The Ken Dryden rookie is, by far, the most valuable card on this set's checklist. It's also one of the most iconic hockey cards ever produced, one of the few (maybe the only?) cards in the memorable 1971 set that uses an action photo of a player rather than a posed shot. The story of Dryden's dramatic arrival on the NHL scene is well known: He joined Montreal late in the 1970-71 season from Cornell University, playing in just six regular season games (allowing just nine goals). The rookie netminder then proceeded to backstop the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup, appearing in all 20 games the team played in the '71 playoffs, setting an NHL record at the time. It was the first of six Cups Dryden and the Canadiens would during the 1970's.
Here's a closer look. Even raw copies of this card in poor condition tend to sell for $20 or more, so I decided awhile ago that I wanted to go the graded route. This PSA 7 was sitting around at a low price near the end of its auction, so I decided to take a shot -- and ended up winning it for less than some PSA 5's have sold for recently. And while it's graded a 7, in reality it's nearly flawless. All four corners are shop and the colors are still vibrant. The only flaw that I can see is that it is slightly off-center, which I assume is why it got the lower grade. That's perfectly fine with me, since it meant I could actually afford it!
These slabbed cards tend to show up incredibly hazy on my scanner. But the narrative on the back describes Dryden's heroics in the '71 playoffs and also mentions that Dave Dryden, another NHL goalie, is his brother. I didn't know that. The cartoon in the upper right corner mentions that Dryden was an All-American and national champion at Cornell.
This is easily the most important, historically speaking, hockey card in my collection and it's really not even close. And it leaves me at just 12 cards to go on the '71 Topps checklist, with the biggest hurdles remaining being Bobby Hull, Bobby Clarke and the infernal checklist.
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