Canadiens’ Great Carey Price Named to Hockey Hall of Fame

Having initially left a lasting mark on the game as the 2014-15 winner of both the Hart Memorial and Vezina trophies, ex-Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price added to his legacy with an induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.

Price a Canadiens Great Through and Through

Price for all intents and purpose retired after the 2021-22 season as the all-time franchise leader in wins (24th in league history), with a 361-261-79 record. Perennially placed on long-term injured reserve since that point, Price will see his eight-year, $84 million contract signed in 2017 officially expire this summer. Having spent his entire career with the Canadiens since having been drafted fifth overall in 2005, he had been traded to the San Jose Sharks for cap relief just before last season (with a 2026 fifth-round pick for defensive-prospect Gannon Laroque).

The seven-time all-star ended his career with a 2.51 goals-against average (GAA) and .917 save percentage (SV%). His 49 shutouts meanwhile trail only George Hainsworth (75) and Jacques Plante (58) in franchise history. He added 92 playoff appearances to that, going 43-45 with a 2.39 GAA and .919 SV%, while reaching two Eastern Conference Finals (2010, 2014) and the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, where the Canadiens fell 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. That was the last full season he played, getting in just five appearances the next (his last).

Upon winning the gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics for Canada, Price began receiving recognition as one of the best goalies, if not the best, in the world. He ended that NHL season with a 34-20-5 record, 2.32 GAA and .927 SV%. The following season was his best though, when he went 44-16-6 with a 1.96 GAA and .933 SV%, leading the league in both categories and wins. That led to him capturing the Hart and Vezina trophies, as the league’s most valuable player and best goalie respectively, along with the Ted Lindsay Award, awarded to the MVP, as voted on by members of the NHL Players’ Association. In a tie with Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford that season, Price also captured the William M. Jennings Trophy, which is awarded to the goaltenders of the team with the fewest goals scored against.

Long-since establishing himself as one of the top goalies in Canadiens history, Price officially becomes one of the best bar none, joining fellow-goalie Pekka Rinne, forwards Patrice Bergeron, Keith Tkachuk and Cindy Curley and builder Brian Burke as the 2026 inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame.