Carey Price: Remembering a Hall of Fame career

MONTREAL – When it came time for the Canadiens to make the No. 5 selection at the 2005 NHL Draft, the Habs had an “interesting” choice to make, according to former general manager Bob Gainey.

Interesting, because their goaltending depth chart was not lacking at the time, and yet the best available player on the draft board at the five-spot was a goalie.

His name? Carey Price.

"When you have a quality player in that position available to you and you have that selection, we made that pick and I don't think there was ever any hesitation,” recalled Gainey, the former team captain who served as GM from 2003-2010. “His play in the Western Hockey League was way above average. He entered into the American Hockey League to play for the Hamilton Bulldogs and led them to the Calder Cup.”

And the rest – namely, his NHL career with the Canadiens – is history.

His first NHL head coach, Guy Carbonneau, was aware of Price's pedigree as he headed into the big leagues, but he also kept in mind that kind of profile doesn’t always necessarily translate to success at the top.

“Being good in Junior and good in the NHL are two different things,” stated Carbonneau, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019. “But he was able to prove it over the years. His style was fluid. He’s a good person, first of all, who had enormous talent, but he was able to put it to good use. It seemed to me like everything he did came easily to him. You could see he had an innate talent to play in goal.”

Hockey fans of all stripes got to witness the on-ice heroics displayed by Price, who is part of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s 2026 inductee class, from his first moments in the NHL in 2007 until his final game in 2022. But what was it like to watch him from up close, as a member of the same team?

“Carey was a great teammate, somebody iconic. You dream about playing with a guy like that,” praised Cole Caufield, who played parts of two seasons with Price. “Just getting the opportunity to learn from him and watch him every day was special.”

Caufield didn’t play just any old hockey games with the legendary netminder, either, since the American sniper joined the Habs as they were commencing their run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, where Price’s level-headedness was a key contributor to the team’s deep playoff run.

“He brought a calmness to the team that really nobody else could emulate,” praised Caufield of Price, who posted a 13-9 record, 2.28 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and one shutout in the 2021 postseason. “He’s obviously missed every day, and I was very fortunate enough to get the chance to play with him.”

Another member of that 2021 team, Phillip Danault, recalled a memory from the locker room during Game 7 of the first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The centerman was seated near Price when the backstop decided to break a moment of silence with some words that still give Danault shivers to this day.

“He said, ‘This is it, boys. This is what it’s all about,’” remembered Danault. “He was basically saying, ‘This is why we play hockey. This is what we train for.’”

The Canadiens won the game 3-1, completing their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit against archrival Toronto to advance to the second round. Price made 30 saves in the win.

It was vintage No. 31, Price in a nutshell.

“I think Carey brought a ton to the team and the city of Montreal: just a level of calmness, swagger, the ability to win games by himself,” described current captain Nick Suzuki, who was also part of the 2021 edition of the Canadiens. “His play was unbelievable and his demeanor and swagger, and he just seemed always calm and cool no matter what was going on and he just loved playing.”

Suzuki remembers Price being especially nice to him at his rookie party. And while the Anahim Lake, BC native was known to be welcoming to all his teammates, it didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun at their expense from time to time – just ask Jake Evans.

“He took us ice fishing once and I don't fish, especially on ice, and I dropped my phone in the lake, so he laughed at me for that,” he recounted.

Shenanigans aside, Price will be remembered by generations of Habs fans for his larger-than-life play in the crease, and the hope and excitement that came with knowing the Canadiens could win just about any game when No. 31 was in the pipes.

Price was immortalized for all that and more when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the sport’s all-time greats this past weekend.

“He's going in the Hall of Fame for a reason. It's a combination of skill, being willing to take on that responsibility of being the last person [on defense] and wanting to be the one that will help your team out of a bad situation,” added Gainey. “I think goalies are happiest when they have a lot of difficult saves to make. It allows their team then to rebound and take an advantage in the game, or win the game. And Carey had all of those qualities: his physical size, his athleticism, he had that calmness of a person for that position – [he was] very seldom upset or flustered.

“And Carey Price was one of those players who allowed the team to function easily. He would help them through difficult patches. His ability in the net was very easy to recognize for me and, I think, for most people.”

The plaque in the Hall bearing his likeness and name will serve as confirmation of that recognition and of Price’s formidable exploits over a 15-year NHL career that won’t soon be forgotten.

The Canadiens will mark Price's induction to the Hall on Celebrating Carey Price Night against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday at the Bell Centre. For tickets, click here.