Six-time Stanley Cup winner Ken Dryden has died at the age of 78.

Ken Dryden, the former goalkeeper of the Canadian national team and the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), has died at the age of 78. This was announced on September 6 by the club's press service.

It is clarified that the cause of Dryden's death was cancer.

"Ken Dryden was an outstanding athlete, but he was also an outstanding person. There was an incredible personality behind the mask. <...> He was one of the true legends who helped make this club what it is today. Ken embodied the best of the Montreal Canadiens, and his legacy in our community goes beyond our sport," said Montreal owner and president Jeff Molson.

He also offered sincere condolences to the athlete's family and friends on behalf of the Molson family and the entire organization.

Ken Dryden was born on August 8, 1947. He was selected in the 1964 National Hockey League (NHL) draft by Boston with the 14th overall pick, but the club traded the rights to the 16-year-old player to Montreal.

He played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1970 to 1979, during which time he won six Stanley Cups (1971, 1973, 1976-1979). Dryden holds the record for this indicator among goalkeepers, along with compatriot Jacques Plant.

The hockey player was recognized five times as the best goalkeeper of the season in the NHL (1973, 1976-1979). He retired in 1979 and was inducted into the Toronto Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983. In Toronto, in 2007, Montreal retired the number 29, under which the goalkeeper played for the team. Dryden was a participant in the 1972 Super Series between the national teams of the USSR and Canada, in which he played four matches and defended the goal in the opening game of the confrontation, which ended with a score of 7:3 in favor of the Soviet hockey players.

In 1997, Dryden became president of Toronto FC, but left the team seven years later to run for the Canadian Parliament. He was a member of the Canadian Parliament from the Liberal Party from 2004 to 2011, and also served as head of the Ministry of Social Development from 2004 to 2006.

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