Hall of Fame hockey goalie Ken Dryden has a much-discussed (in hockey circles, at least) article arguing that the trend towards bigger goalies with better equipment has unintentionally changed hockey for the worse by incentivizing players to stay closer and closer to the net, creating more and more congestion. He proposes fixing the problem by increasing the size of the goal. I'm not sure I'm convinced. But he does make a good case.
I also have to admit that I'm a big fan of Dryden's writings about hockey, despite the fact that he played for the Montreal Canadiens, and was a key figure in multiple playoff series that led to hearbreaking defeats for the Bruins (most notably in the 1971 playoffs, and in the "too many men on the ice" game in the 1979 conference finals).
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/02/hockey-goalies-are-too-big-now/618021
Dryden is very smart, and surely is one of the greatest goalies of all time. It was so frustrating watching what he did to the Bruins in ‘71 — quite possibly a BETTER team than they were when they won the Cup the previous and following years — but my God, he was amazing!
He is one of several goalies who, at his peak, was as good as any goalie ever.
Others whom I would put in that category include Marty Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Dominik Hašek, and Bernie Parent. Each had a period of at least a couple of years during which he was simply amazing.
I’m told that Jacques Plante had a similar hot stretch, but I am not familiar with it.
Interestingly, just as Roger Federer MIGHT be the best tennis player of all time but also might only be the third-best player of his own era, so Dryden might be the best goalie of all time — he gets my vote, based on the ‘71 playoffs alone — but also might be only the third-best goalie the Canadiens have had!
Dryden certainly was better than Plante was when Dryden started starting for the Canadiens. However, Plante was well past his prime by then.
And to be clear, Plante was playing for the Leafs by then. Rogie Vachon is the goalie Dryden replaced in Montreal. But that was the first full season I watched on TV, so I saw a lot of Plante as well as Vachon.
Without Dryden in the net, the Canadiens would have been blown away by the Bruins. The Bruins had the League’s top four scorers that year, six of the top eight, and seven of the top 9-11. (There was a 3-way tie for 9th.) I don’t think any other team ever has so dominated scoring over an entire season as the Bruins did that year. And THAT is the offense that Dryden and the Canadiens managed to shut down in the playoffs.
In fairness I should add, though I had no inkling of this while watching as a kid, Montreal had some past-prime veterans who, aided immensely by Dryden in the net, rose to the occasion and did their parts as well. Some really classy competitors. Beliveau especially, but many others as well.
Damn frustrating.
