This Day in Hockey History – March 20, 1971 – Dryden at Each End

Mar 20, 2020

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The Dryden brothers, Dave and Ken, skated together in their Ontario backyard, but with six years between them, these goalies never really played together or opposed each other in the same league at the same time. That changed when Ken received the Montreal Canadiens’ call up to the NHL in March 1971. Thanks to the maneuvers of Dave’s coach of the Buffalo Sabres, Punch Imlach, on March 20, the two became the only brothers to ever face each other in goal at the NHL level.

Although one might assume that Ken followed in his older brother’s footsteps, the two actually followed quite a different path to and from the NHL. Dave was born September 5, 1941, so Ken was a month shy of six years younger when he was born August 8, 1947. Quite appropriately, Dave wore No. 1 while Ken had No. 29. Dave explained, “We never played against each other. There are six years’ difference in our ages, and I was always coaching him when we were kids.”

Around the time that Ken was drafted (14th overall) by the Boston Bruins and immediately traded to the Canadiens in 1964, Dave spent three seasons with the Galt Hornets of the Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League. Rather than joined the Canadiens right away, Ken tended the net at Cornell University. He graduated in 1969, when he represented Canada at the World Ice Hockey Championships at Stockholm. Meanwhile, Dave spent this time in the NHL as a goaltender for the Chicago Black Hawks.

For the 1970-71 season, 29-year-old Dave moved on to the Buffalo Sabres while 23-year-old Ken made his debut in the AHL with the Montreal Voyageurs. Ken’s chance to join Dave in the NHL came that March when he led Montreal to victories over Pittsburgh on March 14 and over Toronto on March 18. His third NHL game would be against his brother’s Sabres.

The Montreal Forum hosted the matchup, and Murray Dryden was in the crowd of 17,553 to support his sons. Coach Imlach intended to give these fans the thrill of a Dryden brother matchup, but Canadiens coach Al MacNeil chose to forgo the circus. As Imlach said, “I thought starting the brothers right off the bat would be a helluva deal for the crowd, but MacNeil didn’t want to give the fans a run for their money until he had to.”

Thus, Dave started in net for the Sabres, but Rogie Vachon opposed him from the Canadiens’ net. That being the case, Imlach swapped Dave out for Joe Daley just two minutes into the game.

In the second period, the Canadiens were winning 2-0 when Vachon was hit “where it hurts most” as he blocked a shot. MacNeil was forced to put Ken in at 13:07, so Imlach immediately sent Dave back on the ice. Less than 30 seconds later, Dave missed on the first shot he faced. Ken commiserated, “I knew Dave wanted to play well, and, after all, we were ahead by a couple of goals. I might have felt different if it was a Stanley Cup game.” With just 21 seconds remaining in the period, Imlach inexplicably pulled Dave, and the Canadiens nearly scored again.

Although the brothers had been taking “turns at making big saves,” nearing the halfway mark of the third period Ken let two pass him within 40 seconds. Then Dave allowed another goal before being pulled with 2:17 remaining. Imlach justified, “I’ll pull my goalie any time I feel like it.” Montreal took advantage by topping the night off with an empty-netter.

When all was said and done, Dave had blocked 12 of the 14 shots he faced for a save percentage of .857. Ken had the better save percentage, .905, after making 19 saves on 21 shots. “I was just family-proud my brother was at the other end of the rink,” commented Dave. The fans appreciated seeing them in opposition but then shaking hands at the end. Not taking credit for his brother’s success, Dave said, “He has done it all by himself, and it looks like he’s going to be a good one.”

The proud big brother was absolutely correct. Ken had six wins in his six NHL games that regular season and went on to surprise everyone by leading the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup during playoffs. He earned himself the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP. The following season, he became the first to win the Calder Trophy as best rookie after having won the Conn Smythe. While playing for the Canadiens during the 1970s, he earned the Vezina Trophy five times and the Stanley Cup championship five more times.

Meanwhile, Dave switched to the WHA in 1974 and finished out the 1970s with the Edmonton Oilers. He made his return to the NHL (for a final season) when the leagues merged in 1979. He held the franchise’s WHA record for most wins (94) and most games played (197).