Dave Dryden

Born Sep 5 1941 - Hamilton, ONT
Height 6.02 - Weight 186 - Shoots Left
Sweater #1 #28 #30

The Goalie:

Dave Dryden, is the brother of Hall-of-Fame goaltender Ken Dryden.

Dryden played his Junior A hockey in Toronto, spending two years with the St. Michael's Majors and winning the Memorial Cup in 1960-61 before  playing a year with the Toronto Marlboros in 1961-62.

In 1961-62, Dave made his National Hockey League debut on February 3, 1962. While a goaltender with the junior Toronto team, Dryden was in  attendance at the Toronto Maple Leafs' game in Maple Leaf Gardens  against the New York Rangers. As National Hockey League teams did not  dress backup goaltenders at the time, the Rangers were in a bit of a bind  after starter Gump Worsley was forced from the game after twenty minutes.  Dryden was summoned from the stands and performed admirably, allowing  three goals in forty minutes. Dryden's substitute appearance for the New York  Rangers in 1962 caused him to be considered a professional goaltender,  meaning that he could no longer receive a collegiate athletic scholarship.  Therefore, he attended the University of Waterloo while playing for the Galt Terriers of the Ontario Hockey Association senior league.

Dryden played in the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association from 1962 to 1980, playing for the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago  Black Hawks, Chicago Cougars, and the Edmonton Oilers. Dave's best years  came in the WHA, playing for the Cougars and Oilers. He was also the goalie  that Wayne Gretzky scored his first professional goal against, 1978-79.

Dave was 24 before he got his first opportunity to play in the NHL when the Chicago Blackhawks called him up from the minors in 1965-66 for eleven  games. With the advent of expansion two years later, it opened the door of  opportunity for many players, including the likes of Dryden, who played in 27  games for the Blackhawks in 1967-68. In 1968-69, he played in 30 games for Chicago but lost his job there with the arrival of Tony Esposito. Chicago then
assigned him to the minors. Dryden was suspended by the Blackhawks after  refusing assignment to the minors, October, 1969.

The Buffalo Sabres, a new NHL expansion team in 1970-71 selected Dryden to play for them. He went on to play four seasons with them. The fourth and  final season there played 53 games and posted a record of 23-20-8 and with  his stock at a high, he opted to pursue his opportunities in the WHA, where he signed with the Chicago Cougars in 1974. Then in 1975, Dave became the part owner of the Cougars franchise for whom he played for along with teammates   Pat Stapleton and Ralph Backstrom, and attorney Jeff Rosen.

The last five years of Dryden's pro hockey career was with the Edmonton Oilers, 1976-80. On January 1977, he was traded by the Oilers (with Jack Carlson, Steve Carlson, Dave Keon and John McKenzie) to the New England Whalers for Dan Arndt, cash, and future considerations (Dave Debol, June 1977). He was then suspended by Whalers for refusing to report to the club. Lateron in the year was traded by the Whalers (with Brett Callighen) back to Edmonton   for Jean-Louis Levasseur, (September 1977). In his fourth year with the Oilers, 1979, led the league in games played (63), minutes played (3531), wins (41), shutouts (3), goals-against-average (2.89), playoffs games played (13) and playoffs minutes played (687) and because of it landed a spot on the WHA First All-Star Team and captured a couple of trophies along the way,
the Ben Hatskin Trophy (WHA Top Goaltender) and the Gordie Howe Trophy  (WHA MVP), all this at the age of 37. His last season with the Oilers was also Edmonton's first season in the NHL, 1979-80.

After retirement from pro hockey as a player Dryden turned his attention towards coaching. In 1980-81 he landed a head coaching job in the OHL with the Peterborough Petes. He was there for only a season. In 1983-84 was a goalie coach in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings. He held that position for a year and then returned back to Detroit two years later as an assistant coach.

Dave played in 203 NHL games and posted a record of 66-76-31, with 9 shutouts and 3.19 goals-against-average. He also played in 3 NHL playoff games with a record of zero wins and 2 losses and a goals-against-average of 4.06.

He also played in 242 WHA games. Posted a record of 112-113-10, including 8 shutouts and a 3.51 goals-against-average. His WHA playoff record in 18 games is 6 wins and 11 losses and a goals-against-average of 3.95.

Honours:

* 1959 - OHA-B First All-Star Team
* 1961 - Memorial Cup, St. Michael's Majors
* 1963 - OHA-Sr. Second All-Star Team
* 1964 - OHA-Sr. First All-Star Team
* 1965 - OHA-Sr. First All-Star Team
* 1967 - CHL Second All-Star Team
* 1974 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
* 1979 - WHA First All-Star Team
* 1979 - Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender - WHA)
* 1979 - Gordie Howe Trophy (Most Valuable Player - WHA)
* 1997 - Inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame

Personal:

Dave Dryden serves the distinction of creating (as well as being the first goaltender to employ) the modern day goaltending mask consisting  of a fiberglass mask with a cage. He felt the helmet/cage design was  flawed because it protected the head more than it protected the face.
By cutting out a space in a fibreglass mask and covering the hole with  a cage, he created a hybrid of the fibreglass mask and the birdcage. His innovation would take about ten years to catch on but it's now widely  considered the safest version of goaltender facial protection available.

In a game between his Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens, Dave faced his brother Ken, (March 20, 1971), the only time in the history of the  NHL that brothers opposed each other as goalies. At the end of the game,  the two brothers shook hands at center ice, a tradition normally saved for  the playoffs.

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