saying that because everyone who came in was the best, they just all knew what to do), several games in the series (because he was either absent or recuperating from a couple of unintentional injuries) and much of the mood that accompanied the final games in Russia beyond some superficial analysis of the crowds.
I expected better, and was let down by the experience. Unless you`re a superfan of Team Canada `72 and want a few more musings, avoid this book.
September 6, 2022
Much less detail than "The Game." A good review of each game in the series. But very little insight in what went on in the locker room of Team Canada and the decision making process of the coaching staff. Dryden is at his best at the end of the book when he reflects on the larger meaning of the series to Canada and to hockey 50 years later. But the majority of the book is a very superficial review of each game that is available from many other sources; not up to his usual standards
October 14, 2022
This gets only three stars because it wasn't what I expected, and I think a lot of hockey readers felt the same way. Dryden's previous hockey books have been deep, insightful and interesting books of 300 pages of text. This book is really a miniature coffee table book. It is filled with great pictures from the Summit Series that you don't see in other books on the topic. Dryden's text is basically a diary of a man in his 70s looking back on his memories and emotions that he experienced 50 years ago. It can be read in under two hours. It's more like a feature article in Atlantic Monthly than a full-blown book, which is what makes it disappointing. But for what it is, it is very interesting. I found it striking that Dryden's memories weren't more detailed, and in a couple of places were downright fuzzy. But towards the end of the book he provides what might be a reason why -- aside from some research he did for his book Home Game in the late 80s, Dryden has never watched a tape of any of the games. So what we are reading in this book are pure memories, pure emotions that have stuck with the man for 50 years. For someone who is collecting books on the Summit Series (like me) and who wants to read everything about it, this book nicely complements other volumes. But for the casual hockey fan, perhaps add it to your collection when it reaches the discount bins.
February 21, 2023
Mr. Dryden has again given a gripping and very personal overview of one of my strongest memories of our Game. Like most Canadian children in front of a TV at boarding school 1972. I was 7. This is a great way to relive a defining moment in Canadian history. A moment that united us all behind our team playing our Game.
September 28, 2022
Last quarter of the book is redeemingly insightful. The other reads like the back of a hockey card. Unique photos of the series throughout, including a boxscore of game 5 filled out in Russian and a shot of Russian players walking down St.Catherine’s Street in Montreal. Overall, a guarded look at the series that seems empty of the real experience with the teammates as the unthinkable potential loss unfolds. Dryden’s Home Game covers the series better. This years other book, Scott Morrison’s history of the series , is the go to book but I suspect Dryden’s dud will outsell it big time. **
March 26, 2023
The 1972 Summit Series between the Canadian and Soviet hockey teams was a pretty big deal at the time; my dad remembers watching it in class at school. Last year was the 50th anniversary, so, like, a million books on the topic were published. This particular book was written by Ken Dryden, one of the goalies for the Canadian team.
The writing is not amazing. I had to stop a few times and say, “Wait, was that a sentence?” There were some amusing anecdotes, though, and I got the gist of what was happening in the hockey games. I enjoyed reading Phil Esposito’s speech telling off the difficult Canadian hockey fans. There were also several full-page photographs, so I guess the quality of the writing wasn’t that important anyway. I guess this book is a good overview of the series if you want to spend a maximum of 30 minutes reading about it, and it definitely has more pictures than a Wikipedia article.
The writing is not amazing. I had to stop a few times and say, “Wait, was that a sentence?” There were some amusing anecdotes, though, and I got the gist of what was happening in the hockey games. I enjoyed reading Phil Esposito’s speech telling off the difficult Canadian hockey fans. There were also several full-page photographs, so I guess the quality of the writing wasn’t that important anyway. I guess this book is a good overview of the series if you want to spend a maximum of 30 minutes reading about it, and it definitely has more pictures than a Wikipedia article.
August 6, 2024
Very well-written, well-observed, and with a lot of truth. Risks falling into purple prose but never ever does, and gets a lot of power from its success.
