Ken Dryden facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Honourable Ken Dryden PC OC
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1983
Dryden in October 2023
Born	(1947-08-08) August 8, 1947 (age 78) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Montreal Canadiens
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	14th overall, 1964 Boston Bruins
Playing career	1970–1979

Kenneth Wayne Dryden (born August 8, 1947) is a famous Canadian who was a professional ice hockey goaltender. He also worked as a politician, lawyer, businessman, and author. He is a special member of the Order of Canada and is in the Hockey Hall of Fame. From 2004 to 2011, he was a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party. He was also the Minister of Social Development from 2004 to 2006. In 2017, the NHL named him one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players of all time. He received the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2020.

Ken Dryden's Early Life and Education

Ken Dryden was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1947. His parents were Murray and Margaret Dryden. He has a sister, Judy, and a brother, Dave, who was also a goalie in the NHL. Ken grew up in Islington, Ontario, which was a suburb of Toronto. He played hockey in junior leagues like the Metro Junior B Hockey League.

The Boston Bruins picked Dryden 14th overall in the 1964 NHL Amateur Draft. A few days later, on June 28, Boston traded Dryden to the Montreal Canadiens. Dryden didn't even know he was drafted by the Bruins until the mid-1970s!

Instead of playing for the Canadiens right away, Dryden went to Cornell University. He studied history and played hockey there until 1969. He helped the Cornell Big Red win the 1967 National Collegiate Athletic Association championship. He won 76 out of 81 games he started for his college team. He also played for the Canadian amateur national team in the 1969 World Ice Hockey Championships.

Dryden took a break from the NHL during the 1973–74 season. He worked for a law firm in Toronto and finished his law degree from McGill University in 1973.

On February 25, 2010, Cornell University retired Dryden's jersey number 1. He is one of only two hockey players to have their numbers retired by Cornell.

Ken Dryden's Amazing Hockey Career

Dryden played his first NHL game on March 14, 1971, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canadiens won 5–1, and Dryden stopped 35 of 36 shots. On March 20, 1971, he played against his brother, Dave Dryden, who was a goalie for the Buffalo Sabres. This is still the only time in NHL history that two brothers faced each other as goalies.

Dryden was called up from the minor leagues late in the 1970-71 season. He only played six regular-season games. But he had a great goals-against average of 1.65. This earned him the starting goalie job for the playoffs. He helped the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup that year. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. He helped the Canadiens win five more Stanley Cups in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979.

The next year, Dryden won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best rookie. He couldn't win it the year before because he didn't play enough regular-season games. He is the only player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy before winning the rookie of the year award. He is also the only goalie to win both the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup before losing a regular-season game. In 1972, Dryden played for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union.

A replica Ken Dryden jersey at the Montreal Canadiens locker room display in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Dryden played from 1971 to 1979. He took a break for the entire 1973–74 season. He was not happy with the contract the Canadiens offered him. He felt it was too low, especially since he had won the Stanley Cup and Vezina Trophy. He announced on September 14, 1973, that he would work as a legal clerk for a law firm for $135 a week. He missed training camp and did not play that season. The Canadiens still had a good year, but they allowed 56 more goals than the year before with Dryden. Dryden used that year to finish his law degree. He retired from hockey for good on July 9, 1979.

Dryden's NHL career was quite short, just over seven full seasons. Because he played all his years with a very strong team and retired while he was still playing well, his stats are amazing. In regular seasons, he won 74.3% of his games. He had a 2.24 goals-against average, a 92.2 save percentage, 46 shutouts, and 258 wins. He only had 57 losses and 74 ties in 397 NHL games. He won the Vezina Trophy five times. This award was given to the goalie on the team that allowed the fewest goals. In those same years, he was chosen as a First Team All-Star. In 1998, The Hockey News ranked him number 25 on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. This is a huge achievement for someone with a short career.

Dryden was 6 feet, 4 inches tall. During breaks in play, he would lean on his stick. This became his famous pose. People called him the "four-storey goalie." Boston Bruins star Phil Esposito once called him "that thieving giraffe" because of Dryden's skill and height. He didn't know it, but his pose was exactly like one used by another Canadiens goalie, Georges Vézina, 60 years earlier.

Dryden was put into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, as soon as he was allowed. His jersey number 29 was retired by the Canadiens on January 29, 2007. He was also inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

Life After Playing Hockey

Writing Books

Dryden wrote one book while he was still playing hockey: Face-Off at the Summit. It was a diary about Team Canada during the 1972 Canada vs. Soviet Union series.

