MONTREAL 鈥� Elaine Chuli never saw Ken Dryden play.
The 29-year-old can still appreciate the Hall of Fame goaltender's exploits between the pipes for the Montreal Canadiens.
And that's despite growing up a fan of the archrival Toronto Maple Leafs.
The backup netminder for Montreal's Professional Women's Hockey League team, Chuli is paying tribute to Dryden 鈥� and fellow Canadiens great Carey Price 鈥� with her new mask that arrived this week.
Chuli, who grew up idolizing Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph, had to get creative on the design with little to draw from in the early stages of the PWHL.
"I went with kind of a Ken Dryden theme," the native of Waterford, Ont., said Friday at Verdun Auditorium. "We didn't have a logo and we didn't have a team name, usually that would kind of be what your mask would be based off of.
"I thought, 'Perfect.' (Dryden) played in Montreal, so I thought it would be a cool idea."
The mask, designed by Mississauga, Ont.-based company Mask Wraps, features blue and red circles around it 鈥� much like the cage Dryden wore during the Canadiens' dynasty of the 1970s.
It also has pictures of Dryden and Price on each side, PWHL logos, her name and old Montreal buildings printed on the back along with her favourite Bible verse.
The matte finish helps hammer home the retro look.
Chuli wore Dryden鈥檚 No. 29 throughout her career, which includes stops with the NCAA鈥檚 University of Connecticut and the Premier Hockey Federation鈥檚 Toronto Six.
She switched to No. 20 this season because star player Marie-Philip Poulin wears 29.聽
Poulin may owe Chuli a meal or two, and not just because of the number.
Chuli made 45 saves to lead Montreal to a 2-1 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday and earn her second regulation win in two starts this season.
鈥淎mazing,鈥� Poulin said of Chuli. 鈥淭he way she plays, she鈥檚 stood on her head for us. It鈥檚 unbelievable to see.鈥�
Montreal (3-1-2-1) enters Saturday鈥檚 game against Ottawa (2-0-2-1) at Place Bell with a league-leading 13 points after Wednesday鈥檚 win.
Chuli has a PWHL-best .962 save percentage, starter Ann-Ren茅e Desbiens 鈥� Canada鈥檚 No. 1 goalie 鈥� has a .915 in five starts and third goalie Marl猫ne Boissonnault hasn鈥檛 played. Head coach Kori Cheverie didn鈥檛 say who would get the nod Saturday.
No matter who鈥檚 in net, Poulin believes Montreal鈥檚 goalies are the biggest reason the team is on top.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 lie, I think it鈥檚 our goalies (who separate us from the rest of the league),鈥� Poulin said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e kept us in games where we didn鈥檛 necessarily play well in front of them, so that鈥檚 a big part of it for us.鈥�
"We've been saying it from the very beginning that we knew we were solid in that position,鈥� Cheverie added.
PWHL Montreal said it sold over 7,000 tickets for Saturday鈥檚 game in Laval, Que., as of Friday morning.
Chuli, who has only played on the road so far, is eager to experience a game in front of Montreal鈥檚 home crowd.
"I would love to play at home,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e go on the road and you go into those arenas, and yeah, it's not like the same vibe it is here for sure."
POWER-PLAY WOES
Montreal spent much of Friday's practice working on a league-worst power play that is 1-for-20 this season.
Poulin says that needs to change, because they can鈥檛 keep depending on the goalies to bail them out.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to score,鈥� Poulin said. "That鈥檚 a lot of shots for our goalies, and there鈥檚 a sense of responsibility for us as forwards to create more offence, take advantage of power plays and be better to help our goalies.鈥�
CHASING THE RECORD
Minnesota set the record for most people to attend a women鈥檚 professional hockey game when 13,316 people turned up on Jan. 6 at Xcel Energy Center.
The PWHL announced Thursday its Feb. 16 game between Toronto and Montreal would take place at 19,000-seat Scotiabank Arena.
Poulin says it鈥檚 鈥渁mazing鈥� to get an opportunity to play in an arena that size, and hopes Montreal can someday host a game at 21,000-seat Bell Centre 鈥� home of the Canadiens.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a goal for us to bring a game to Bell Centre,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see how it goes.鈥�
Montreal has one home game at a to-be-announced location on March 16 against Toronto.
POULIN STILL WITH CANADIENS
Poulin, while 小蓝视频 one of the best active hockey players in the world, couples as a player development coach for the NHL鈥檚 Canadiens.
It鈥檚 a role she says she鈥檒l continue to do, when she can, while focusing on the new women鈥檚 pro league.
鈥�(The Canadiens) understand where I'm at, they know where we're at," the 32-year-old Poulin said. "I still have a couple years in me so they understand that."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a coorected story. A previous version stated Chuli was from Waterton, Ont. She is in fact from Waterford, Ont.
