Count Prime Minister Paul Martin among the believers in the old hockey adage that winning teams are built from the net out.
Mr. Martin added an all-star to his election roster Monday when Montreal Canadiens goaltending legend Ken Dryden confirmed he is leaving his post as Toronto Maple Leafs' vice-chairman to run as the Liberal candidate in the York Centre riding formerly held by Art Eggleton.
"I will be seeking the nomination to be the Liberal candidate for York Centre in the upcoming election," Mr. Dryden said at a Toronto press conference. "These are words I wasn't sure I would ever say. Even now as I say them they sound odd to me, like words that other people might say."
Mr. Dryden said his decision was based on a long-held belief that a job in politics was the ultimate career anyone could have.
Ken Dryden speaks to the media Monday in Toronto. (Adrian Wyld/CP)
The Hamilton native has drifted around the political map over the years. He addressed the NDP convention in Montreal in 1988 and considered a bid for Preston Manning's Reform Party in the 1990s.
"Why now? ....Because I like Paul Martin, because I believe he and others can help Canadians make Canada a better place," Mr. Dryden said. "Because I enjoy doing public work. Because I like to help people so that they can help themselves....Because maybe I can do more inside government than outside government."
Mr. Dryden, who will not face a nomination meeting, is considered a good bet to win what is considered a safe Liberal seat. Mr. Eggleton easily won the riding in the last federal election.
"It's the kind of seat where they could probably run a dog and win," Nelson Wiseman, a University of Toronto political science professor told globeandmail.com. "The thing is, by parachuting him in you just signalling more of the cynicism across the country about Paul Martin addressing the democratic deficit."
Mr. Dryden said he was both excited and nervous about entering politics, comparing it to getting married, going to his first NHL training camp, becoming a father for the first time and playing in his first Stanley Cup final.
"I look forward to what is ahead," Mr. Dryden said. "If I become the Liberal candidate for York-Centre, if I win the election, I will be in Ottawa a lot more. Go Sens Go? I don't think so."
Originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 1964 amateur draft, Mr. Dryden put his hockey career on hold to pursue a law degree at Cornell University.
He became a star in the in the spring of 1971 when he was called up from the minors and ended up the improbable MVP in the Canadiens' run to the Stanley Cup. Still considered a rookie the next year, Mr. Dryden won the Calder Trophy and split goaltending duties with Tony Esposito for Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series.
After a contract dispute with the Canadiens after the 1972-73 season Mr. Dryden suddenly announced that his career was over at age 26. He joined a Toronto law firm as an articling student with an annual salary of $7,500.
He returned to the team for the 1974-75 season and played five more years before retiring for good with one of the most impressive goaltending resumés in hockey history. Mr. Dryden was part of six Stanley Cup winners, was awarded the Vezina Trophy five times as the NHL's top goaltender and was a five-time first team all-star. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
"Twenty-five years ago when I retired as a player when people asked me why I told them it wasn't to practice law as they had assumed, but simply because it was time to go," Mr. Dryden said. "It was a feeling inside me that I just couldn't argue with. That's what it is like for me today."
His post-hockey career has included writing four best-selling books and serving as Ontario youth commissioner from 1984 to 1986.
Mr. Dryden was hired as president of the Maple Leafs in the spring of 1997. In a management shuffle last June he was removed from his president's post and given a spot on the revamped Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment board of directors and the title of vice-chairman.
Mr. Eggleton, the former Toronto mayor and defence minister, announced Thursday he was leaving politics after serving in the House for more than 10 years.
With a file from Campbell Clark
