There was an obscure reference to Ken Dryden in yesterday's Boston Globe. He's talking about a comparison to Angels' pitcher Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez. This is the part in which he's mentioned. Didn't know Cornell is an unknown galaxy, especially for hockey in those years.
Stuff of dreams for Rodriguez
By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist, 10/22/2002
SAN FRANCISCO - Perhaps you have to be an old Montreal Canadien, circa 1971, to relate to all this.
Ken Dryden? Remember him? That may be the last time a kid came from an unknown galaxy this late in a season to make an impact as profound as the one Francisco Rodriguez is having on the 2002 major league baseball postseason.
Yes, there have been rookies of note in professional sports history. Magic Johnson in 1980 Game 6 comes to mind. But he was a well-established force by the time he threw that 42-point, 15-rebound, 7-assist masterpiece at the 76ers that fateful Friday night in Philadelphia. Like Dryden in 1971, Rodriguez was not even in the discussion with a month remaining in the regular season.
this is the link to the whole article: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/295/sports/Stuff_of_dreams_for_Rodriguez+.shtml
Shows the impact Ken's performance against the Bruins in the 1971 playoffs had on the Boston sports community. People here simply could not believe it at the time. And they still remember 31-plus years later.
No Kidding! Boston sports fans never forget a damn thing. That's partly why they are so hopeless
Al:
Unfortunately, I think Boston had a taste of Mr. Dryden before he even pulled on the Montreal sweater. ;-)
Erica wrote:
QuoteNo Kidding! Boston sports fans never forget a damn thing. That's partly why they are so hopeless
Subtle shot at the curse of the Babe, excellent! ::laugh::
True, Mark, but I don't think anyone really took seriously that he'd be a big star in the pros. College goalies just didn't do that then, no matter how good they were in college. IIRC, Tony O and Dryden were the first to really get to the Vezina/All-Star level in the NHL.
To his everlasting credit--and I forget his name so I can't give him any--one Boston scribe writing before the series predicted Dryden would be the Habs ace-in-the-hole against the Bruins.