The President of the Russian Hockey Federation (FHR), the former goalkeeper of the USSR national team Vladislav Tretyak expressed his condolences in connection with the death of the ex -Golkipper of Montreal and the Canadian national team Ken Draden.

Dradyden died at the 79th year of his life. The cause of the death of the six -time owner of the Stanley Cup was an oncological disease. Dradyden, like Tretyak, was a member of the 1972 super series between the national teams of the USSR and Canada.

– The hockey family suffered a difficult loss. Ken Dradyden is a great athlete, one of the best Canadian goalkeepers of all time. And he is a wonderful person, one of the most striking representatives of that worthy generation of Canadians, which was greatly respected by our hockey, our country and its inhabitants.

We have known each other since 1969, when we first met on ice at the level of prefabricated. Even then, it was clear that this was a goalkeeper with a big future. And Draden really had a great career: six victories in the Stanley Cup, five prizes to the best goalkeeper of the NHL, playing the gates of the Canadian national team in the most epoch -making, historical matches, such as the 1972 super series. Meeting, we often recalled and held on New Year’s Eve – 1975/76 Montreal match – CSKA, where he defended the gates of the Canadian team, and the Gate of the Soviet – I.

Dradeen and I did not just respect each other. We have really been friends for decades. Arriving in Canada, I constantly met with Ken, talked with him on a variety of topics. Dradyden in life was a real intellectual. Educated, with a wide horizons and a wide circle of interests. It was possible to talk with him not only about sports, but also about what is happening in the world, how it changes, how people live in different countries. By the way, in the gate of Drasiden was successful in many respects due to intelligence. He read the game, he could calculate the development of events, understand what would happen in his zone in the next second and where the throw would come from. Tall, large goalkeepers often make a bet on dimensions, but Ken put a thought at the forefront, a smart approach to the game.

Dradyden always experienced warm feelings for our hockey, for our country. Ken was happy to visit Russia and was happy to call me. One of the most memorable trips took place in 2007 – in Montreal he attended the ceremony of raising the symbolic banner of Draden and even made a speech on the ice of the famous “Forum”. The arenas where Ken shone for more than ten years in the club sweater, the arena, where we played against each other in the unforgettable first match of the 1972 super -series.

At the end of his sports career, Dradyden remained a man aimed at creation. He sought to make life in his native country better. In order to help compatriots, went into an active political life, was a deputy and minister of social support. These aspirations also show that Ken was a good person. Good smart, responsive, open to the new. And all the more difficult it is to realize that such a wonderful hockey player and a wonderful friend are no longer with us, ”the press service of the FCR quotes Tretyak’s words.

The Canadian won the Vesina Trophy prize five times, awarded the best goalkeeper of the season in the NHL. Dradyden in 1983 was introduced into the Hockey Glory Hall, in 2007 Montreal deduced the 29th number under which the goalkeeper acted.