Dryden leans on goaltending legacy

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This article was published 06/05/2025 (266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cooper Dryden is acutely aware of what his last name signifies for anyone who plays goal.

The 15-year-old goaltender, who will almost certainly hear his name called on the second day of the Western Hockey League draft on Thursday, is a distant relative of the former Montreal Canadiens legend Ken who is considered one of the best ever at his position.

“I think I was like nine years old or 10 years old and I heard about it,” Dryden said. “I was like ‘No way, that’s sick! I have to see some clips of this guy.’ When I saw the clips it was ‘Oh my God, and he plays on Montreal! That’s absolutely my favourite team. I was pretty excited to hear that.”

The Hockey Hall of Fame Dryden is a fourth or fifth cousin. Interestingly, it was actually another Montreal goalie who had a massive impact on the youngster.

“I grew watching Carey Price play and really loved him,” Dryden said. “I decided to try it out and just fell in love with being a goalie.”

Dryden, who turns 15 in June, stands six-foot-two and weighs 150. When he moved back to the crease for good as a youngster, it was because he thrived on the fact people counted on him.

“I enjoyed stopping pucks,” said Dryden, who has played house league baseball and likes to fish and hike “I like the pressure when you’re the last line of defence. I like that responsibility.”

Dryden is the son of Sean and Amanda Dryden and older brother of Cody.

Sean played college baseball in the United States, semi professionally in Australia and was then an outstanding pitcher in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League and later the Andrew Agencies Senior AA Baseball League, so Cooper comes by his athleticism naturally.

Sean also played goal until he was a teenager, but there aren’t any hockey players in his extended family who have played junior or better.

The younger Dryden had an outstanding season with the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Winnipeg Hockey League U15 AAA last season, going 15-3-1 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.

While the team didn’t play well in the six-game playoff round-robin, going 2-4, Dryden still managed to post a 2.76 goals-against average and a sizzling .931 save percentage.

“I think things went pretty good,” Dryden said. “The team had a good season. We didn’t really have a top scorer so the forwards had to work really hard and on defence, everyone clicked. It was a pretty fun season and I enjoyed it.”

When asked for a scouting report on himself, Dryden said he has some strengths that begin with his ability and willingness to communicate with his teammates.

“I let my defence know if there’s pressure or if they have time,” Dryden said. “I think I’m a pretty good puck player. I can shoot up some stretch passes if I need to or just some short little passes. I can adjust to the speed of the game pretty well. When the game speeds up, I can adjust myself and speed up.

“I’ve been told I’m pretty good at tracking and I agree. If it’s a shot from way out, I can catch it, and even if there is traffic out front, I can find a way to get my eyes on the puck.”

The position has changed substantially in recent years, with goalies getting bigger to fill more of the net as the offensive focus seems to shift to backdoor plays and tip-ins. With traffic in front of the net, it’s especially difficult.

“It is pretty tough if you have guys standing in front of you,” Dryden said. “Since I have a height advantage, I can stand over them or sometimes I go low and try to look around them.”

While WHL scouts were likely in the stands most nights he played last season, Dryden chose not to acknowledge they were there and instead focused on playing well for his teammates. He has spoken to just a couple of scouts so far.

But he certainly had plenty of first-hand exposure to the WHL.

The family has billeted Wheat Kings over the years, including overagers Kayden Sadhra-Kang, Jackson DeSouza and Marcis Nguyen in the last two seasons.

The league has adopted a new draft format this year, with the first round on Wednesday evening, followed by the U.S. Priority draft on Thursday morning and then the rest of the main draft.

Dryden certainly knows where he’ll be when his name is called.

He is attending Manitoba’s Pursuit of Excellence top-40 camp, which begins Thursday at Steinbach’s Southeast Event Centre.

“I’m pretty excited,” Dryden said. “I can’t wait. It’s been the longest couple of weeks of my life.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com