Understanding Ken

Al Stray is manager of the Port Credit Public Library.

McCormack is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and composer. His new
novel is set in the area he knows best, the Kootenay Valley. The year is
1973. Ken Dryden, the Montreal Canadiens rookie goaltender, has
announced he is leaving the Canadiens. The 10-year-old protagonist (who,
along with members of his dysfunctional family, remains nameless
throughout) is devastated. Not only is Ken leaving, but the boy’s
parents are splitting up.

Peewee hockey is the boy’s passion. His father is the stereotypically
bad hockey parent, yelling at the coach, referees, players, and,
especially, his son. His mother is a hippie who has a boyfriend who
doesn’t like her young son. The nameless youth believes that all will
be right with the world if he can become the best player on his team and
help them win the provincial championship. He wants his father’s
approval and directs the anger he might have directed toward his father
for abandoning his family on Ken Dryden for abandoning his team.

In the first part of the novel, the boy is living with his mother,
older brother, and sister. On one occasion, the father “kidnaps” his
youngest son and escapes with no punishment. Then, after a disastrous
Christmas dinner at which the father tries to attack the older son and
food flies, the two boys go to live with the father. Plausible?

The rest of the novel chronicles the boy’s attempts to use his skills
on the ice to gain his father’s approval. Like many children of
separated couples, the boy thinks that if only they could spend time
together, all would be okay again. The story does end with a
reconciliation of sorts, and the boy is somewhat mollified that Ken
Dryden will be rejoining Les Canadiens. Understanding Ken may appeal to
male hockey fans.