Number Retirement Photo Gallery (Photos by Darl Zehr)
Number Retirement Video
ITHACA, N.Y. -- If there's one constant for every player who comes through the Cornell hockey program, it's the admiration and appreciation for the legions of faithful fans that fill Lynah Rink every night. On Friday night before Cornell's 4-1 victory over Union, those fans got one more opportunity to honor a pair of legends, Ken Dryden and Joe Nieuwendyk, as their collegiate numbers were officially retired.
"To have my jersey hung here, especially in this place...," Nieuwendyk said. "With all of the terrific buildings I've played in over the past 20 years, all across North America, I really have a soft spot for Lynah Rink. It really rivals any rink that I've ever played in as far as atmosphere and electricity.
"To have my jersey here where I can show my kids every summer, it's a good feeling," he said.
"It's just really nice. it's something that i hadn't even thought might happen," Dryden said of having his number one retired. "When Mike (Schafer) mentioned it... it's just very nice."
Both players would leave Cornell for distinguished careers in the National Hockey League. Both would win the Calder Award for the league's top rookie, and both would have their names etched on the Stanley Cup multiple times. Dryden and Nieuwendyk are two of the three former college players who have gone on to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, presented to the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs (Brian Leetch of Boston College and the New York Rangers is the other).
Still, with all of their accolades as professionals, it's their time at Lynah Rink that they both recall fondly.
"My memories of Cornell are still right with me," said Nieuwendyk. "I still stay in touch with a lot of my former classmates. I was fortunate to have a lot of success at the NHL level, but these years I had here wereunbelievably special to me."
Dryden also spoke eloquently about his time at Cornell in the late 1960s, just as the tradition was building to a crescendo. His time spanning three varsity seasons, with Cornell posting a 81-5-1 mark and winning its first national championship in 1967, helped to create the tradition that continues to this day.
"It gets you to think back to the years spent here, arriving as an 18-year-old in 1965," he said. "I arrived just at the time that Cornell was starting its winning tradition. Lynah Rink had been up for a few years, Ned Harkness had been here for a few years, the team was starting to win and learning how to win. We arrived into that. That was a time the Cornell hockey tradition was being built, and we rode the wave that was there for us. There was Laing Kennedy before me, and Errol McKibbon before him as goalies. We had good defensemen and forwards, and we just followed into line after that, and others followed into line after that."
Dryden also added that as special as it was to see his old number one hanging over center ice, it would also be special if that number found its way back to the Lynah Rink ice at some point down the road.
"I hope that Mike (Schafer) or any subsequent coach would feel that he has the right, that if some goalie comes along and they think, 'maybe there's there something here,' and if that person wants to wear number one..." Dryden said, his voice trailing off. "There's something very nice about having a number in the rafters, but there's something also quite nice to see it on the ice. Not to take it out of the rafters, I'd be happy for it to stay there, but if it found its way to the ice again, then that would be quite nice too."
