“You go out and you survive, first. And then when you survive, you might even notice every so often that you stopped a puck or almost stopped one and then you go from there.”
At his 2007 ceremony, Dryden considered aloud his life in Montreal.
“Sometimes if you’re lucky, you get really, really lucky and I got lucky,” he told the cheering crowd. “I had the chance to be here, to live in Montreal, to live in Quebec, to play at the Forum, to play for you and to be a member of the Montreal Canadiens. All of you had given me a gift — a gift that has lasted 35 years, a gift that will last a lifetime.”
On Tuesday, Dryden’s No. 29 was hanging over the deep slot in front of the net the Canadiens defend for two periods, between the No. 5 of defenseman Guy Lapointe and the No. 12 of forward Yvan Cournoyer, among banners of the six Stanley Cup titles of which he was a part.
On this night, the Canadiens and an emotional Bell Centre offered him a final gift, showering this franchise legend with great respect and deep appreciation for his work backstopping some of the greatest teams in NHL history.
Top photo: A masked Ken Dryden is seen on the scoreboard of Bell Centre during the Montreal Canadiens Oct. 14, 2025 tribute, the goalie’s retired No. 29 lit in the upper left.