Buy me a coffee?
I no longer often write about hockey but when I do, it’s about something that actually matters to me. As a lifelong Montreal Canadiens fan, I felt it was time to set the record straight on a topic that, in my view, has been judged far too harshly by some within the fanbase. And what better time than a Saturday, game day, to do so?
Every time Carey Price shows his face in public or answers a few polite questions from the media, the same tired debate crawls out of the woodwork. Where does he rank? Is he worthy of a retired jersey?
For a man who says very little and seeks even less attention, he sure attracts a lot of noise. Very little of it of his own making.
Like many, I’m not just tired of the debate. I’m tired of the tone. The disrespect. The casual dismissal of the best player the Montreal Canadiens have had in the past fifteen years. So let’s do something radical here. Let’s actually look at the facts and think.
Because an opinion without knowledge isn’t an opinion. It’s imagination wearing a jersey.
The Numbers
| PLANTE | DRYDEN | ROY | PRICE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| REGULAR SEASON | ||||
| GP | 556 | 397 | 551 | 712 |
| W | 314 | 258 | 289 | 361 |
| L | 133 | 47 | 175 | 261 |
| T (OTL) | 107 | 74 | 66 | 79 |
| GAA | 2.22 | 2.24 | 2.78 | 2.51 |
| Sv% | .920 | .922 | .904 | .917 |
| SO | 58 | 46 | 29 | 49 |
| PLAYOFFS | ||||
| GP | 90 | 112 | 114 | 92 |
| W | 59 | 80 | 70 | 43 |
| L | 28 | 32 | 42 | 45 |
| GAA | 2.11 | 2.41 | 2.46 | 2.39 |
| Sv% | .922 | .915 | .913 | .919 |
| SO | 10 | 10 | 5 | 8 |
| Stanley Cups | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
So statistically, Carey Price ranks:
- 1st in regular season’s games played
- 1st in regular season’s wins
- 3rd in regular season’s goals against average
- 3rd in regular season’s saves percentage
- 2nd in shutouts
- 2nd in playoffs’ goals against average
- 2nd in playoffs’ saves percentage
- 3rd in playoffs’ shutouts
And yes, he has surpassed Patrick Roy in almost everything except the one thing people cling to like a security blanket: Stanley Cups.
We’ll get to that. But my 6 decades on this earth have taught me that a Stanley Cup win is a TEAM accomplishment, that each player has to do their part to win and clearly, Price has done that.
Wins Matter… Context Matters More
No goaltender in Canadiens history has more wins than Carey Price. Not Plante. Not Dryden. Not Roy.
And let’s be honest here. Price didn’t exactly have a dynasty in front of him. No conveyor belt of Hall of Famers. No offensive juggernaut bailing him out on off nights. Most nights, he was the system.
Longevity matters too. Price played 712 games in the most unforgiving hockey market on the planet. That’s not just durability. That’s mental toughness bordering on stubbornness.
Ken Dryden played seven seasons. Magnificent, yes. But seven.
Price carried the weight of a franchise for over a decade. That’s not just impressive. That’s rare.
It’s often said that two of the toughest jobs in professional sports are quarterbacking the Dallas Cowboys and tending goal for the Montreal Canadiens. In Montreal, no one has carried that pressure longer than Carey Price. None of the other greats endured it at that level, for that length of time. What Price managed to do isn’t just difficult, it’s borderline unreasonable, and yet he rose above it, time and time again.
Also, Stanley Cups aside, he compares favourably to another great Hall of Fame Canadiens’ goaltender that everybody knows… even in the Playoffs!
| REG. | SEASON | PLAYOFFS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GAA | Sv% | GAA | Sv% | ||
| * ROY | 2.78 | .904 | 2.46 | .913 | |
| PRICE | 2.50 | .917 | 2.39 | .919 |
No Stanley Cup
So let’s tackle that “no Cup” argument. First, let’s look at how many teams there were in the NHL on average during their stay with the Canadiens.
| NAME | SEASONS | # OF FULL SEASONS | # OF TEAMS AVG | CAP YRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLANTE | 53-54 to 62-63 | 10 | 6 | 0 |
| DRYDEN | 71-72 to 1978-79 | 7 | 16.9 | 0 |
| ROY | 85-86 to 94-95 | 10 | 21.7 | 0 |
| PRICE | 07-08 to 21-22 | 15 | 30.4 | 15 |
Different eras. Different realities.
