Comparing Tuukka Rask and Carey Price – A Goalie’s View

Our friend, Stevo knows goaltending. He played the position himself from the age of four and was drafted by Rimouski. Stevo has traded his pads for a pen choosing to write about hockey for AllHabs.net occasionally and at his own blog called The Bad Hab-It.

(cet article est aussi disponible en version française : Comparaison entre Tuukka Rask et Carey Price : La perspective d’un gardien de but)

by Stevo, Special to AllHabs.net

MONTREAL — Before I begin, it is an honor for me to have the opportunity to be a guest writer at All_Habs.  I’ve gotten to know Rick on Twitter and have been a fan of this site for a quite a while.  So to Rick, FlyersRule, chrisrbrown, pluc, czechtacular, Rookie, theactivestick and touteparpillee, it’s an honor to be writing amongst you, even if it is just this one time.

For those who don’t know, Tuukka Rask is the 23-year-old goaltender who solidified the number one position between the pipes of the Boston Bruins last season, and who should in all appearances continue to act in this role in the upcoming season.  “But what happened to Tim Thomas?” some people might ask.  “Wasn’t he the big thing just not too long ago?”  “Didn’t he go to the all-star game last year?”  The answer to the last two questions is yes, but the truth is that last season, Tim Thomas lost his number one role in a very similar fashion as Carey Price did for the Montreal Canadiens.

Carey Price / Tim Thomas:

Let’s start but looking at Carey Price’s stats last season, 2009-2010, compared to Tim Thomas’.

Although Tim Thomas had a slightly better wins/loss record and slightly better goals against average, their stats after this are almost identical.  Both goalies played roughly half the season and only 2 games separate their playing time.  Their goals against averages are only 0.21 apart, while their save percentages are only 0.003 apart.  So seeing as goalie’s today are primarily measured on save percentages, it is safe to say they had similar seasons, at least in this regard.

Both goaltenders started the season as number ones, both lost that role during the latter part of the season and both ended up being on the bench during last year’s playoffs.  Although I’ve drawn this comparison, I don’t draw any conclusions, I just thought the similarities were worth mentioning.

Carey Price / Tuukka Rask (Junior):

Tuukka Rask was drafted 21^st overall in the first round of the 2005 entry draft.  (Saving the punch for later) In age, only five months separate Rask and Price; Price being the younger of the two.  Prior to being drafted, Rask played 49 games for the Ilves Jr. in the Finish Junior League and had a record of 18 wins and 18 losses, a GAA of 2.38 and a SVP of 0.928%.

It should be noted that for the Finish team, he was named a tournament all-star in the 2006 World Junior Championship.

Carey Price we all remember was selected by the Montreal Canadiens fifth overall in the same draft.  In Carey Price’s last season with the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, although I really don’t want to compare the WHL to the Finish Junior league, Price recorded 30 wins and 13 losses, a GAA of 2.45 and SVP of 0.917%.

One could argue that Rask had a better SVP, but you could also argue that Price could have done the same or better in the Finish Junior League, that he played more games, that he was named WHL goaltender of the year, CHL goaltender of the year and named a WHL first team all star.

In the 2007 World Junior Championship, he really shined when he led Canada to its third consecutive gold medal.  Price had a record of six wins and zero losses, two shutouts, a GAA of 1.14 and a SVP of 0.961% which is incredible.  He received awards for top goaltender, tournament MVP and was named a first team all star.

Then, they turned pro.

Carey Price / Tuukka Rask (AHL):

Tuukka Rask was sent to the Providence Bruins of the AHL for two seasons.  In his first season, he played 45 games and had an impressive record of 27 wins and only 13 losses, a GAA of 2.33 and an unimpressive SVP of 0.905%.  In his second season with Providence, he gained additional playing time and recorded 30 wins, 20 losses, a GAA of 2.50 and a SVP of 0.915%.  He also had 4 shutouts.  One would like to think that two seasons in the AHL allowed him to mature, better understand what is required of a professional hockey league player, and be well prepared for a future in the NHL, not that it was guaranteed.

