Bernie Parent or Ken Dryden?

Question

Who was better in your opinion?

Michael- Thanks for NOT answering the question. Also, where was this line of thinking in 1974 and 1975 ? Not that it has anything to do with the question. Dryden answered it in 1976? Foolish answer.

Wow. I actually disagree with LITY for a change. I suppose there is also the Bettman thing. LOL

Here I think Parent by a landslide.

Answer 1

Bernie Parent.

One tidbit always stood out for me. It's that the Flyers were a highly penalized team at the time and he often had to face a team on the power play - more so than Ken Dryden (a very good goalie no less) ever had to.

Answer 2

Well Bernie Parent had:
the most wins in season (at the time)
the Conn Smythe Trophy twice
the Vezina Trophy twice
# 15 for 54 regular season shutouts
Won 271 games out of 608 games played

Now Ken Dryden had
#5 with 80 Playoff wins
Vezina Trophy 5 times
Conn Smythe once
Calder Memorial once
Won 225 out of 397 games played

Now, with that said, I feel as if I am being set up here. I don't want you to attack me like Michael. I do think that Bernie Parent DID have more of an impact on hockey, therefore I like Parent better. Bob, I am sure you are a huge Bernie Parent supporter, and I agree that he is in my top 3, but I think as far a stats, awards, and such, Dryden was a better player.

Great Question.

Answer 3

I liked Bernie and Ken. They both had good teams in front of them and awesome bill does make a good point about Flyers being shorthanded, after all the best penalty killer is the goalie.
One little thing stands out. Dryden stole a Cup for his club in his first year. He just took it away from the Bruins who had a few pretty good players including some guy named Bobby Orr.
That little fact tipped the scales for me.
When the Flyers won the cup against the Bruins, they used a different tact. Shero had the club wear Bobby out. They gave him the puck and beat the bejesus out of him. Bernie didn't do it all on his own.
LITY has some good arguements but they're only stats and like that guy asked yesterday, "Why judge a goalie by his stats?" LMAO.

Answer 4

Good question, tough choice. I always hated Parent, just because he was a Flyer, but always respected his ability. Seems Dryden was all you heard about. Dryden only played 7 seasons by choice, not due to injury. I think it comes down to hardware, as everyone seems to say. Dryden is the only player to win the Conn Smythe before winning the Calder. 5 Vezina's and 6 Stanley Cups. He also almost had as many shutouts(46) as losses(57). Parent was an excellent goalie, but Dryden edges him out.

Answer 5

Dryden by a landslide.

Better career GAA
Better career winning percentage (highest in NHL history by almost 0.100)
More Vezinas
More Stanley Cups (6 in 8 years)
More votes in Canadian elections

Personally, I thought Tony Esposito was better than both of them (more shutouts, better personality, etc) but between the three of them they dominated goaltending in the 70s.

My problem with Dryden is that he has a lousy save percentage (Montreal rarely gave up 20 shots in those days and Dryden rarely had a save percentage above 0.900)

Answer 6

Hard to choose, I never saw that much of parent's career. He didn't have the team that Dryden had but Dryden's record of cups per year played is amazing. I'll give the nod to Dryden but as I said, I did not see enough of Parent to make a educated decision.

Of interest both were drafted by the Bruins, imagine we could have been talking about the dominant bruins of the 70's had they kept these two guys or either of them.

Answer 7

Saw Bernie beat Sabres for 75 cup and he was the reason in the end. However, I would still take Dryden because he was the epitome of grace under pressure...There never seemed to be any holes. Proto typical of today's big goalies. If he had the type of equipment they have today he would have been unbeatable.

Answer 8

Well, just because I loved "The Bullies" I would say Bernie! I know Dryden is a legend but I find Bernie was or is in many conversations really under-rated!

Answer 9

k i defenetly think Ken Dryden was better, and i'm not just talking stats, i looked at career, etc.


But thinking back, i defenetly think that Bernie Was a great guy, and not bad at all, so it may not be hard for LITY to chose, but i think It's a little tough.


But a lot of people bring good points about Parent, especially Bill.

But good question.

Answer 10

I had the pleasure of watching both in their prime. Both were great. Both won cups for their teams, both did things very well, both had relatively short careers. Dryden was definitely a force and because of his size , durability and quickness he is the better of these two. Bernie Parent was all about angles, position, being in the right place at the right time. His style of goaltending was fundamental with flair, Marty Broduer comes closest to Parent's style. Loved them both.