It took one try more than some expected, but on Monday Carey Price was officially named to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Price joins the class of 2026 alongside Brian Burke, Patrice Bergeron, Cindy Curley, Pekka Rinne, and Keith Tkachuk.
Perhaps it is fitting that Price is named the summer that his contract ended and will officially announce his retirement.
“Hockey has taught me a lot of life lessons, especially persistence and never giving up,” said Price in a press release. “The game has given me the opportunity to work with dedicated and talented people, and I’m especially grateful to live a dream playing my entire career in Montreal.”
Regardless of how you feel about the lack of Stanley Cup banners that the Price era provided, there’s no question he was one of the best goaltenders of his era, and in Montreal Canadiens history. He more than lived up to the billing of being the fifth overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft.
Price played 712 NHL regular season games, all with the Canadiens. He had a record of 361-261-79 with 49 shutouts. He added 92 playoff games with a record of 43-45 and eight shutouts. He is the all-time winningest goaltender in team history. He also won the Hart and Vezina trophies in 2015. Price won an Olympic gold medal in 2014, the same year he won the Lionel Conacher award and Lou Marsh award as Canada’s top athlete and top male athlete. He also backstopped Canada to gold at the 2007 World Juniors and won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2022, the year he worked back from a knee injury suffered in the run to the 2021 Stanley Cup final.
There is the debate of whether his number will be raised to the rafters of the Bell Centre, but he will surely be an addition to the team’s ring of honour at the top level of the arena as well as the team’s display of Hockey Hall of Famers in the locker room.
