The Awesome Game

One Man's Incredible, Globe-Crushing Hockey Odyssey

By: Dave Hill

Narrated by: Dave Hill

One man's search to answer the ultimate question in sports: Why is hockey so incredibly awesome?

Dave Hill—author, actor, rock musician and stand-up comedian—is a truly outstanding American. For one thing, he's part Canadian (an advantage he explored in his previous book Parking the Moose). For another, and maybe this has something to do with his Canadian heritage, he's a totally obsessive fan of hockey. That makes him a minority within a minority: apparently only five percent of the US population admit to liking hockey more than any other sport.

In his latest opus, Dave—who's from Cleveland, which hasn't had an NHL team since 1978—tackles this hockey conundrum with full force, drilling down into what makes hockey so damn important in so many parts of the world, despite the average American not recognizing the sport's preeminent greatness. His search for the very soul of hockey has taken him across the globe, from Poland to LA to Kenya, and brought him into contact with many of the sport's great and good. Humorous but heartfelt, Bill Bryson-like but hipper, this is arguably the greatest book ever written about hockey and definitely the one to be asking for at Christmas.

©2023 Dave Hill (P)2023 Triumph Books

An AWESOME book!

You don’t have to be familiar with the literary works of Dave Hill or the sport of hockey to read this book, but you will end up with a solid appreciation for both! I always enjoy Dave’s travel stories and his observational humor, and now I have a pocket full of sports facts to bring to any party!

Dave delivers his awesome book awesomely!

I’ve just recently been made aware of Dave Hill’s existence through the wonders of the social media. His videos are funny and I discovered he was a rabid hockey fan who wrote a book about the sport, so I thought I’d check it out. What could go wrong?! A lot could I suppose. But I’m writing this review to assure anyone who has hesitations to disregard them completely! It would’ve been easy for him just to cover the North American market but he instead visits teams in Poland, Finland, and even the Ice Lions in Kenya! Throwing himself into the action in true gonzo journalism fashion he asks the tough questions of his friends and hockey idols, mainly, why isn’t hockey big in the U.S.? A question I’ve often asked myself growing up in the football dominated market of Dallas Tx where hockey was just a seed being planted when I was just a kid. So if you are also fan of hockey or even just good humor, you owe it to yourself to check out this love letter to the sport that seems to unite all the misfits and then in turn, help keep on spreading the good word of hockey to anyone who will listen, like Dave does. Now, SHOOT THE PUCK!

Dave is a very funny person

I know next to nothing about hockey but this book was, indeed, awesome. Part memoir, part travelogue, all hockey. Dave is the Anthony Bourdain of comic writer musicians, except Bourdain couldn't shred or probably play much hockey. Great listen.

Funny and informative

Dave Hill is hilarious and I’m so lucky he wrote a book about the best sport. Listen now!

Cool book

It was awesome! It’s about hockey which is already awesome but in book form. 100 out of 5 stars.