Henrik Lundqvist’s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday sparked a debate that is likely to return several times over the next few years. Will Carey Price have his place among the immortals once his retirement is official?
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His detractors will say that the greatest goaltender in Canadiens history doesn’t deserve that status because he didn’t win the Stanley Cup. A feat of arms that, by the way, is also absent from Lundqvist’s list.
In any case, winning the most prestigious trophy in ice hockey is no longer an entry criterion. With 32 teams now competing each season, the chances of getting your name engraved on the trophy are much lower than they were when there were 6 or 12 teams.
Additionally, as of 2020-2022, six of the eight former NHL players inducted into the Hall of Fame had not won the Stanley Cup during their careers.
What could also play against him is his 361 wins. Reaching the 400 earnings plateau would have secured his spot. Of the 13 goaltenders who made it, only Curtis Joseph (454) and Chris Osgood (401) didn’t get their ticket.
But with the selection committee appearing to want to give more space to goalkeepers (three were added this year), it won’t be long.
A golden guardian
Photo archives, AFP
What we tend to forget is that this is the Hockey Hall of Fame. It’s not the NHL Hall of Fame. Therefore, the titles won on the international stage are also taken into account by the 18-strong selection committee.
It’s at this level that Price has earned his accolades. He won gold at the Junior World Championships, the World Cup and the Sochi Olympics. “Yes, but he had a packed racquet in front of him,” some will say. Maybe, but it was the same in 1998 and 2006 and Canada didn’t make it onto the podium.
By the way, without Price in Sochi, the Maple Leaf representatives could have been surprised in the quarterfinals by Latvia and their goalkeeper Kristers Gudlevskis. Price’s lead in that tournament was such that everyone on the Canadian bench knew it was in the bag when Jonathan Toews opened the scoring midway through the first period of the final against Sweden.
No wonder Price was consistently voted the league’s top goaltender for several years in a poll of members of the NHL Players’ Association.
The best of his generation
Martin Chevalier / JdeM
Also, what is it really?
Over a 10-year period, from 2010-11 to 2020-21, Price ranks third among NHL winning goaltenders. His 300 wins this decade put him behind Marc-André Fleury’s 344 and Pekka Rinne’s 307.
In those 10 years, he had a 44-win season. It was 2014-2015, a season at the end of which he won the Hart, Lindsay, and Vézina trophies. Only Braden Holtby surpassed that mark the following winter with 48 wins.
During this campaign, Price has maintained an average of 1.96. There are only three other goalies who have at least 30 wins while maintaining a goal-versus-average under 2.00.
As far as his .933 kill rating goes, no one did better.
Price’s problem is that he wore the tricolor at the worst time in franchise history. Had he been behind a reasonably competitive team, his name would be in the Stanley Cup today. In 2021, he nonetheless led the Canadiens to their first Finals in nearly 30 years.
It would be unfair if this terrible stroke of fate took his place among the immortals. Which probably won’t happen as he’s considered one of the great of the great in English Canada.
