Ken Dryden was drafted by the Canadiens arch-rival, the Boston Bruins, in 1964 but was subsequently traded to the Canadiens just a few days later. But before Dryden joined the Canadiens, he attended the University of Cornell, where he thrived both on the ice and in the classroom.
It wasn’t until 1971 that Dryden joined the Canadiens, playing in six regular season games, winning all of them. He played so well, in fact, that despite his limited experience at the NHL level, the Canadiens decided to start him in the playoffs. From there, Dryden went 12-8, backstopping the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup and knocking off the heavily favoured Boston Bruins along the way. Dryden was awarded the Conn Smythe for his efforts, becoming the first and only player to win the Conn Smythe and a Stanley Cup before losing an NHL regular season game.
The following season, Dryden won the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year, becoming the only player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe before ultimately winning the Calder trophy. He also finished second in Hart Trophy voting behind Bobby Orr, winning his third straight and leading the Bruins to their second Stanley Cup in three years.
In 1972-73, Dryden led the league with a .926 SV%, a 2.26 GAA, and six shutouts en route to his first career Vezina trophy and second Stanley Cup. At this point in his career, Dryden was considered by most to be the best goalie in the NHL, so naturally he decided to take a year off from hockey. He was unhappy with the contract offer from the Canadiens, and used the time to finish his law degree. He returned to the Canadiens in 1974-75 but had a season that didn’t live up to what people had come to expect from him; but he was just shaking off the rust.
The 1976-76 season marked the start of a run by Dryden that will go down as one of the best four-year stretches for a goalie in NHL history. He won four straight Vezina trophies, leading the league in GAA and shutouts in three of the four years, and backstopped the Canadiens to four consecutive Stanley Cups. As if the Canadiens vaunted offensive attack or the big three on defense wasn’t enough, they also had the league’s best goaltender in net.
Happy birthday to Ken Dryden, who was born today in 1947 in Hamilton!
— Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx (@CraigBaird) August 8, 2023
In his NHL career from 1970 to 1979, he won five Vezinas, six Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe and the Calder.
He served in Parliament from 2004 to 2011, and has written eight books from 1973 to 2019. pic.twitter.com/7KKy34U2Hf
Dryden ultimately only ended up playing seven full seasons in the NHL, retiring early at the age of 31 following the 1978-79 season to pursue other things. But what he managed to accomplish in such a short time is nothing short of incredible. It’s not easy to cement yourself as a Hall of Famer in just eight years (seven entire regular seasons but eight playoff seasons), but Dryden did just that and then some. He’s one of the game’s greatest players, and you have to wonder what more he could’ve accomplished had he not retired so early or had taken a year off right in the middle of his career.
This is one of the reasons Dryden falls at number three on our list and not higher. He was remarkable when he played for the Canadiens, but seven short years, plus an eighth post-season, is not enough to rank him higher. Not to mention that Dryden had the fortune to have several Hall of Famers on his team, more so than most other goalies on this list had, especially our fourth-ranked goalie Carey Price.
That isn’t to say the Canadiens didn’t need Dryden, as the one year he took off showed, but rather that it made his life easier. And the fact of the matter is, that was a luxury some other goalies didn’t have, at least to this degree. These two factors land Dryden at the third-ranked spot on our list. In almost any other franchise, he’s the unanimous number one, and even in Montreal, that argument can be made.
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