Scholar-athlete Ken Dryden was a role model far beyond the NHL

Ken Dryden would plant the toe of his goalie stick in the ice, resting his leather-clad right blocker hand and left catching hand atop the taped knob as a rest for his chin. He was a sentry temporarily at ease, looking no more bothered than a streetsweeper waiting for traffic to pass.

For some, the pose evoked Rodin’s The Thinker, as though the goalie needed a respite from the frantic action. In the 1970s, it was not uncommon to see a kids’ road hockey game in which both goalies struck the stance.