Understanding Ken

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It is the story of a hockey-mad ten-year-old incapable of dealing with the recent, bitter separation of his parents. The target of his frustration becomes none other than hockey legend Ken Dryden -- greatest goaltender in the history of the world -- who, after three brilliant seasons, has suddenly and inexplicably abandoned the boy's favourite team. The novel is set in the interior of British Columbia, where our young hero escapes into a fantasy world of family reconciliation, Stanley Cup statistics and the building of a backyard rink which, night after night, stubbornly refuses to freeze. When he is living with his mother, moments of peace are squashed by the anti-hockey atmosphere and the menacing presence of her boyfriend. When the boy is with his father -- a yelling, hockey-obsessed doctor -- chaos reigns in the form of snowdrifts and sawdust, the result of an ill-timed mid-winter renovation of the front room. But at least the two share that one binding and all-consuming Canadian dream -- for the boy to play professional hockey in the NHL. The season progresses with a tumultuous mixture of exhilarating on-ice triumphs, humiliations at his father's public tirades, and desperate hopes that all will lead to the one great event that could make everything right.