Ken Dryden's Canadians #29 to be retired tonite

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote cth95]Ken is one big guy.  He is as tall in his shoes as the players who handed him the banner are in their skates.[/quote]
Goaltenders his size are fairly common today (see the big guy playing for Maine), but for his time he was a giant.  Wearing the much smaller goalie pads of his era, he looked all arms and legs.  His five-hole was about the size of Brian Cropper in pads.

[redice]

All of the current Canadiens wearing jerseys bearing the name "Dryden" & "29"      One quick picture of Ken from his Cornell days.   Damn, I wish I had known to record this one.

[cth95]

The pads look almost ridiculous on Dryden in the Cornell pictures I have seen of him.  They barely cover his knees.  I imagine he used to have a lot of bruises.

[redice]

The sad ending:   After the ceremony, the jackasses broadcasting the game not knowing that their microphones were turned on for a very long time.   And, at times their cameras were on & pointed at clueless announcers (saying nothing, of course).   If the NHL wants to be a major league sport, they really need to do better than this.    At least none of the idle chatter included nothing embarassing.

[Ronald '09]

That was classless of the Senators not to be out on the ice for the ceremony.  And when the Ottawa broadcast (watching on center ice) showed them in the locker room, they just looked bored.  I guess they have no appreciation of history.

[cth95]

I didn't hear or see that on the CBC broadcast.  CBC actually cut out of regular programming specifically to show this ceremony and then went back to the middle of a show when it was over.  They weren't even showing a game.

[evilnaturedrobot]

[quote Ronald '09]That was classless of the Senators not to be out on the ice for the ceremony.  And when the Ottawa broadcast (watching on center ice) showed them in the locker room, they just looked bored.  I guess they have no appreciation of history.[/quote]

that's a little presumptious.  How do you know what the senators where thinking?  Perhaps they thought that this ceremony belonged to Dryden, the Canadians and Montreal and they didn't want to be a distraction.

[Rita]

[quote evilnaturedrobot][quote Ronald '09]That was classless of the Senators not to be out on the ice for the ceremony.  And when the Ottawa broadcast (watching on center ice) showed them in the locker room, they just looked bored.  I guess they have no appreciation of history.[/quote]

that's a little presumptious.  How do you know what the senators where thinking?  Perhaps they thought that this ceremony belonged to Dryden, the Canadians and Montreal and they didn't want to be a distraction.[/quote]

I wasn't quite sure what to make of the Sens staying in the locker room. Given that none of the current Senators played with Dryden (and probably very few of them were alive when Ken played), I can understand them staying in the locker room. The ceremony was very long it would have been "uncomfortable" sitting on the bench/ice in full gear. I don't think it is necessarily "not appreciating hockey history" but a combination of letting Dryden have the spot light, not having a direct link to Dryden's playing days, and allowing the team (the Sens) to best prepare for the game given the circumstances.

Steve Y was extremely appreciative of the Anaheim Ducks being out on the ice for his ceremony, knowing how difficult it would be for them to go out and play after the long ceremony. But as I mentioned above, most of the Duck players have played against (and with) Yzerman during the course of his career, so I think when honoring a peer, you might be willing to "sacrifice" some of your pre-game preparations.

[Al DeFlorio]

http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/hockey/canadiensstory.html?id=e7962310-a322-4345-a102-59026fac03b3&k=96354