The pre-1980 thread

[MTH]

Dryden looks like he plays guitar for a college band in that picture. I'm trying to figure out the velcro strap thing. I assume he would just crank the strap around the glove at his wrist to make it really tight?

I remember Pelle Lindbergh getting some kind of credit for adding a wrist strap that became an option on the Cooper gloves. Looked like a nylon strap.

Prior to pro - was just some tape:

 

[MTH]

Ken Dryden seemed to have the same strap:

He seemed to like pulling up the sleeve on his jersey on his catch. Those jerseys were not the same as what people wear today and would get really saturated. I could see that causing his glove to get really wet. Sweat, snow on the elbow melts and runs.

Saw while he was in college, he played 'finger out' like a baseball player. In his book he noted how his catch glove hand would get beat up in practice.

Ever see Ken wearing a mask like Dave?

[Wonder35]

Cooper made this wrist strap available in the early 80's for us regular guys.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Wonder35

[Colander]

All these pics of Dryden make me think...

Back in the day a lot of people said Dryden wasn't a good goalie but rather had a good team in front of him.

As a former Dryden fanboy I would now say that is probably true to some extent but it is interesting… He was a tall man trying to play a position that was primarily relegated to a smaller man.  He was undoubtedly trying to play that style that was stand up combined with a lot of desperation moves - a lot easier when you are under 6 feet tall). With his tall and lanky physique it must have been difficult to move in those manners (I know he had back problems about half way through his pro career) and certainly came off as pretty non-graceful.

It would be interesting to see the change if we could transport the 20+ year-old Dryden to this point in time. With his height, modern gear and the style with which a goalie plays today, I suspect it would have been a different outcome.

[Wonder35]

Interesting theory Colander.  I too believe that his style would have been fun to watch with today's gear and his tendency to sprawl, would need a tutoring on sliding but I suspect we're dealing with a quick learner.

A fellow on my team has a hockey claim to fame. In university hockey, Ken Dryden stoned him (Cornell) on a clean cut breakaway.

Pete said that Dryden played like an octopus, all arms and legs coming out to greet you. The man could cover so much ground.

He may even have fallen into the "Nerd" spectrum in today's world. The Game (his early 80's Novel) is yet a must read. I have owned many copies but managed to give them to friends and they passed them to others.

He was a member of the Federal Canadian Parliament, having been elected in 2004.

And then there's brother Dave Dryden - Co-Inventor(?) of the masks we wear now...........

If you stayed with me on this history lesson, good on ya'.  For the survivors, you now know more about the Dryden Boys than you care.

[Colander]

Hilarious - I almost added the "nerd" aspect in my last post.

Read a couple of his books - including the one that pre-dates "The Game" that most people don't know about - he co-authored a soft cover book aimed at youth hockey put out by McDonald's just after the '72 Canada-Russia series called "Let's Play Better Hockey".

And to complete the history lesson, he and Dave were the only brother goalies to ever play against each other in the NHL (yeah I know they alluded to it in a Montreal game recently, but I watched it...)

 

[Lucky Pucker]

On 3/23/2021 at 10:41 AM, MTH said:

Ken Dryden seemed to have the same strap:

He seemed to like pulling up the sleeve on his jersey on his catch. Those jerseys were not the same as what people wear today and would get really saturated. I could see that causing his glove to get really wet. Sweat, snow on the elbow melts and runs.

Saw while he was in college, he played 'finger out' like a baseball player. In his book he noted how his catch glove hand would get beat up in practice.

Ever see Ken wearing a mask like Dave?

That last one - with the hybrid prototype Dave was working with Greg Harrison (if memory serves...?) - I have never seen that! Thanks for sharing!

[Lucky Pucker]

Came across this pic of Dryden that I had never seen before 

 

[MTH]

Looks like some of the kids in the NHL now. Pads to neck. Baby face.

Great picture

 

[Lucky Pucker]

Was looking through old hockey cards that I got from my uncles years ago. A few interesting things here - like early adopters of the Dave Dryden/Greg Harrison combo, coloured gear, and Wally and Wilson sticks (which I’d never seen before). Also saw that when the Whalers rocked the Cooperalls, goalies were apparently (read: mercifully) exempt.

Anyway, enjoy!

[Scythe]

Here's some pictures from a Seals Canadiens game we went to in Oakland. I was about 10 yo. 

