I want to share with yawl (
hi Leon!) why I think Ken Dryden might be the greatest NHL goalie ever.
- Played only seven and 1⁄2 seasons in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup six times!
- Did not play his first NHL game until he was 23 years old! He did not join the league when he was 19 and spend years developing or anything like that. He was an elite player from the moment he stepped on the ice! During his first season, he played just six regular season games and became the starting goalie for the playoffs, and helped the Habs win a Cup! He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player too!
- Because he only played six regular season games, he wasn't eligible to receive the Calder Memorial Trophy. However, he ended up winning it the following year! In other words, he won the Conn Smythe before the Calder!
- Winner of five Vezina trophies and won four of them straight from 1976 to 1979.
- For those who argue that Dryden looked good only because he had an amazing team in front of him, well, he did take the full 1973/74 season off due to contract issues, and the Habs got killed in the first round playoffs! Ouch!
- He was a really big guy (6 feet, 4 inches) and strong too. He was also very quick. He retired in his prime, and not because he was injured, but because he wanted to focus on other things, such as writing and legal work (he was a lawyer too!) He is a man of many talents!
The Ken Dryden rookie card is one of the most attractive goalie cards ever made. His pose, the camera angle, the colors, the oval design, etc. all come together and create this amazing piece of art. Because his rookie was issued in the first series, he therefore has a Topps version as well that was sold in the United States. However, if you want the best, then OPC is the way to go! Finding high-grade OPC examples can be very challenging and that's why they sell for way more (and are a better investment too!) His OPC rookie has gone up quite a bit during the pandemic, but in my opinion, is still a great buy. The prices are pretty reasonable, especially considering how low the pop is on high-grade examples. Because of the oval design this card has, a slight centering shift can really hurt the appearance. So, the better the centering, the better the investment. And finally, don't be too bothered by those rough edges because this is very normal for OPC cards. However, just make sure that the rough cut hasn't affected the corners too much.
~End~