You're not Ken Dryden young man
A lot of people are in a dander over Carey Price including myself. I am on the fence about Carey. I have a hard time understanding the praise he gets considering his lack of accomplishments with the Habs. I question signing Price long term after the Habs finished last in 2012. As well, the price is not right at 6.5 million per year. He had been handed the starting job over someone who outperformed him. Halak was traded away so Price could be crowned the starting goalie of the future. I always think people should earn this by merit not by pedigree or whatever. So far in his career Carey Price has won 46% of the games he has played. In comparison Brodeur has won 55% of the games he has played, Lundquist 54%, Miller 54%, Nabakov 52%, Fleury 53%, Crawford 55%, Howard 56%, Halak 53%, Rinne 54%, and Kiprusoff 52%. Those are 10 goalies. Luongo has just a 46% winning percentage but he has played on dreadful teams in the past. People still insist on saying Price is a top 5 goalie in the NHL. The Habs have had top 5 goalies in the past like Plante, Dryden, and Roy. One person who earned his starting job was Ken Dryden.
Ken Dryden, how to explain who he was, what he symbolized, his incredible hockey record, and how he rates. What always fascinated me about Dryden is his statistical record. Some stats stand out. His won-loss record is probably unmatched in percentage terms. He had 57 losses in almost 400 NHL games. He won 65% of the games he played during the regular season. He lost 14% of the games he played and tied the remainder. Other incredible stats Dryden won 6 Stanley Cups in 8 years played! He won the Conn Smythe trophy as MVP in playoffs before his rookie year. He won the Calder as rookie of the year the following year competing against the likes of Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne, and Rick Martin. We won't even mention his numerous Vezinas, first team all-stars etc.
The monumental playoffs of 1971 pitted an unknown Dryden against some of the most exciting symbols of modern hockey like the two Bobby's Orr and Hull and the Esposito brothers Phil and Tony. The well-known story is that Dryden was called up from the AHL at the end of the season and only played six games in the regular season in 1971. Dryden won all six. The Habs in 1971 finished in third place after not making the playoffs the previous year. This is not to say they were a bad team. Even though they did not make the playoffs the previous year, the Habs were eliminated in the final game when many teams had the same record and goals for became the deciding factor. The Habs in 1971 were an aging team with some young players who had outstanding potential. A big trade during the year had brought the Big M from Detroit. Beliveau had announced his retirement during the year. The Canadiens had Rogie Vachon as their starting goalie. He had played decently with the Habs but probably his biggest roadblock was the stigma placed by Punch Imlach in 1967 during the playoffs when Imlach called Vachon a Junior B goalie.
Dryden was brought in a year when the big bad Bruins had demolished many offensive records with Phil Esposito getting 76 goals and 76 assists, and Bobby Orr dazzling everyone with something never seen before a fast skating offensive-minded defenseman. The Bruins were the defending Stanley Cup champions. Dryden was thrown into the lion’s den because the Habs had to face the Bruins in the first round. The rest is history. Dryden was extremely tall and lanky and my father used to nickname him long legs. The Bruins were a determined bunch with rugged players and extremely talented offensive players. They put incredible pressure on the Habs but Dryden stood his ground. His composure and cool confidence was forever symbolized by his resting his head on his stick in that famous pose. There is a statue in the Mcgill Trust building of that pose. The Bruins had been psyched out. Added to Dryden’s heroics, the reality was that the Habs had a talented group of players. In hindsight there were more players on the Habs than with the Bruins that year that would eventually make the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Ken Dryden stood out in the 1971 playoffs as the habs went almost the distance in playoff games played eliminating the Bruins and Hawks in 7 games and the North Stars in 6. His stop on Jim Pappin was an image that will be ensconced in the memory of all those that watched that game. He became the Habs foundation an anglophone from Ontario charming even Quebecois with his academic background and winning ways.
There are detractors who say Ken Dryden did not show the same skills on an international level. It should be noted that Dryden played in the Summit Series in 1972 with just one full NHL season under his belt. However, what people forget is that Canada did win and he was in nets for the deciding game. In 1975, Dryden had a so-so game in the new year's eve clash with the Red Army. A big problem in that game was that the Habs so dominated that Dryden had few shots and never did warm up. It should be noted that one of Dryden's strengths was figuring out the patterns of most scorers. It was difficult for him in international play when he only saw russian and czech players etc. for the first time.
From 1976-1979, the Habs had gathered a team that ranks as one of the top teams in hockey history. They had it all great defence, great forwards and defensive forwards like Gainey and Jarvis that cast a shadow over the opposing team's first line. Dryden had many relatively easy games with few shots. He would sometimes call a shutout a non-working shut-out for the few shots he had to encounter. However, there were times when he had to stand on his head. He always came through in the crunch. One famous playoff game was against the Islanders who were building a great team that would match the Habs streak of 4 Cups. The game was played on the Isle and the final score was 1-0 for the Habs. Gainey got the only goal early in the game, the rest was Ken Dryden who barred the door the rest of the way.
Ok not many goalies come close to Ken Dryden's achievements. Carey Price has a long way to go. By the end of next season he will have played his 8th year. Dryden had 6 cups by then. As Lloyd Bentsen once told Dan Quayle, you're no JFK. Carey Price so far is no Ken Dryden.
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