After he retired from hockey, Dryden wrote several more books. His book The Game was very popular and well-liked. It was even nominated for a Governor General's Award in 1983. His next book, Home Game: Hockey and Life in Canada (1990), was written with Roy MacGregor. It was made into a TV show by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. His fifth book, In School: Our Kids, Our Teachers, Our Classrooms (1995), also with Roy MacGregor, was about Canada's education system. In 2010, he wrote Becoming Canada, which talked about a new way to think about Canada.

In 2019, he published Scotty: A Hockey Life Like No Other. This book was about his Canadiens coach, Scotty Bowman. Dryden felt he needed to write this book because Scotty had experienced almost everything in hockey for nearly a century. He wanted to capture Scotty's unique life story.

Dryden thought Bowman was too focused to be a natural storyteller. So, Dryden asked Bowman to think like a coach. He asked him to pick the 8 greatest teams of all time (but only one from each dynasty). Then, Bowman would explain what he thought about them, how he coached against them, and what was happening in his life at that time. This way, Bowman's story would be told.

TV Commentator

A statue of Dryden in his signature resting position in Saint-Laurent, Quebec.

Dryden worked as a TV hockey commentator for the 1980, 1984, and 1988 Winter Olympics. He was a commentator for ABC's coverage of the "Miracle on Ice" game. Just before the US team scored the winning goal, Dryden said he was worried the team was "depending a little bit too much" on their goalie, Jim Craig.

Sports Leader

In 1997, Dryden became the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pat Quinn became the head coach in 1998. Some people thought Dryden and Quinn did not get along well.

Dryden spoke at the Open Ice Summit in 1999. This meeting was about how to make ice hockey better in Canada. He wanted people to understand that improvements at lower levels of the game were important for international success. He also asked for an end to bad behavior towards hockey officials. He warned that Canada could lose many referees each year if this continued. Because of this summit, Hockey Canada started teaching people about respecting game officials.

In 2003, there were big changes in the Maple Leafs' management. Dryden's job as president was removed. He was given a less important role as vice-chairman. He stayed in this role until 2004 when he left to go into politics.

Teaching at University

In January 2012, Dryden became a "Special Visitor" at McGill University. He taught a course called "Thinking the Future to Make the Future." This course looked at problems Canada might face in the future and how to solve them.

Ken Dryden's Political Career

Dryden joined the Liberal Party of Canada and ran for a seat in the House of Commons in the 2004 federal election. The party leader, Prime Minister Paul Martin, chose him as a "star candidate" in the Toronto area of York Centre. This area was usually a safe win for the Liberals.

Dryden won the election by more than 11,000 votes. He was made a Cabinet minister, serving as Minister of Social Development. On February 16, 2005, a Conservative Member of Parliament, Rona Ambrose, made a comment about Dryden. She said, "working women want to make their own choices, we don't need old white guys telling us what to do." She said this after Dryden talked about a poll on child care choices. Overall, Dryden was seen as doing a good job in Cabinet.

Dryden was re-elected in the 2006 federal election. However, the Liberals lost the election, and Paul Martin stepped down as party leader. The new interim leader named Dryden as the health critic for the opposition party.

Dryden's winning margin in York Centre became smaller in the 2006 and 2008 elections. In the 2011 federal election, he focused on winning his own seat. Even with a visit from former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Dryden lost his seat to Conservative candidate Mark Adler by almost 6,000 votes.

Running for Party Leader

Dryden at the Rise Up for Canada Rally in April 2011.

On April 28, 2006, Dryden announced he would run to become the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party was choosing a new leader at a meeting in Montreal on December 2, 2006.

A survey showed that many people might support Dryden because of his hockey career. But he did not raise as much money as other top candidates. Some media people criticized his slow speaking style and limited French. His supporters argued that few people were strongly against him. They thought he could gain more support later as a compromise candidate.

At the convention, Dryden finished fifth on the first vote. He received 238 delegates, which was 4.9% of the votes. On the second vote, he came in last with 219 votes (4.7%) and was eliminated. He first supported Bob Rae. But after Rae was eliminated, Dryden supported Stéphane Dion, who went on to win the leadership.

Ken Dryden's Family Life

Ken Dryden is the son of Margaret and Murray Dryden. He and his wife, Lynda, have two children and four grandchildren. He has some distant relatives who were also famous in hockey or politics. His older brother, Dave, also played as a goalie in the NHL.

Awards and Honors for Ken Dryden

Dryden has received many hockey awards and honors:

Dryden has also received special honorary degrees from several universities:

Ken Dryden's Career Statistics

Regular Season and Playoff Games

International Games

See also

In Spanish: Ken Dryden para niños