The Game of Our Lives

by Peter Gzowski

In this bestselling timeless classic, Peter Gzowski recounts the 1980-81 season he spent travelling around the NHL circuit with the Edmonton Oilers. These were the days when the young Oilers, led by a teenaged Wayne Gretzky, were poised on the edge of greatness, and about to blaze their way into the record books and the consciousness of a nation. While the story of the early Oilers embodies the book, The Game of Our Lives is much more than a retelling of one season in the life of an NHL team. Unlike any book ever written in the annals of hockey, Gzowski beautifully weaves together the anatomy of a modern NHL team with the magnificent history of the game to create one of the best books about hockey in Canada. Here are the great teams and the great players through the ages—Morenz, Richard, Howe, Orr, Hull—the men whose rare and indefinable genius on the ice exemplified the speed, grit and innovation of the game. The Game of Our Lives is the best book on the Canadian passion for hockey; a wondrously perceptive account of the hold the game has on Canadians. —Jack Granatstein, The National Post

Genres: Hockey, Sports, Nonfiction, Canada

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Ronan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read, though I found it incomplete. Considering the access he had and the time he spent with the team, Gzowski’s portraits of the players feel superficial (except Gretzky, who understandably gets more attention than anyone else). You never really get a sense of what’s in their heads. Still, Gzowski is a good enough writer to make it worth your time - especially if you’re interested in the history of the game. (His tour through past stars, starting with Joe Malone, is a highlight.) 3.5/5

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immensely readable, at times un-put-downable, The Game of Our Lives is an intimate and gutsy portrait of rise of The Edmonton Oilers, and the birth of the Great One. More than that, it's a homage to the game that has been such a large part of our national identity.

Unlike Dryden's introspective The Game,which is often brooding and melancholy, Gzowski's book is infused with the love he obviously had for the game.

And his abilities as an interviewer shine through in the detailed and revealing portraits of the players, families, coaches and assorted hangers-on. Although it's years before Pocklington had the temerity to trade away one of our national heroes, it's easy to see through Gzowski's portrayal, the seeds of the man who in the end was just trying make a buck.

The Game of Our Lives is an exciting and energizing slice of hockey history. On the eve of another play-off season,this gem of a book is a great way to re-ignite your passion for the game.

[Scott Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fun book about the Oilers run to finally win the Stanley Cup. Obviously for hockey fans and those interested in OLD SCHOOL hockey. A very different time in the sport. Some good differences and some bad. Nonetheless, this team had some interesting characters on it.

[Maurice Tougas · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a longtime fan of the Edmonton Oilers, I am surprised that I've never read The Game of our Lives. It's been on my bookshelf for years, and for some reason I never picked it up. But I finally got around to reading it, and I'm glad I did. What a memory trip.
In the 1980-81 NHL season, Peter Gzowski (who in his time was as close to a national media celebrity as we get in this country) decided to chronicle the season the Oilers, then in just their second year in the NHL. He often travelled with the team, learned their stories, rode on the bus with the boys, schmoozed with owner Peter Pocklington, got to know Glen Sather. And, of course, watched Wayne Gretzky in the second of his many great seasons (55 goals, 109 assists). Gzowski chose wisely in selecting the Oilers to follow. Consider the lineup: Gretzky was in only his second year, as was Kevin Lowe. Glenn Anderson was a rookie, as was Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, and Mark Messier. A round-faced goalie named Andy Moog played in only 7 games. And it was the season when the 14th place Oilers had to play the lordly, star-studded Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs ... and they won! To this day, it's one of my favourite Oiler moments.
The Game of our Lives is a great piece of history, a moment-by-moment account of a young team on the verge of greatness. (My favourite quote, however, goes to Toronto sports journalist Dick Beddoes, one of those insufferable Toronto types who would be right at home on TSN today. Before the series with Montreal, Beddoes said on TV that Gretzky "might just have made third-string centre one one of the good Leaf teams of the past." Good call, Dick!)

