Ken Dryden, Canadiens' legend, RIP

Ed. here. It is less than a month until the opening of the National Hockey League's 2025-26 hockey season. We expect Poor Len Canayen's preview about two weeks from now, but have had to call on him today in the sad circumstances which he will now relate. Over to you, Len.

Tank youse, Hed. It is my sad duty to report to fans of the world's best sport, and the Montréal Canadiens in particular, that Ken Dryden, one of the best goaltenders of all time has died, after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 78.

Ken burst on the scene late in the 1970-71 season, when the Canadiens called him up from their Halifax AHL affiliate to lead the underdog Habs to one of the greatest upsets in hockey history. Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr led the Boston Bruins that year to one of the best regular seasons in NHL history but Montreal took them out in a seven-game semi-final series. 

He won the Conn Smythe trophy as MVP after les Glorieux beat Chicago in the final in seven games. He went on to win the Calder Cup as rookie of the year in the following season, and six Stanley Cups in his eight seasons with Montréal.

He and Tony Esposito backstopped Canada to that improbable win over the Soviet national team in 1972. He said after the series that during the eighth and final game, in which Canada trailed 5-3 before coming back to win, he feared waking up the next day and being the most hated man in Canada. 

After hanging up his skates, Dryden went on to practise law before being elected to the Canadian House of Commons as Member of Parliament for the Toronto riding of York Centre.an MP. He was also, briefly, President of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but his heart was always in Montréal.

In 1983 he authored The Game, widely acknowledged as the best hockey book ever written. The Game is a reflective and thought-provoking look at a life in hockey, capturing the essence of the sport and what it means to all hockey fans. Dryden gives us vivid and affectionate portraits of the characters --Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, and coach Scotty Bowman among them --that made the 1970s Habs one of the greatest hockey teams in history. 

Geoff Molson, le propriétaire et président du Tricolore, a décrit Dryden comme "un athlète exceptionnel, mais aussi un homme d’exception. Derrière le masque, il était plus grand que nature.

"Nous pleurons aujourd’hui non seulement la perte d’un pilier d’une des plus grandes dynasties du hockey, mais aussi celle d’un homme de famille, d’une personne attentionnée et d’un gentilhomme qui a profondément marqué nos vies et nos communautés à travers les générations. Il était de ces légendes qui ont façonné notre Club pour en faire ce qu’il est aujourd’hui."

The Montreal Gazette’s Red Fisher, called the Hall of Famer "one of the truly great goaltenders in Canadiens history." On wishing Ken Dryden a happy 65th birthday, Mr Fisher wrote, "Dryden, a winner of 258 of his 397 regular-season games (2.24 goals-against average) and 112 playoff games (80 victories) who started his NHL career with a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1971. And who can forget that after playing in only six regular-season games, Dryden was GM Sam Pollock’s stunning choice over Rogie Vachon to start in the playoffs against the heavily favoured Boston Bruins.

"Dryden didn’t merely contribute to this team winning the Stanley Cup that year – in seven games against the Bruins, in six against Minnesota and in a seven-game final against the Chicago Blackhawks. They would not have won it without him in a string of postseason performances for the ages – with the Canadiens winning all of the series-deciding games on the road. 

"There are so many reasons why he was a member of six Stanley Cup teams in eight seasons. He had the size. He had the hockey sense. He had the passion. So many reasons why he was so special, not the least of which was – and is – his massive intellect. 

"You don’t lead your team to the Stanley Cup and win the Conn Smythe Trophy after only six regular-season games unless the goaltender is your most valuable player. This team was blessed with a number of great stars, but throughout his brief career he was my MVP. And make no mistake about it: he was also the players’ most valuable player. They, better than anyone else, understood what he was made of and what he meant to the team."

A glowing tribute indeed, and well-deserved. Comparing himself to Carey Price, a guaranteed first-ballot Hall of Famer, Ken Dryden said he (Dryden) was a good goaltender who was fortunate to have an excellent team in front of  him, whereas Price was an excellent goaltender playing behind a good team.

It is noteworthy, that through good times and tough times, winning and losing, la Sainte Flannelle has resisted the temptation to employ foreign goaltenders. All their greats have been Canadians, and many of those canadiens. One thinks of Patrick Roy, Jacques Plante, and, of course, Georges Vézina, who started their tradition of excellence. One hopes that Ken Dryden will smile down on young Samuel Montembault as he carries the torch passesd to him.