Ken Dryden Kenneth Wayne " Ken " Dryden , ( born August 8 , 1947 ) is a former NHL goaltender whose playing career won a place for him in the Hockey Hall of Fame . Dryden is married with two children and one grandchild . Biography . Hockey career . Dryden was born in Hamilton , Ontario , brother of Dave Dryden , also an NHL goaltender . Dryden was raised in Islington - City Centre West ( then just outside Toronto ) and drafted fourteenth overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1964 NHL Amateur Draft . Rather than play in Boston , Dryden pursued a degree at Cornell University , where he also played hockey until his graduation in 1969 . At Cornell , Dryden led his team , the Cornell Big Red , to the 1967 National Collegiate Athletic Association championship and three consecutive ECAC tournament championships . He also was a member of the Canadian amateur national team at the 1969 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament in Stockholm . As Dryden refused to report to the Bruins in 1964 , they traded him to the Montreal Canadiens for Guy Allen and Paul Reid , two players who would never even make the NHL . Dryden made his NHL debut in mid - season 1971 for the Canadiens , and became the backbone of six Stanley Cup winning teams in 1971 , 1973 , 1976 , 1977 , 1978 , and 1979 . During that first playoff season , Dryden won the Conn Smythe Trophy ( 1971 ) , as the playoffs ' most valuable player . The following year Dryden won the Calder Trophy , 1972 , as the Rookie of the year because the previous year he did not play enough regular season games to become eligible . He remains the only NHL player to ever win the Conn Smythe Trophy " before " winning the rookie of the year award . In the autumn of 1972 Dryden played for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet national ice hockey team . Dryden played from 1971 to 1979 , except for the 1973 – 74 season , when he was unhappy about the contract that the Canadiens offered him , which he considered less than his market worth , given that he had won the Stanley Cup and Vezina Trophy . He skipped training camp and held out that season , incurring the wrath of Canadiens General Manager Sam Pollock whose previous stars had usually signed for the amount that he had offered . Dryden used that year to fulfill the requirements for his law degree at McGill and article for a law firm . He retired following the 1978 - 79 season before he reached the age of 32 . Compared to most other goaltending greats , Dryden ' s NHL career was extremely short : only seven full seasons . Therefore , statistically he did not amass record totals in most categories . As he played all his years with a dynasty and retired before he could pass his prime , his statistical percentages are unparalleled . His regular season totals include a . 790 winning percentage , a 2 . 24 goals against average , and , most incredibly , losing only 57 games while recording 46 shutouts in 397 total games . No other modern goaltender has ever been even remotely close to earning nearly as many shutouts as recording losing games . He won the Vezina Trophy five times for allowing the fewest goals and in the same years was selected as a First Team All - Star . Despite the comparative brevity of his career , in 1998 , he was ranked number 25 on the List of 100 greatest hockey players by The Hockey News . Dryden was so tall , at 6 foot 4 inches ( 193 cm ) , ( and even taller on skates ) that he was often seen during stoppages in play in what became his trademark pose : resting with his blocker propped up by his goalie stick which was angled to its maximum possible height . One of his nicknames was the " four - story goalie " . Ken Dryden was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 . His jersey number , 29 , was retired by the Montreal Canadiens on January 29 , 2007 . Executive . Minority owner Larry Tanenbaum hired Dryden to become the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club in 1997 . Pat Quinn became head coach in 1998 , and the two men reportedly had a frosty relationship . A few months after joining the Leafs , Quinn took on the General Manager position , reportedly to preempt Dryden from hiring his preferred GM which was former Habs teammate Bob Gainey . On August 29 , 2003 , with the hiring of John Ferguson , Jr . as GM , there was a major management shakeup . Majority owner Steve Stavro was bought out by the Ontario Teachers ' Pension Plan and he stepped down as chairman in favour of Larry Tanenbaum . Quinn continued as head coach but was relieved of GM duties . Dryden ' s position was abolished , in favour of having both the Leafs and Toronto Raptors managers reporting directly to MLSE President and CEO Richard Peddie . Dryden was shuffled to the less important role of vice - chairman and given a spot on MLSE ' s board of directors , which was described by commentators as " sitting outside the loop " as he did not report directly to Leafs ownership . He stayed on until 2004 when he resigned to enter politics .