November 3, 2022
Turns out Ken Dryden doesn’t remember much about the Summit Series. Bummer.
September 7, 2022
I've enjoyed Mr. Dryden's writing over the years, and this was no exception. Unlike his diary of the game and his later book that was more about the games themselves, this book looks at the impact the series had on the sport of hockey. It also a much more intimate look at how Dryden viewed himself in the context of the series.
September 10, 2022
Don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t this.
August 29, 2022
Should have been titled: I don't remember, a phrase repeated throughout the book. The author's memory lapse is obviously due to the fact "The Series" took place 50 years ago. Question is: why wait so long to write about it? The 200-page book is roughly half text and half photos and blank pages. Certainly not up to Mr. Dryden's standards. I gave it two stars instead of one only because I'm a big Habs fan.
October 19, 2022
Not the author's best book. However, for someone who was a huge sports fan back in September, 1972 (similar to Ken Dryden), I remember sitting in the basement of Union College on the campus of the University of British Columbia watching the game with a huge raucous crowd of fellow Canadians and this book helped bring back those memories. The one statistic that astonished me was that the total population of Canada was 22 million in 1972 and 16 million of us were watching the game.
After all these years of watching sports, nothing compares to this 8 game series. The author mentions throughout the book that he couldn't remember certain facts. At first, I wondered how a player who was there could not remember all the details. But, on reflection, it made it human as I realized I couldn't remember one person who I watched this game with (except the one foreign student who waved a huge Russian flag every time they scored), who was on the ice when Henderson scored (I did remember Dryden in goal), what class I was skipping, and whether I went to any other classes that day.
Thank you Ken Dryden for providing a 5 star memory recharge (even though I rated the book a 3)
After all these years of watching sports, nothing compares to this 8 game series. The author mentions throughout the book that he couldn't remember certain facts. At first, I wondered how a player who was there could not remember all the details. But, on reflection, it made it human as I realized I couldn't remember one person who I watched this game with (except the one foreign student who waved a huge Russian flag every time they scored), who was on the ice when Henderson scored (I did remember Dryden in goal), what class I was skipping, and whether I went to any other classes that day.
Thank you Ken Dryden for providing a 5 star memory recharge (even though I rated the book a 3)
December 30, 2022
The Series is about the most important sports event in Canadian history from the perspective of Ken Dryden one of the most important participants .This book is not a definitive history of the series but instead, as advertised, it consists of Dryden's honest recollections: he feared, for example, becoming the all time goat of Canadian hockey if he had lost the final Game 8.The photos that accompany the text are excellent and the book overall recreates the atmosphere of the time.I watched the final game in Winnipeg and there was nary a car on Portage and Main.Everyone was watching game 8.This is a personal memoir of a great event that I and millions of other Canadians of a certain age remember vividly and we are lucky to have Dryden 's feelings and thoughts.
March 1, 2023
Ken Dryden reminisces about the 1972 Summit Series in his usual thoughtful manner and it was a treat to recall how most Canadians felt at that time as the games unfolded. It was a little short on the usual usual hockey anecdotes where the boys needle each other and generally misbehave and that we've come to expect in a book on sporting events, but it was rich in the context of the games in that time and place. Notably, he takes no swipes at any of the individuals involved and there were many who he could have made targets (Eagleson for one), and he leavens the loaf with his usual self-deprecation. On the whole, worth reading if the Canada-Russia series is one of your sporting touchstones.
November 18, 2022
While many felt the book was superficial, I thought Dryden's view of what took place excellent. I particular, I enjoyed the aftermath of the series where Dryden talked about the impact that the series had on Canada, and in fact, the world.
I didn't read the book but listened to it on audio. The story was read by Ken Dryden which added value to the experience.
I remember being in a university class watching the final game, much to the chagrin of the prof. Everyone in the class was glued to the game. A great memory.
I didn't read the book but listened to it on audio. The story was read by Ken Dryden which added value to the experience.
I remember being in a university class watching the final game, much to the chagrin of the prof. Everyone in the class was glued to the game. A great memory.
