Leafs' Dryden joining Liberals: report

WebPosted Fri May 14 02:09:25 2004

CBC SPORTS ONLINE - Toronto Maple Leafs president Ken Dryden reportedly
will be introduced Friday by the Liberals as a federal candidate in the
riding currently occupied by former Toronto mayor Art Eggleton.

According to National Post sources, Prime Minister Paul Martin is expected
to appoint Dryden, a Hall of Fame goaltender and six-time Stanley Cup
champion with the Montreal Canadiens, as the Liberal candidate for York
Centre.

"Ken has told us he wants to accept Paul's invitation to run in Art's
place," a Liberal source told the Post. "But there are details to
sort out before we can announce that on Friday for the big Saturday
papers."

Eggleton, a cabinet minister under former PM Jean Chretien, confirmed
Thursday he will not seek re-election, paving the way for Dryden to replace
him on the ballot. "I actually made the decision about three weeks
ago," Eggleton revealed. "But the party campaign team asked me to
wait with my announcement until they lined up a successor candidate, which
I take it they're close to doing."

A federal election is expected to be called shortly, presumably for June 28.

Dryden, 66, posted a 258-57-74 record with a 2.24 goals-against average and
74 shutouts in 397 NHL games, all with Montreal. In addition to capturing
six Stanley Cups in eight seasons, the six-time all-star won the Conn
Smythe trophy as playoff MVP (1971), the Calder trophy as rookie of the
year (1972) and five Vezina trophies as top goaltender (1973, 1976-79).

Dryden sat out entire 1973-74 campaign after failing to reach contract
terms with the Canadiens.


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