[The Teal Terror]

8 minutes ago, Scythe said:

Here's some pictures from a Seals Canadiens game we went to in Oakland. I was about 10 yo. 

Oh shit! It’s The Cobra! I liked Gary Simmons. There was a similar thread on the GSBB, but more about your favourite old skooler as opposed to old skool equipment. I mentioned Simmons and another member told a story about how he used to frequent a bar that Gary went to. He apparently used to bet with people he had your name tattooed on his ass, low and behold, they would lose said bet because he did indeed have ‘your name’ tattooed on his ass….

Edited July 18, 2022 by The Teal Terror

[ilyazhito]

3 hours ago, The Teal Terror said:

Oh shit! It’s The Cobra! I liked Gary Simmons. There was a similar thread on the GSBB, but more about your favourite old skooler as opposed to old skool equipment. I mentioned Simmons and another member told a story about how he used to frequent a bar that Gary went to. He apparently used to bet with people he had your name tattooed on his ass, low and behold, they would lose said bet because he did indeed have ‘your name’ tattooed on his ass….

Is he related to the Simmons of Simmons Hockey?

[The Teal Terror]

4 minutes ago, ilyazhito said:

Is he related to the Simmons of Simmons Hockey?

I don’t believe so. Don Simmons did play in the NHL I can’t remember for who off the top of my head. I wanna say Boston?

[ilyazhito]

3 minutes ago, The Teal Terror said:

I don’t believe so. Don Simmons did play in the NHL I can’t remember for who off the top of my head. I wanna say Boston?

Yes. He played for the Bruins, Leafs, and Rangers. 

[Scythe]

   

 

[MTH]

My Beavis and Butthead brain is cracking up at his stick.

[Scythe]

1 hour ago, MTH said:

My Beavis and Butthead brain is cracking up at his stick.

I'm wondering if it wasn't photochopped. Still funny either way.  

And what pants is he wearing?  

Edited August 22, 2022 by Scythe

[MTH]

It's a Titan stick. Just tape covering the 'AN'.

But JD's stick blade does looked massaged...

Pants are odd. Here's him earlier. I imagine shells. The Rangers jerseys during this era were a dynamic change.

Here's another picture from the Tit stick:

I presume they are Tackla pants with the diamonds.

[Scythe]

Yea I could see the shaft . My brother played forward and used the red Titans and that's what I thought of first on the pants too. Tackla. Had a red pair for awhile.  

[Standup61]

23 hours ago, Scythe said:

   

 

  I used Titan sticks in the 70’s.  I taped my stick like this before a game and after the game my dad told me to take the tape off the paddle so the whole Titan name showed.  Some other parents in the stands commented on my tape job and didn’t like it.

  Titans had a plastic insert in the bottom of the blade and were pretty durable, but also heavy.

 

[MTH]

Funny, I was poking around on the Google patent site and stumbled across the patent for the Titan composite blade. Pretty revolutionary for it's time with the laminated layers for added durability.

Also found patent for the modern 'one piece stick' that is actually a composite stick (shaft and blade glued together) then just wrapped.

The diagrams for patents are great...

Quote

The blade of the stick is formed by placing two blade sections against the lower tapered end of a handle of the stick. The two blade sections are each made as laminated sections, made up of two laminations of wood with a fiberglass layer therebetween. The grain of the two wood pieces of each blade section are offset 45° to one another for greater shear strength. The cavity between the two blade sections is filled with a pliable material that hardens to make the complete blade structure. The outer surfaces of the blade and the side surfaces of the handle are coated with layers of fiberglass.

While the patent wasn't granted until 1985, it was filed for in 1979 by Mr. Reijo K. Salminen.

But the actual Titan stick was all done by Antti-Jussi Tiitola and his work was under 'Karhu Hockey Finland Forssa Fi Oy'. Which is why we all saw that Karhu logo on the blades still. (Here's the video with the interview with him we all watched before)

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by MTH

[MTH]

Here's a Bauer patent diagram of a pad:

[chile57]

@MTH thanks for sharing - these diagram representations are sweet and totally my wheelhouse. The pads one takes me back to some pointillism-esque goalie sketches I did in my youth. 

Edited August 24, 2022 by chile57

[MTH]

There are numerous from Bauer. Here's their flexx bar system pads and a Reactor 5 chest.