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the classic works on hockey, Gzowski spent the 1980-81 season with the Edmonton Oilers. One of the youngest teams in league history, he got to see up close the early years of figures like Gretzky, Messier, Coffey, Kurri, Anderson, and so on. He sees how they are right before they develop into one of the greatest teams in NHL history, and instead are just a bunch of 19 and 20-year olds enjoying hockey and slowly realizing their potential. It is incredible that Gzowski was able to follow such a team, poised as they were, as had he done so with any of the other 20 teams it would not have had such a resounding impact. It is also a credit to Gzowski that he doesn't just focus on the star players on the team, but instead gives coverage to all the players, as well as both manager/coach Sather and owner Pocklington. He is also quite observant in noting that these kids were ready to take the next step, and it is enjoyable reading this knowing where they would end up.

[Emily Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amazing inside look at the lives of the players on the Oilers team before they won their Cups. Social media and access has changed how people act and the kind of access journalists have, now. This book was written by a man who clearly loved the game.
Understanding that Peter Gzowski was from a different time, I was still annoyed and distracted by how dismissive he was of the idea of women/girls showing an interest in hockey. He consistently assumed (obviously incorrectly) that there weren't girls/women skating on ponds, living and breathing the game, that women hockey fans just didn't exist.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three years prior to the Oilers hosting their first Cup, the author was embedded for the season. While Gretzky's greatness was already known, the young talents of Messier, Coffey, and Anderson were just budding (all four in fact, were just teenagers!). While the books basks in Oilers lore, it explores the myth-making of hockey and the roots of our national obsession.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fly-on-the-wall look at the 1980-81 Edmonton Oilers, a team on the doorstep of a dynastical run in the NHL.

[DipShitBookClub · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fortunately Gzowski takes just enough of a break from comparing the Oilers players’ bodies to the heroes of Greek mythology to capture an indelible moment in hockey history.

[Kal Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book in high school as well. Nice look back at the Oilers of the 80's and my own memories of the book and the time period.

[Howie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book, one of the best hockey books I've read. Why did I wait so long to read this is the big question? A must for any hockey fan!

[Grant Dexter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need to reread this book again because it was so good the first time. Loved it.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed coming back to this book after 30 or so years. I enjoyed reading about young Gretzky and even more than that reading the great Peter Gzowski.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you grew up in a small prairie town in Western Canada, you would become, almost by default, a hockey fan. I was never a player, my timid, lily-livered nature, as well as the pain of thawing feet, kept me from learning to skate well enough. Nevertheless, I have fond memories of hanging out at the rink, eating 30 cent pieces of pie, while a curling bonspiel (tournament) was taking place in one part of the rink and a hockey game in the other. Meanwhile, an NHL game, with Foster Hewitt calling the play-by-play, was playing on a small TV mounted high on the wall in full view of the lunch counter. Small-town Canada in a nutshell.

When I first picked up this book, it brought it all back. On the surface, it's just a story of a young team called the Edmonton Oilers and their tumultuous second season in the National Hockey League. In reality, it's a powerful and loving tribute to the game that's such a ubiquitous part of life around here. My hockey fandom went into overdrive after that. I remain a fan of the Edmonton Oilers, not so much because of this book but because of where I live and because Wayne Gretzky rekindled my interest in the game when it had long been waning.

This is a wonderfully written, well-researched book about hockey (We call it hockey, not ice hockey). It's a little dated in places, but that's okay. It is of its time.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best sports book I've ever read in my life. I've read a lot of good ones, but this was fantastic. Highly recommended if you're a hockey fan.

[Teebz Hbic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review for The Game of Our Lives can be found on Hockey Blog In Canada.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic account of what started to be one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history. Hockey fan? This is a must read.

[Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty great book by Gzowski, who spent the 1980-81 hockey season traveling with the Edmonton Oilers. At this point, the Oilers were one of the younger teams in NHL history and had yet to put together a winning record or win a playoff series (until they beat Montreal in April 1981, which Gzowski covers in detail). There's a particularly fascinating section where Gzowski talks to Wayne Gretzky, after a team of sports physiologists study his cognitive processes, about how he perceives the game.