Growing up in Toronto, Ken Dryden never imagined he would have a career in the National League. Even less did he imagine defending the Canadian colors and winning the Stanley Cup six times in eight years. And the creation of a statue based on his image was equally unimaginable. But all this happened.
The former goalkeeper great traveled through the Saint-Laurent district on Saturday to attend the removal of his statue in front of the Raymond Bourque Arena.
Who would have thought that two great players in the history of the Canadiens and Bruins would one day stand side by side for posterity? The two never faced each other because Dryden hung up his notes the year Bourque was drafted, 44 years ago.
Dryden’s bronze sculpture also has a story. Created by Robin Bell, an Ottawa artist, the work entitled “The Goalie” was exhibited at Place Vertu from 1985 to 2011 and then moved when the Ivanhoé Cambridge company sold this shopping center to become the Place Montreal Trust, a other of his properties, to be relocated, are located in the city center.
In front of the trio of the Holy Trinity
Research revealed that this was the first statue created to honor a Canadiens player. Another gem Dryden would never have dared to think of.
How could we have attributed a statue to him before Maurice Richard, Jean Béliveau and Guy Lafleur, members of the Holy Trinity of Canada?
The 76-year-old chuckles when he hears this anecdote.
“So!” he reacted embarrassedly.
“It happened because a real estate developer asked to make a statue of me for one of his malls. But that didn’t fit the order of things.
“The statue is beautiful, but there is a special place in the Bell Center where we find the statues of four truly special figures in Canadian history,” adds Dryden modestly.
These players, in order of seniority, are Howie Morenz, The Rocket, Jean Béliveau and The Blonde Demon.
The Ivanhoé Cambridge company, which operates shopping centers across Canada, is commissioned to exhibit works of art there. In the case of Place Vertu, the person behind the idea of having a life-size statue of Dryden made and prominently placed was undoubtedly enthusiastic about his exploits.
Legendary stance
Dryden is frozen in injury time in his trademark stance, his arms crossed on the stick.
It was his way of relaxing.
“I started taking this position at the Junior B level,” he says.
“Goalkeepers are used to leaning on their knees to rest during breaks. But because of my height, I didn’t feel comfortable in this position.
In his time, goalkeepers with a height of 1.90 meters were a rarity. Some were less than two meters tall. Nowadays the majority are at least 1.80 meters tall.
Psychological effect
Dryden believes his attitude also had a psychological effect on his teammates and opponents.
“For the players on my team it meant calmness and confidence,” he said.
“The opponents said, ‘We can’t get this guy.'”
Dryden humorously recounts how he first went to Côte-Vertu to see his statue.
“I was there with my wife and our two children [un garçon et une fille]he hints.
“We were looking for the statue and I didn’t want to ask anyone where it was for fear of seeming like someone who thought they were someone else. We arrived at a place where there was construction work and piles of dirt. As I climbed a slope, I saw the top of the statue’s head.”
The relocation of the work in front of the Raymond Bourque Arena is the responsibility of the Mayor of the Borough of Saint-Laurent, Alan DeSousa. One day, as he was walking around the Place Montréal Trust, he saw the statue sitting in a remote corner of the restaurant area, all dusty.
Finding the situation unimaginable, Mr. DeSousa approached Ivanhoé Cambridge to donate the statue to the city of Montreal, which added it to its collection of cultural relics.
Young people will learn who Ken Dryden is because there are French and English plaques near the statue telling of Dryden’s exploits in arms. A sign that the big editions of Le Canadien are far behind us.