05/08/24
May 18, 2004
Canadian political scene nets Ken Dryden.: Political ramifications: maybe Prime Minister Tim Horton will be next. Hockey ramifications: The Toronto Star believes that Dryden was the team's conscience, not to mention the organization's only Stanley Cup winner, and the only thing keeping the corporate behemoth barely in touch with its fans. This has been all over the Canadian news, but I thought our American friends might like a chuckle to take their minds off their own problems.
posted by DrJohnEvans to hockey at 08:13 AM - 11 comments
From the story, I saw his eventual role as a recognizable figurehead within the corporation—I mean, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan isn't exactly going to provide you with good photo ops and sound bites to appease the fans demanding that hockey be a priority. He would've been recognized as a "hockey guy" and not a "corporate guy". He was essentially ineffective in his later years, so mightn't his leaving just underscore the faceless corporate business-only nature of the organization?
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:29 AM on May 18, 2004
If a guy who's main job is 'recognizable figurehead' is considered to be the soul of the hockey team I think it just underlines the failing of the rest of the management team. The soul and conscience of a hockey team should come from the players. They are the people that are supposed to keep the fans 'in touch'. Dryden was simply dead weight. On a side note: being a 'recognizable figurehead' also means you are completely qualified to become a politician. I believe Mr. Dryden will have a very successful political career
posted by camcanuck at 11:49 AM on May 18, 2004
When did Ken Dryden become Romald Reagan?
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:10 PM on May 18, 2004
dann it!
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:10 PM on May 18, 2004
Wait, you aren't seriously equating Ken Dryden to Goveror Ah-nold are you? Dryden is arguably the smartest man in hockey, and while he doesn't speak out often, when he does -- people listen.
The man has all the credentials for a long political career. The fact that he's been with the Leafs for ages without ever doing aything, without being great or lousy, without so much as a success or severe failure emphasises that :)Dryden is also an accomplished author, lawyer and scholar with doctorates from McMaster University and York University as well as the University of British Columbia, University of Ottawa and University of Windsor. He also served as Ontario youth commissioner from 1984-86.
posted by mkn at 12:22 PM on May 18, 2004
Wait, you aren't seriously equating Ken Dryden to Goveror Ah-nold are you? I wasn't trying to compare the individuals themselves; I have far too much respect (and awe, really) for Dryden. It just struck me as an appropriate analogy, not to mention a polite jab at all involved, since it seems that hockey stars in Canada are as big as movie stars in the States. Which category of celebrity-worship is sillier? The reader must decide. Of course, Dryden is much much more than a hockey player, and I realize that. Thing is, while the Arnold analogy might be a little more accurate if Tie Domi entered politics, most people do know Dryden as mainly that: a hockey player.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 02:12 PM on May 18, 2004
If a guy who's main job is 'recognizable figurehead' is considered to be the soul of the hockey team I think it just underlines the failing of the rest of the management team. I agree with you completely. I think something is very wrong in the Leafs' organization, and Ken Dryden may have been an appeasing set of Groucho glasses hiding the ugliness. The soul and conscience of a hockey team should come from the players. They are the people that are supposed to keep the fans 'in touch'. This is true. But in Toronto, the media scrutiny is intense and unrelenting, and there are only so many stories you can write about Kaberle's earwax problems. The administration is analyzed just as much as the on-ice strategies. In fact, since the Leafs' overall plan to win centres around signing veteran free agents, the focus never seems to be on "what can we do better", but "who can we pick up to make us better". The administration is a part of the team.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 02:28 PM on May 18, 2004
Kaberle has earwax issues? That explains so much....
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:42 PM on May 18, 2004
I thought his nose interfered with the sound waves.
posted by garfield at 03:55 PM on May 18, 2004
>In fact, since the Leafs' overall plan to win centres >around signing veteran free agents I thought Anders Hedberg did a great job with late-round drafts (Danny Markov, Tom Kaberle and maybe Berezin), but he was shown the door over some squabble and they sometime after that they seemed to rely on more on the free agents. Here is the cbc.ca's list of "10 Athletes Who Became Politicians". I thought Red Kelly was an M.P., but I could be wrong. I thought Serge Savard would have been the first seventies-era Canadien into politics. And, heh, it seems Dryden got the nod for York Centre, then he apparently was not a Chretien man.
posted by Philfromhavelock at 09:46 PM on May 18, 2004
If Ken Dryden is seriously the soul of the Leafs that will explain why they haven't won a cup when as long as he's been around. The guy was an amazing goalie, but he never really seemed to have a plan for the Leafs. I honestly think they will be better off without him.