NO ONE CAN FORGET KEN DRYDEN’S LEGENDARY POSE, WITH HIS CHIN RESTING ON HIS CROSSED ARMS AT THE TOP OF HIS STICK.

From classroom to boardroom to the House of Commons, Ken Dryden has been a success at whatever he undertook. In the 1970s, he turned his hand to NHL hockey and quickly became the best in the game. In the eyes of many, he was the best of all time.

Selected by Boston in the 1964 Amateur Draft, Dryden was traded to Montreal shortly thereafter, making his debut with the Habs in the final days of the 1970-71 season.

Dryden, who had played six games for the club heading into the playoffs, was tapped as the starter in goal for the Habs in the postseason. The team’s first round opponent was the Boston Bruins, the defending Stanley Cup Champions and the most feared-team in the league.

Seven games later, the Bruins were on the outside looking in as the Canadiens went on to become the Cinderella team of 1971, riding the 6-foot-4, 205-pound goalie’s back all the way to an unexpected Stanley Cup title.

With his name engraved on the Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe Trophy already on his resume, Dryden officially began his rookie campaign the next fall. By that spring, he had proven that he was no flash in the pan.

Appearing in 64 games, the lanky Dryden won 39 games and lost just eight, allowing an average of 2.24 goals per game. He walked away with both the Calder Trophy and an invitation to backstop Team Canada, scheduled to meet the Soviet Union before the next NHL season got underway.

After a successful Summit Series, Dryden extended his domination in NHL goaltending. He earned his second Stanley Cup and won his first Vézina Trophy in 1972-73.

Standing tall in front of the Montreal net, with his chin famously resting upon folded hands atop his stick while play went on at the other end of the rink, Dryden backstopped the team for the next five years. His flawless positioning and lightning-quick reflexes separated him from the rest of the league’s netminders.

The late 1970s belonged to Scotty Bowman’s Canadiens. The Stanley Cup parade was held in Montreal in four consecutive springs between 1976 and 1979. Dryden was named the Vézina Trophy winner in all four seasons.

After seven full years as the last line of defense on one of the greatest hockey dynasties, Ken Dryden retired following the 1978-79 season. He left the ice with a Calder Trophy, a Conn Smythe Trophy, five Vézinas and six Stanley Cup Championships to his credit.

Dryden stands third among Habs goaltenders for games played, wins, shutouts and career goals-against average. His 112 playoff games place him second among his Canadiens peers. No other Montreal goaltender has more playoff wins or shutouts than Ken Dryden.

In 1983, the retired netminder became a best-selling author with the publication of The Game, regarded by many as the best book ever written about hockey. He was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame that same year.

Returning to hockey in 1997, Dryden took over as President of the Toronto Maple Leafs, a position he held until 2004. Leaving the hockey rink for the political arena, Dryden was elected to the Canadian Parliament in 2004. Re-elected in 2006, he represents the Toronto area riding of York Centre.

On January 29, 2007, Dryden’s on-ice success was recognized by the Canadiens organization, when his No. 29 joined the rest of the legends in the Bell Centre rafters.