December 25, 2022
One of the more promising books that mark the 50th anniversary of the Summit Series. As one of Team Canada's goaltenders and an accomplished author who has documented the game in ways few have every been capable of, Dryden could offer us a more detailed account but he foregoes the journalistic blow-by-blow or the potential tell-all opportunities to strive to put the series in its historic place. You may find books on the series with more details but this one frames it in a context that clarifies its place in the history of the game.
October 16, 2025
This is a coffee table book - more photos than writing - so may not be suitable for die hard hockey fans. But I read it because Dryden's recent death brought up old stories of Game 8, and I wanted to see what it was all about, not being alive at the time. So I enjoyed his telling, which may not be accurate, but it portrays what he thought and felt at the time, which is more meaningful. 16 million of 22 million Canadians watched that game.
September 2, 2022
An easy read and interesting perspective on the 1972 Canada / USSR Summit Series by one of the major players in the series, goalie Ken Dryden. Pays homage to the teams from Pentictin, Whitby, Belleville and Trail that won the IIHF World Championships for Canada in 1955, 1958, 1059 & 196l, respectively.
September 9, 2022
Oh what memories! Foster Hewitt: “Here’s a shot. Henderson made a wild stab for it and fell. Here’s another shot. Right in front. They scored! Henderson has scored for Canada” 34 seconds! Forever etched in Canada’s psyche and beyond hockey, it was the Cold War, us vs them. Dryden captures all of this from a players perspective.
January 4, 2023
We all know where we were on the day that Henderson scored the goal - in the gymnasium at my public school. I remember the teachers screaming and hugging and laughing This series was the most important in hockey history and one of the most important in Canadian History ! It’s amazing to have been a part of it
January 17, 2023
Excellent! Ken Dryden rarely disappoints.
If you are looking for a moment by moment recap of what happened or insights into specific events or people, this is not your book.
If you're looking to get a sense of how the series felt to a player and a nation you'll enjoy this. It's a pretty quick read.
If you are looking for a moment by moment recap of what happened or insights into specific events or people, this is not your book.
If you're looking to get a sense of how the series felt to a player and a nation you'll enjoy this. It's a pretty quick read.
April 11, 2023
This is an easy but enjoyable read. Not a lot of detail, but certainly some good insight into team Canada. I agree with Ken Dryden that this series, was the most important series of all hockey. I found it interesting that he says Wayne Gretzky plays like a Russian and Alex O plays like a Canadian. We learn and adapt.
May 5, 2023
This book is not a historical account per se, but really a trip into Dryden's mind during these events. It's interesting to read about how he felt, what he thought and how it was in the locker room.
The book is too short and I wish we could read more anecdotes and funny pieces. Dryden is an excellent writer though and it's still a must read for hockey enthusiasts!
The book is too short and I wish we could read more anecdotes and funny pieces. Dryden is an excellent writer though and it's still a must read for hockey enthusiasts!
October 13, 2022
Only 2 hours of listening so the time investment to return is quite high. Read by the author. Not a lot of new insight here --- even on the 50 year anniversary but I'm at the age where this series had a big impact on how I watched pro hockey develop and change.
October 20, 2022
As someone who knew about the summit but never actually watched it, this book was a great introduction. The pictures are great and set the scene for Dryden's reminiscing. It's a quick read and makes a great coffee table book.
October 24, 2022
This would have been better off as an audible original like they did with Sidney Crosby. It wasn't very in depth, just a brainstorm of what Dryden remembers from that series. I still found it interesting but I didn't gain much from his perspective.
December 31, 2022
This is essentially a nice coffee table book with some great pictures of the iconic 1972 Canada-Russia series. Based on Ken Dryden's other books on hockey, I was expecting a more extensive and insightful text to accompany the pictures. It was still good, but I did find the text a little thin.
March 27, 2023
An inside look at the personal thoughts of one of the goalies on the Team Canada 72 team. KD's educated style of writing makes this an easy book to read and the subject matter, for those of us who were around at the time, is fascinating.
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