History Lesson
Ken Dryden
Usually, to start a story about someone, you begin with their day of birth, showcasing their timeline of life’s accomplishments.
In this case, I’m skipping directly to Ken Dryden’s stance. It’s iconic. Whether from his early days in the NHL, sporting his Cornell University mask, or the bullseye mask he wore later in his career, you can find his unique trademark pose during games—leaning forward onto his stick while waiting for play to resume at the opposite end of the ice. He always reminded me of a farmer looking over his crops after a hard day on the farm… Surveying his handiwork. Oh, and what handiwork he performed! He was an absolute dominant force guarding Montreal’s net during the 1970’s.
Dryden was a stand-up style goalie. But standup didn’t mean you didn’t do whatever you had to do to keep the puck out of the net. Like many goalies of that era, you could find Dryden sprawling, diving, and making classic saves. However, he was a “Thinking Goalie.” He studied the game- its rhythm, the movement, the positioning. He got to where the puck was even before the shooter shot.
One of the hardest things goalies can experience is playing in a game facing minimal shots while the goaltender down the other end is making save after save… and there you are, trying to keep loose, hoping you don’t let in a bad goal while the other netminder stopped almost everything thrown at him. Dryden had some games like that. However, he could go stretches at a time not facing anything… then being counted on to make the big, crucial stop to preserve the win. That is a very hard thing to do… and he did it with professional, business-like fashion. Of course, like his fellow netminders, there were nights when he was called upon to make one phenomenal save after another.
I can always remember when Dryden was in town to play.
You knew he’d be guarding the net, and in order to beat him, you were going to have to score the perfect goal. His presence in the crease radiated authority and confidence. He was the goalie to beat… and he knew it.
In the span of that 70’s decade, he won 6 Stanley Cup championships, 5 Vezina Trophies,
1 Conn Smythe Trophy and 1 Calder Memorial Trophy during his 8 years playing with Montreal.
When he retired from playing in 1979, he became a best-selling author, writing many hockey books, including The Game. He was also a lawyer, hockey executive, and Canadian politician. He served as President of the Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–2004) and as a Member of Parliament and Minister of Social Development in the federal government (2004–2011).
While he had such an incredible career after his playing days, I will always remember him as one of the best goaltenders I’ve ever seen.
Sadly, the hockey world lost the beloved netminder in 2025.
Thank you, Ken Dryden. Watching you tend goal while I was a youngster helped instill the childhood magic and memories of goaltending.
There are so many highlights of his hockey career. From his playing against his brother, goalie Dave Dryden of Buffalo, to those momentous saves! My tribute barely scrapes the surface of this great goaltender. If you are either just discovering Ken Dryden or have had the opportunity to see him play, I feel one way to experience what he truly brought to the game is through the following video links listed below. While there are so many (you can type his name in on YouTube), I selected some of my favorites. There are so many!
Along with the highlight reels, I’d like to list the link to his epic book, The Game.
…and here are but a few of the many highlight videos of Hall of Fame netminder, Ken Dryden:
From HockeyDB, Ken Dryden’s Stats:
internationalgoaliesunion 