Why Carey Price Deserves More Than the Canadiens' Ring of Honour

There is something rather amusing about the Montreal Canadiens. A franchise with 24 Stanley Cups, a history overflowing with legends and enough retired numbers to make a hockey equipment manager nervous still has people questioning whether Carey Price deserves to have his number hanging in the rafters.

Apparently, winning the Hart Trophy, the Vezina Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award, an Olympic gold medal, and becoming the winningest goaltender in franchise history still leaves something to be desired. I suppose a fellow needs a Stanley Cup ring to be taken seriously. Never mind that hockey is a team sport. Details, apparently.

Yesterday, Price entered the Hockey Hall of Fame. Tonight, I will be in the crowd cheering him on as the Canadiens will honour him at the Bell Centre by adding his name to the organization's Ring of Honour. It's a fitting recognition of an extraordinary career, but I would argue that this should be the beginning of another conversation, not the end of one. Carey Price deserves to have No. 31 retired, and the Ring of Honour should be the first step towards making that happen.

For a man who has always preferred to let his goaltending do the talking, Price sure attracts a lot of noise. And most fans are not just tired of the debate. They're tired of the tone, the disrespect and the casual dismissal of arguably the best player the Canadiens have had in the past 15 to 20 years. So, before the usual suspects come out of the woodwork with their familiar Stanley Cup argument, let's actually look at the career and put a little context around it.

Four goaltenders, one extraordinary legacy

There is no sensible discussion about the greatest goaltenders in Canadiens history without including Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy and Carey Price. They played in different eras, under different rules and behind very different teams, so comparing them isn't an exact science. But the numbers certainly give us something to talk about.

Montreal Canadiens goaltending legends

Roy's statistics are with Montreal only. Figures are career totals with the Canadiens.

Price leads this group in regular-season games played and victories. He ranks third in regular-season goals-against average and save percentage, second in shutouts, and second in both playoff goals-against average and save percentage. Those are some pretty impressive numbers when you're sharing a historical comparison with three goaltenders whose names are practically part of the Montreal Canadiens' DNA.

His 361 victories are 47 more than Plante's 314, while his 712 appearances are considerably more than anyone else on the list. And then there's 2014-15, when Price delivered one of the finest individual seasons in NHL history, finishing 44-16-6 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. He won the Hart, Vezina and Ted Lindsay trophies, along with the William M. Jennings Trophy, shared with Corey Crawford, and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team. In other words, the hockey world didn't just think he was good. It voted him the best player in the league.

The Stanley Cup argument needs some perspective

Nobody is suggesting that winning the Stanley Cup isn't important. It's the ultimate team achievement, and every player who reaches the NHL dreams of lifting it. But there's a rather inconvenient word that seems to disappear whenever someone uses the absence of a championship to dismiss Price's career. That word is TEAM.

Let's look at the circumstances in which these four goaltenders played. Jacques Plante spent much of his Montreal career in a six-team league, Ken Dryden played when the league was considerably smaller, and Patrick Roy experienced expansion but spent his Canadiens career before the salary cap. Price played 15 NHL seasons, all with Montreal, in a league that grew to 32 teams and operated under a salary cap throughout his tenure.

Average team counts are based on the number of NHL franchises in each season. The salary cap was introduced in 2005-06.

Think about that for a moment. Plante competed in a six-team league. Price competed in a league that eventually contained more than five times as many franchises. That doesn't diminish what Plante or Dryden accomplished. Their teams were loaded with extraordinary talent, and they earned every championship they won. But pretending the competitive landscape was identical is ridiculous. Comparing Cup totals without considering the circumstances is like comparing a fellow who built a house with a full crew to someone handed a hammer, a toolbox and a prayer.

The salary cap changed how teams could build and maintain their rosters. It introduced financial restrictions that simply didn't exist during the careers of the other three. A Stanley Cup is a team accomplishment, not a personal award handed to the goaltender who happens to be standing closest to the trophy. One man can steal games, but he can't build a roster, manufacture offence or make an entire management team smarter.

What did Montreal give him to work with?

Here's another uncomfortable part of the conversation. During Price's playing tenure, the Canadiens had only one teammate reach the 80-point plateau in a season: Alexei Kovalev, who recorded 84 points in 2007-08, Price's rookie season. One teammate, one time. That's not exactly an embarrassment of offensive riches.

