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Ken Dryden, who was calling for “Miracle on Ice” after a Hall of Fame playing career, has died at the age of 78 after fighting for cancer.
Dryden won six Stanley Cups in a short eight-year career, all with Montreal Canadiens. He is NHL’s leading leader in adjusted targets against average (2.03) and target-allowed percentage (73).
He won Vezina Trophy, given to the top goalkeeper in the league, five times. He was introduced to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year with eligibility.
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Ken Dryden appears before an NHL game between Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins on October 16, 2014 at the Bell Center in Montreal. (Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
“Ken Dryden was a unique athlete, but he was also a unique man,” said Canadian owner Geoff Molson. “Behind the mask he was bigger than life. Today we mourn not only the loss of the cornerstone of one of Hockey’s greatest dynasties, but also a family man, a thoughtful citizen and a gentleman who deeply affected our lives and communities across generations.
“Ken embodied the best of all that Montreal Canadiens is about.”
“From the moment Ken Dryden joined Montreal Canadiens as a 23-year-old rookie in 1971, he made an immediate and lasting influence on the NHL, the Canadiens franchise and the goal that was,” added NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “Ken’s love for his country was clearly on and off the ice.”
The retired NHL goalkeeper Ken Dryden sits with ABC Sports commentator Al Michaels under the Swedish -associated states Men’s Hockey Games at Winter -Ol in 1980 in Lake Placid, New York. (Steve Fenn/Getty Images)
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on social media, he was “deeply sad” to hear about the death of the drink and called him a “public employee and inspiration.”
“Few Canadians have given more or stood higher for our country,” Carney said. “Ken Dryden was Big Canada. And he was the best Canada. Rest in peace.”
The Dryden was introduced in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 and was 258-57-74 with a 0.922 savings percentage, 2.24 goals against average and 46 shutouts and went 80-32 in the playoffs.
The Dryden went into the NHL in 1971 and spent only six games in the curl before debuting in the NHL after the season. He and Montreal disturbed rival Boston in the first round and beat Chicago in the final.
He also worked at a law firm in Toronto while sitting out in 1973-74 the NHL season-after he previously served a legal degree at Montreal’s McGill University.
Less than a year after his retirement in 1979, Dryden joined Al Michaels at Winter -Ol in 1980, where he happened to be at the request of the United States’ rebellion against the Soviet Union.
Montreal Canadi’s goalkeeper Ken Dryden gets a kick to save on the New York Rangers’ Rod Gilbert (7) at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images)
The voice of the DRY can be heard shortly after Michael’s’ infamous “Do you believe in miracles? Yes,” Simply says “Incredible.”
