The Complete World Hockey Association
www.surgent.net/wha

Dave Dryden • David Murray Dryden

Height: 6-2
Weight: 185
Catch: L
Born: 5 Sep 1941, Hamilton ON (d. 2022)

 

Regular Season Goaltending Record (key)

year team
gp
min
ga
sho
w-l-t
gaa
a
pim
1974-75 Chicago
45
2728
176
1
18-26-1
3.87
1
4
1975-76 Edmonton
62
3567
235
1
22-34-5
3.95
2
2
1976-77 Edmonton
24
1416
77
1
10-13-0
3.76
2
0
1977-78 Edmonton
48
2578
150
2
21-23-2
3.49
1
0
1978-79 Edmonton
63
3531
170
3
41-17-2
2.89
8
0
Totals:
242
13820
808
8
112-113-10
3.51
14
6

Playoff Goaltending Record

year team
gp
min
ga
sho
w-l
gaa
a
pim
1976 Edmonton
3
180
15
0
0-3
5.00
0
0
1978 Edmonton
2
91
6
0
0-1
3.96
0
0
1979 Edmonton
13
687
42
0
6-7
3.67
0
0
Totals:
18
958
63
0
6-11
3.95
0
0

Shutouts

Date Opponent Home/Away Score Saves
Dec 14, 1974MichiganHome6-046
Feb 3, 1976New EnglandHome4-022
Oct 8, 1976New EnglandHome2-025
Jan 18, 1978New EnglandHome1-027
Feb 12, 1978BirminghamHome7-034
Jan 13, 1979New EnglandAway3-021
Jan 28, 1979CincinnatiHome3-026
Feb 9, 1979QuebecHome3-019

• Winner, Gordie Howe Trophy (Most Valuable Player), 1978-79.
• Winner, Ben Hatskin Trophy (Best Goaltender), 1978-79.

 

Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1975-76 (by Dan Proudfoot)

Comparing careers, Dave Dryden seems to have a misfortune to match every break that carried his younger brother, Ken, to prominence in the National Hockey League.

They offer, however, many of the same qualities.

Neither brother swears, preferring the "Ah, frig," to any other alternative. Each brother is modest. Each is truly an intense competitor who hates to lose. Dave's only drawback is his nervous system for his desire to do well sometimes leaves him with excess energy.

With Jacques Plante as a partner, however, Dave Dryden should be able to play the greater portion of the WHA schedule with an outstanding record. This year, at least, he won't have to worry about team ownership as he did in 1975-76 when he shared responsibilities for the crippled Chicago Cougars' franchise.

 

Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)

Certainly Dave Dryden's goals-against average for 1975-76, 3.95 per game, was almost twice what a goaltender might like to remember in his retirement years, but look at it this way: Dryden stopped 1,692 shots, and only two other goalies in the entire WHA made that many saves.

Dryden had about as much chance as a prairie dog on an Alberta highway. Edmonton Oilers have some talented defensemen, but the team showed so little interest in its defensive chores that it became inevitable that Dryden suffer some shellshock. In one game he faced 62 shots and played well enough to put the game into overtime. And lost in overtime. And for a goaltender, that's heart-breaking.

 

Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1978-79 (by Reyn Davis)

Played like an all-star for the first two-thirds of last season ... Posted a 21-23-2 record ... Superb team man ... A comeback story after quitting midway through the 1976-77 season when the Oilers traded him to the New England Whalers ... A university graduate ... City of Edmonton's Sportsman of the Year (1977) for his work with mentally disabled children ... Nickname is "Sod" ... Wrote a hockey instructional book and does a weekly TV program of the same subject ... Always shouting encouragements to his teammates in a deep baritone voice that can be heard afar

 

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