One of the greatest goaltenders of all-time. Ken Dryden, from Islington/Lakeshore in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada, was perhaps the greatest goaltender of all-time. Out of Cornell as a standout goalie he was dominating at those ranks with 76 Wins 4 Losses and 1 Tie. Dryden was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1964 and traded to the Montreal Canadiens two weeks later. In 1970/71 Dryden excelled for AHL affiliate Montreal Voyageurs and was again dominating, and was brought to the Canadiens for the playoffs of 1970/71. He was the Canadiens goalie for the playoffs taking home the Conn Smythe trophy in victory for Montreal that year (after going 6-0 in his first six games in net at the end of the regular season). He was sent the next year to compete, (alongside Tony Esposito), as a starting Goaltender for Team Canada in the '72 Summit Series. In fact it was Ken Dryden in net for Team Canada in game eight (as he was chosen over Esposito for that start in Russia). Victorious in the series for Canada over Vladislav Tretiak and the U.S.S.R, Dryden showed why he was sent to represent Canada.
When Dryden resumed in the NHL he led his Canadiens to another Stanley Cup in 1972/73 and four Stanley Cups in a row between 1976-1979. In just eight full years in the NHL Dryden won an incredible 6 Stanley Cups. In fact, in Dryden's pedigree, he won the Calder Trophy in his first full season of 1971/72 and won the Vezina Trophy an astonishing five times in eight full years in the NHL (including each year from 1976-79 - coinciding with winning the Stanley Cup each year).
What made Ken Dryden so revered in our Nation of Canada was that he was a visionary of how a big man should play net, and how teams should approach the game. At 6 foot 4 Dryden was the biggest goalie in the game when he played and was a true visionary of what hockey teams are made of - his leadership was followed by Guy Lafleur, Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer, Steve Shutt, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Doug Jarvis, Bob Gainey, Mario Tremblay, Rejean Houle, Pierre Mondou, and Guy Lapointe (among many others likewise). Towards the end of Ken Dryden's career he went back to Cornell to finish a law degree that he deemed necessary to explore (while still in his prime), to satisfy his ideas of how to pay the community back. Ken worked as an Attorney of Law for years and eventually became President of Hockey Operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs, guiding the Leafs to two Semi-Final appearances (Conference Finals) from 1997-2003 and two Conference Semi-Finals during this span.
Ken got into politics in 2004 as a Cabinet Minister of Social Development for the Federal Government. He later achieved a riding placement in North York, Ontario which he served for years after 2006, a year in which he was an active Cabinet Member as Health Critic. His last few years he battled cancer and didn't put that to people, but lived through what he had to live through. He died last week at the age of 78.
His passing was felt all across this Country of Canada and while a Toronto Maple Leafs fan like myself would root for my Toronto Maple Leafs in a game against Dryden's Canadiens, I would not detract from any accomplishment in bad blood towards Dryden's Canadiens (for the folklore of the game with respect to the greats of the game). When I was 16 I read Dryden's autobiography 'The Game' and learned from what Ken Dryden put in print. The book was descriptive and talked about all the relationships the man had with his fellow teammates and talked in depth of his rationale and reasoning behind why he would leave the game he loved to explore the greater good for his Nation of Canada. Ken Dryden once said that Jacques Lemaire was the most tenacious Hockey Player he ever saw play. He also said Doug Jarvis was the most genuine of all his teammates, and considered Guy Lafleur to be the greatest right winger of all-time. All told Ken Dryden wrote six books in his writing career.
In the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, it was Dryden in the booth with Al Michaels on the network ABC that were the commentators of the finals between the U.S.A and U.S.S.R. It is my contention that as a visionary of the game of Hockey he was instrumental to the U.S.A's success in winning the Gold Medal Game against the powerful Soviet Red Army that year. It was Dryden's contention that the U.S.A needed to score soon to win that Gold Medal game in the Third Period (after some mad Soviet rushes), an observation that was met with a quick goal by the U.S (essentially winning them the game). Ken Dryden put his stamp in the Hockey World, as an Attorney of Law, and as a Politician - sadly we have lost one of our greatest Canadian Legends. Ken Dryden and his brother Dave Dryden were both NHL goalies (Dave with the Oilers in the WHA and some years in the NHL prior to joining the WHA). They faced off against each-other eight times over their careers (the only time two brothers have ever faced off in games as rival goalies - twice in the playoffs) and were one of the most proud Hockey families in the history of the game. While this may seem to be trivial I would summarize that the Dryden's were perhaps the most respected Hockey Families of all-time. Over his career, Ken Dryden had 258 Wins - 57 Losses - 74 Ties with 46 Shutouts, a lifetime 2.24 Goals Against Average and a lifetime .922 Save % in a time when .895 was accepted to be fantastic (as League Standards). His playoff career was likewise stellar, in which he won 80 games and lost only 32 with 10 Shutouts. Ken Dryden's goals against average in the playoffs was 2.41 and his save % was .915.
R.I.P Ken Dryden (August 8th 1947 - September 5th 2025)
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