In May 1974, Dryden signed a big contract to return to play for the Canadiens, giving him something in the neighborhood of $450,000-600,000 over three years. He had considered playing for the World Hockey Association, and had a significant offer. But Dryden decided he was better off with the Canadiens. It took some time for him to regain his form. While the Canadiens did make the playoffs, his goals against during the regular season was a career-high 2.69. The team did not make it to the finals.
Though some in Montreal wondered if the team had made a mistake in re-signing Dryden, he proved his worth during each of the next four seasons. From 1976-79, he won the Vezina Trophy every year, and the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup every year. In 1975-76, he had a goals against of 2.03. His best season was arguably 1976-77, where in fifty-six games, Dryden had a goals against of 2.14 with ten shutouts. In the playoffs, had a goals against of 1.56 with four shutouts in fourteen games.
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments Add a comment…