Montreal certainly had some talented players over those years. Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher, P.K. Subban and others made important contributions. But the consistent offensive firepower required to build a championship contender was often missing. Price was frequently the safety net, the insurance policy and, on some nights, the entire damn insurance company. When your goaltender is expected to compensate for deficiencies everywhere else, perhaps the problem isn't the fellow wearing the oversized equipment.

We also have a rather revealing look at what happened when he wasn't available. During the remainder of the 2015-16 season after Price was sidelined, Montreal went 21-34-4. In 2021-22, before his late-season return, the Canadiens went 20-43-11. Combined, that's 41-77-15 over 133 games, a points percentage of just .365. Those numbers don't prove Price alone was responsible for the team's success or failure, but they certainly illustrate how dependent the organization had become on having him in goal. Take him out of the equation and things went downhill rather quickly. Gravity was apparently working overtime.

He got them closer than some people remember

Let's revisit the 2014 playoffs. Price was 8-4 with a 2.36 goals-against average and .919 save percentage when Chris Kreider, who is ironically now wearing the blue, blanc et rouge, collided with him in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. Price suffered a knee injury and missed the remainder of the series. Montreal eventually lost to the New York Rangers in six games. Would the Canadiens have won with Price? Nobody knows, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But suggesting his absence made no difference requires a remarkable disregard for reality.

Then came 2021. Price backstopped Montreal through three playoff rounds, going 12-5 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .924 save percentage, taking a team few expected to reach the Final all the way to the biggest stage in hockey. They eventually lost to Tampa Bay in five games. Reaching the Stanley Cup Finals was an achievement in itself, as no one predicted it to happen, and he was central to that journey. He didn't win the Cup, but he helped bring the Canadiens closer than they had been in nearly three decades. That should count for something, shouldn't it?

The recognition speaks for itself

Price's individual accomplishments are hardly a footnote. His Hart, Vezina, Ted Lindsay, Jennings and Masterton trophies, his NHL First All-Star Team selection, his Olympic gold medal with Canada in 2014, and his recognition as the tournament's best goaltender speak volumes. Add his Hockey Hall of Fame induction and his selection to the NHL's Quarter-Century Team, and we're running out of room on the report card.

Perhaps one of the most telling endorsements, however, came from someone who shared the dressing room with him for years. Brendan Gallagher has been unequivocal about Price deserving to have his number retired.

"To me, there’s no doubt when you talk about the impact that he’s had, you talk about the success that he’s had", said Gallagher. "When you came to the game, people came to watch Carey Price play. That’s not something usual. People want to see goals, people want to see excitement, but he was flashy and exciting and, at the same time, calm and poised. He’s done everything to deserve it."

The Ring of Honour should be a beginning

Tonight, Carey Price's name will join the Canadiens' Ring of Honour. He will stand among the organization's Hall of Fame players and builders, a fitting recognition of an extraordinary career. But I don't believe that should be where the story ends. The Canadiens have retired 15 numbers honouring 18 players, including Plante, Dryden and Roy. Each left an indelible mark on the franchise, and each earned a place in the rafters for what he accomplished and what he meant to the organization. Price belongs in that company.

Personally, I place him alongside Plante and Dryden among the greatest Canadiens goaltenders. At worst, he's third in my book. That's not an insult to Roy, either. It's an acknowledgement of what Price accomplished in a very different era, under a different set of circumstances. He was the defining player of his generation in Montreal, carried a tremendous burden for 15 seasons, delivered extraordinary performances and gave this franchise and its supporters something to believe in during some very difficult years.

The Ring of Honour is a wonderful recognition, and tonight should be about celebrating Carey Price. But when the ceremony is over, let's not allow the conversation to die. There's a difference between recognizing a great player and permanently honouring his place in franchise history. Price has earned both, and I would like to think that the organization understands that the story of No. 31 shouldn't end with his name on a wall.

And for those who still insist that the absence of a Stanley Cup settles the argument, remember something else. Carey Price paid a tremendous personal price pursuing that elusive championship. His health, his body and ultimately his playing career were affected by that pursuit. We can debate rankings until the cows come home, and around here, that could take a while, but we shouldn't need another championship banner to recognize what this man gave to the Montreal Canadiens.

Don't ever, ever forget, Habs fans, that Carey paid the ultimate... Price.

No. 31 belongs in the rafters.