It is never a good day in the hockey world when someone has to talk about the death of one of the really great players, but today’s announcement of Ken Dryden’s passing changes in a sad day for both hockey and society. While Dryden was an exceptional hockey player who played on a number of incredibly talents, Montreal Canadiens teams, his work of the ice where he insisted on hockey to change his ways with regard to brain injuries and the books he wrote about that subject, his second on another. After having met the man with a signing of a book, I can say that the news of losing Ken Dryden will put a dark cloud on this day after a cancer fight on this day.
I will not discuss all his statistics and awards that he has acquired through his years of hockey because you can find it on the internet with a simple search. What I will say is that meeting him during the release of his book, Game changeWas really an honor because he seemed like a few moments to chat hockey with everyone who sought his signature. He was friendly, he was attentive, he was full of and he was very modest when people spoke about his hockey greatness.
My meeting with him probably lasted 30-45 seconds, because the line to meet Dryden was long at McNally Robinson, but he seemed to be sincerely excited that I said how I supported his faith in changing hockey to protect the brains of players. He asked me how I was involved and I told him that I have a radio show about hockey, and he begged me to keep talking about the impact that head trauma injuries have on players. After signing my copy of Game changeHe thanked me for his support and said that I had to reach his representatives if we wanted him as a guest The Hockey Show.
If there will be one regret that I will hold in this world, it will not act according to that offer. My problem was that I know Dryden saw as if he was Hockey Royalty, thinking that he would never want to talk to our small radio company for an hour. I missed the hidden message in his invitation to contact him, where he was happy that he had a radio program who wanted to talk about head injuries and the long -term effects of those injuries due to hockey. It took me too long to realize that, and I will regret missing what an interview could have been that I am pretty sure would have been a radio height for me.
Tackling a subject such as head injury certainly requires sensitivity to those who suffer from the long -term effects of those injuries and the families who saw their loved ones suffer due to the effects is never easy. Dryden’s efforts were not about describing the pain that felt by those with whom he spoke, but to teach and inform the public about why further research is needed, why the progress of the medical community should continue to study these injuries and why hockey should change to protect the health in the long term. During all his writing, speaking and presentations about hockey head injuries, he was respectful for those who had or walked, and it is this human touch that made an authority on this subject for me. Every time Dryden spoke with goal and articulation about protecting players, it was necessary to listen.
I will say that Ken Dryden appeared on another UMFM show while Michael Elves sat with him to discuss ClassHis last book that was all about overtaking old classmates from Etobicoke Collegiate Institute. Michael and Ken have a great conversation on the January 3, 2024 episode of the show About his book and former classmates, and it makes me wish that I had contacted him!
Apart from my stupidity, Ken Dryden was a Heckuva hockey player, but in my opinion an even better person. There have been boys who, in other cases, argued for their colleague players – for example Carl Brewer and Ted Lindsay – but Ken Dryden tried not to help players to earn more money or form a union. He wanted to make hockey safer for all hockey players: from small hockey to beer comply hockey in both men’s and women’s hockey.
I know today there are many people who celebrate his career when it started playing on him for the Canadiens and against the Soviet Union in the Summit series, but I only saw video of that as it was outside my time on this planet. Instead, I will remember him for the man he was in my time-a hockey-star politician whose books and advocacy worked to make the game better. What he did on the ice will not be forgotten, but I hope that his advocacy for better safety and working conditions for hockey players will become his inheritance.
Rest in Vrede, Mr. Dryden. For 78 years you made the game better.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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