Ken Dryden spent just eight years guarding the nets for the Montreal Canadiens, but ask any long time Habs fan and he’ll speak of Dryden with the reverence reserved for the likes of Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore, Maurice Richard or Jacques Plante.

The reason is quite simple. In his comparatively short professional hockey career, Dryden backstopped the Canadiens to six Stanley Cup championships, the only measure of success Montreal fans accept.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, but raised in Etobicoke where he played minor hockey in the Humber Valley league, Dryden wasted little time working his way into the hearts of Habs fans and hockey fans alike once he reached the NHL.

In his first year with Les Canadiens in 1971, after playing only six regular season games, Dryden shocked the hockey world with his veteran like performance in the playoffs in earning his first of six Stanley Cup rings.

The upstart netminder was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy that year as the most valuable player in the playoffs. The awards and trophies continued to pile up over the ensuing years. The following season, Dryden’s true rookie year, he was awarded the Calder trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. He also won or shared five Vezina trophy awards as the NHL’s best goaltender as voted on by the league’s general managers.

Four years after retiring from the game in 1979 to practice law, Dryden was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.