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It’s been a long time coming, and we all knew he was going to win it, but Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price has won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. Price is the first Canadiens player to win the Hart Trophy since Jose Theodore in 2002.
When Price was chosen fifth overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, this was the kind of moment Bob Gainey and Trevor Timmins were likely dreaming about. The Stanley Cup is still to come, but in just over a calendar year, Price has won essentially every individual award he could, to go with an Olympic gold medal.
Price’s record shattering season included not just setting the Canadiens’ record for wins in a season with 44, but also the highest save percentage in league history with 60 or more games played, at 93.3%.
Price’s case for the Hart Trophy was so solid, we were comparing him to the greatest seasons of all time instead of his peers this season.
Price already sits at fourth all time on the Canadiens’ win list with 223, and could pass Ken Dryden next season with a 36 win season. If Price just averages 31 wins per season for the last three years of his contract, he will pass Jacques Plante as the winningest goaltender in Canadiens history.
Now it’s all about a Stanley Cup.
