Photo: Pierre5018 / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Dryden fascinates me precisely because he refused to be only one thing. A goaltender who won six Stanley Cups and five Vezinas could have coasted on hockey immortality, yet he became a lawyer, a member of parliament, a cabinet minister, and a genuinely thoughtful author. That second act, the choice to engage with public life and ideas rather than the broadcast booth, says more about the man than any save percentage. Cornell-educated and quietly cerebral, he embodied the rare athlete who treated intelligence as an asset, not a liability. His 2025 passing closed a life lived with uncommon range, and I admire that breadth deeply.
Overview
Kenneth Wayne Dryden (August 8, 1947 – September 5, 2025) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender, politician, lawyer, businessman and author. He played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1971 to 1979, winning the Stanley Cup six times, the Vezina Trophy as the goaltender on the team allowing the fewest goals five times, and the Conn Smythe Trophy along with the Calder Memor…
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Ken Dryden
- Name (Japanese)
- ケン・ドライデン
- Reading
- けん・どらいでん
- Born
- August 8, 1947 (age 78)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Leo / Boar
- Origin
- Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 193 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- ice hockey player / politician / writer / lawyer / minister
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Cornell University
Awards & achievements
- Officer of the Order of Canada
- 1972 Calder Memorial Trophy
- 1971 Conn Smythe Trophy
- 1973 Vezina Trophy
- 1976 Vezina Trophy
- 1977 Vezina Trophy
- 1978 Vezina Trophy
- 1979 Vezina Trophy
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Ice hockey player — see all → · Politician — see all → · More people from Canada →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.