Ken Dryden of Hamilton, Ontario, one of the most iconic hockey goaltenders in National Hockey League history, passed away on Friday at the age of 78. The cause of death was cancer.
Who did Dryden play for?
Dryden played eight seasons with the Montreal Canadiens. He played three seasons initially from 1971 to 1973, and then five additional seasons from 1974 to 1979.
Why did Dryden not play the 1973-74 NHL season?
Dryden remarkably took a year away from hockey to complete his law degree at McGill University. In the one year Dryden was not in between the pipes, the Canadiens goaltending was not as sharp. As a unit, the Canadiens goaltenders of Wayne Thomas, Michel Larocque and Michel Plasse gave up 56 more goals as a unit than the Canadiens gave up a year before.
Dryden’s NHL regular season career statistics
Dryden had an unbelievable record of 258 wins, 57 losses and 74 ties. He had 46 shutouts, a goals against average of 2.24 and a save percentage of .922.
Dryden’s NHL playoff statistics
Dryden had a record of 80 wins and 32 losses with 10 shutouts. He had a goals against average of 2.41 and a save percentage of .915.
Dryden’s accolades
The legendary goalie was an All-Star five times. He was honoured in 1971-72, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, and 1977-78.
Dryden also guided the Canadiens to six Stanley Cup championships. The titles came in 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. The Canadiens teams in the late 1970s, are considered among the best ever. They won four straight Stanley Cups, won 60 regular season games in 1976-77, and 59 regular season games in 1977-78. Among Dryden’s teammates included Guy Lafleur, Pete Mahovlich, Yvon Cournoyer, Guy Lapointe, Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Steve Shutt and Serge Savard.
Four seasons Dryden led the NHL in wins. He had 39 wins in 1971-72, 33 wins in 1972-73, 42 wins in 1975-76, and 41 wins in 1976-77. Dryden also led the NHL in shutouts four times. He had six in 1972-73, eight in 1975-76, 10 in 1976-77, and five in 1978-79.
Dryden also won five Vezina Trophies, one Conn Smythe Trophy and one Calder Trophy. He will forever be an answer to a great trivia question. Dryden is the answer to ‘who is the only player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy before the Calder Trophy?’. In the 1971 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Dryden was the Canadiens starting goalie after only six regular season games and won the Stanley Cup. However, he had not played the minimum of 25 regular season games in 1970-71, to lose his rookie status for the 1971-72 season.