Carey Price had a much shorter AHL career with the Hamilton Bulldogs.  He was called up at the end of the 2006-2007 season and only played two games before the season ended.  He recorded a win and a loss, had a GAA of 1.53 and SVP of 0.949% in those two games.  He then led the team to the Calder Cup Championship holding a playoff record of 15 wins and 6 losses, with a 2.06 GAA and 0.936 SVP.  This was all the more impressive considering Price’s arrival had not been very popular with the Hamilton fans, who could not understand at the time why Jaroslav Halak was being removed from the net.  (That’s right people, the goaltender controversy started before both even were in the NHL)

Although we can say that Carey Price had better AHL stats then Tuukka Rask, Rask received a lot more playing time (two seasons vs. one playoff) and one could argue it better prepared him for the NHL.  How quickly players are sometimes rushed into the NHL has often been a subject of discussion, and I do agree that the line is very fine in some cases on what is the best avenue to take.

Next, the NHL.

Carey Price / Tuukka Rask (NHL):

Tuukka Rask eventually got the pole last season and proved to be dominant as the Boston Bruins net minder.  In 45 games, he recorded 22 wins and 12 losses, the only goaltender to have a GAA under two (1.97) and the only goaltender to have a SVP above 0.93% (0.931%).  This is very impressive for a goaltender in his rookie season.

If we compare Tuukka Rask’s goaltender stats to that of Carey Price in his rookie season, we see the following:

Although the wins / losses are fairly similar, I must say I am truly impressed with the somewhat noticeable difference in GAA and SVP.  I remember how impressed we were with Carey’s rookie season, so we should be all the more impressed with Tuukka’s.

Carey Price then seems to have lacked progression, his showed ordinary stats in his second season although he maintained a very respectable wins / losses record.  The following season (last year) proved to be a little more difficult.  Although I find Carey Price receives far worst criticism then he should have, and although the goal production in front of Price was embarrassing to say the least, he really didn’t have the year he wanted and the guy just couldn’t buy a win.

Here are the stats for Price’s 2^nd and 3^rd seasons:

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers, Get to the Point

I’m not trying to say that Tuukka Rask is a better goaltender then Carey Price; I am not saying that at all.  I simply took two goaltenders at the same age, which both should have number one roles next season, and compared how they got to where they are today.  I don’t think any goaltender has proven anything after just 1 season, so it’ll be interesting to see just what Tuukka Rask can do next year.  All eyes will be on Carey Price in Montreal now that he has signed a two year, 5.5 million dollar contract, so that will also be a story to keep an eye on.  It just makes it a fun comparison considering we often hear that Price was rushed into the NHL, and should have spent more time in the AHL prior to being called up.  That’s exactly what Boston did with Rask, so I intend to keep a close eye on both in the next years to see how they develop.

I continue to strongly believe Carey Price will grow into a strong dominant goaltender in this league.  As for Rask, I also believe he has what it takes to be a consistent force in this league.  Both have great technique, which in my opinion is the key.  All goaltenders go through bad periods in their career, and it’s those that can fall back on their technique that are able to regain their confidence to snap out of those difficult situations. “Hasek-Type” goaltenders as I like to call them are exceptions and rarely turn out to be consistent goalies in the NHL.  As for their mental ability, I continue to believe that until a goaltender is AT LEAST 25 years of age, you simply just don’t know.  Both have the potential, whether people are sick and tired of hearing about potential or not.  Personally, I would not be surprised if both ended up being dominant forces in the NHL 3-5 years from now.  One thing is for certain, we could argue all day about this, but in the end, it is their play going forward that will tell the story, certainly not anything that I write.

It should be noted that:

• Shortly after the 2006-2007 draft, Tuukka Rask was obtained by the Boston Bruins in a trade, from the… drum roll… Toronto Maple Leafs!  The trade was for Andrew Raycroft.  (Assuming Rask does not become another Raycroft, what a steal right?)
• Rask has 2 years left on his contract, which pays him $1,250,000/yr.
• I would pick Tuukka Rask over Jim Howard of the Detroit Red Wings or Antti Niemi of the San Jose in any NHL pool.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll be keeping my eye on both.  Thanks for reading, and I’d love to hear your comments.

References: Hockeydb, Capgeek, NHL.com, The Hockey News
(photo credit: CP)