Fewer teams meant better odds. No salary cap meant dynasties could stay intact. Today, success gets dismantled by design.
Expecting Price to match Cup totals from a six-team league era is like comparing a bicycle to a snowmobile and complaining they don’t handle the same in January.
A Stanley Cup is the ultimate prize, yes. But it is also the ultimate team accomplishment. One man can steal games. He cannot build a roster.
Goals’ support
We don’t even need spreadsheets to know the Canadiens have been short on firepower up front for years. Still, when people did dig into the numbers, they painted a pretty clear picture of the kind of offensive support, or lack of it, that Price had to work with. And unsurprisingly, the stats back up what most of us already suspected.
Record without Price
Take Price out, and the Canadiens didn’t just dip. They collapsed.
- In the 2014 NHL Playoffs, we all remember when New York Rangers’ forward Chris Kreider slid into Price in game one, who then missed the rest of the series with a knee injury. As a result, the Rangers eliminated the Canadiens in six games. Price was 8-4 with a 2.36 GAA and .919 Sv% at the time.
- Back in 2015, Price only played 12 games early in the season before being shut down for the year. He was coming off his season when he won every NHL Awards available… After his injury that season, the team sunk deep with a record of 21-34-4, worst in the NHL during that time span.
- In 2021-22, prior to Price returning, the Canadiens had a 20-43-11 record.
Those two regular seasons put together, that’s a combined record of 41-77-15, a dismal .328 points percentage!
And look how the goaltending has been since he’s been out.
Awards
So we’ve established that Price hasn’t won a Stanley Cup, a team accomplishment. Based on the individual awards that he has received over his career, one would think that he should at least get some consideration. Look at this report card:
- Molson Cup for 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019
- NHL All-Star Game for 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
- NHL All-Rookie Team
- NHL YoungStars Game at NHL All-Star Game
- William M. Jennings Trophy
- Vezina Trophy (best goaltender)
- Ted Lindsay Award (most valuable player, voted by NHL Players Association)
- Hart Memorial Trophy (most valuable player, voted by Professional Hockey Writer’s Association)
- NHL First All-Star Team (voted by Professional Hockey Writer’s Association)
- Lou Marsh Trophy (Canada’s Top Athlete voted by a panel of journalists)
- Lionel Conacher Award (selected by sports writers of the Canadian Press)
While it is not in the NHL, he still accomplished the following representing the Montreal Canadiens:
- Olympic gold medal in Men’s Hockey at 2014 Sochi Olympics
- Best Goaltender at 2014 Sochi Olympics (voted by IIHF)
Brendan Gallagher’s take
Asked about Carey Price and if he feels like his jersey should be retired or not, long-time teammate Brendan Gallagher has no hesitation.
“To me, there’s no doubt when you talk about the impact that he’s had, you talk about the success that he’s had. When you came to the game, people came to watch Carey Price play. That’s not something usual. People want to see goals, people want to see excitement, but he was flashy and exciting and, at the same time, calm and poised. He’s done everything to deserve it.”
“Obviously, it would have been nice to have won a Stanley Cup and then, there wouldn’t be an argument. He got us there. It’s hard to say, but it would be fair to say he would have gotten us there another time if he hadn’t been hurt (2014 playoffs). He just did so much throughout his career. I think you look at the names and the jerseys up there… I understand the Cups… people came specifically to see those players. Pricey was that guy people came to see.”
This is coming from a guy in the dressing room, folks. This is someone who has seen from up close the impact Price has had over his team, and has experienced his leadership from within. Oh I fully expect some people to see this as bias instead of for what it is… because it suits their narrative. But others have echoed Gallagher in the past, and more will do in the future.
“If there is one thing I want to be remembered as is being a hard worker and a good guy” ~ Carey Price (October 24, 2022)
Ranking
Top four, without hesitation. Personally, I place him alongside Plante and Dryden. At worst, third. Switch Price and Roy, and I have little doubt the Cup conversation flips.
Funny how that works when context enters the room.
If your entire argument against Carey Price begins and ends with “no Stanley Cup,” then you’re not evaluating a player. You’re reading a scoreboard without watching the game, taking all factors into consideration. This is either ignorance, dishonesty or ill intention.
And that says more about you than it ever will about him.
Don’t ever, ever forget Habs’ fans that for the Montreal Canadiens and their fans, Carey paid the ultimate… Price: his health and career.
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