by Cate Racher, Staff Writer/Copy Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine
Welcome to Habs History! Throughout this series, we’re going to be taking a look at the top seven goalies to ever wear the bleu-blanc-rouge throughout the Habs’ extensive history, according to their number of wins. It will include bios, player stats, and other fun facts about some of our favourite team goalies and how they fit into the team’s history. This week, we’ll be taking a look at Carey Price, but before we do that, be sure to check out pars one through five below.
No. 7: Michel “Bunny” Larocque
No. 6: “Little George” Hainsworth
No. 5: Bill “Dr. Strange Glove” Durnan
No. 4: Ken Dryden, the “Four-Storey Goalie”
No. 3: “Saint Patrick” Roy
Carey Price was born in Vancouver on August 16, 1987 to Jerry and Lynda Price. Carey and his sister Kayla Price, both of Nuxalk and Southern Carrier Indigenous heritage, grew up in Anahim Lake, which is a remote, predominantly Indigenous village in British Columbia. Carey’s mother Lynda was the first woman to be elected to the board of directors for the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and served as the chief of Ulkatcho First Nation. His father Jerry, also a goaltender, was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers during the eighth round, 126th overall, at the 1978 NHL draft, though he never played in the NHL.
Jerry began teaching Carey how to skate at the age of two on the river next to their home. Over the course of the next few years, Carey would spend the winters learning from his father how to be a goalie, and would regularly play hockey with his friends on the same river he learned to skate on. At the age of nine, Carey started playing organized hockey three times per week in Williams Lake, a whopping 320 kilometres away from Anahim Lake. Thankfully, Jerry had a pilot’s license and would fly them there when the weather permitted, but for the most part, they had to drive.
Carey was 15 and playing hockey for the Williams Lake Bantam AAA team when he was selected seventh overall at the Western Hockey League (WHL) bantam draft by the Tri-City Americans. He only played one game with the Americans during his first year due to his age, but during the 2003-’04 season, he played a total of 28 games and maintained a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.38. The following season, Carey would play 63 games with the Americans and maintained a GAA of 2.34.
At the 2005 NHL draft, Carey was selected fifth overall by the Montreal Canadiens at the age of 18. He spent the next two years with the Americans until they were eliminated from the 2007 playoffs, at which time he signed an entry-level contract with the Habs and was sent to play with the Hamilton Bulldogs just before the Calder Cup playoffs. Carey played only two regular season games with the Bulldogs before being sent to the World Junior Championships (WJC-20), where he played six games and maintained a GAA of 1.14.
Carey played his first game for the Canadiens on October 10, 2007 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he recorded 26 saves. He was sent back to the Bulldogs in January, but was be recalled by the big club just one month later and was given the starting role when Cristobal Huet was traded to the Washington Capitals. He played 41 games that season, maintaining a GAA of 2.56, and helped lead the team to their first division title since the 1991-’92 season. Carey finished his first season in the NHL leading all rookie goaltenders, with 24 wins, three shutouts, and a save percentage of .920, which earned him a place on the NHL All Rookie team that year.
After a strong start to the 2008-’09 season, an ankle injury saw Carey sidelined until January. The Canadiens went into the playoffs in the eight seed, and were swept by the Boston Bruins in four games. The 2009-‘2010 season was difficult for both Carey and the Canadiens. The Habs won only 13 regular season games, which included the Canadiens’ 100th anniversary game where Carey blocked 37 out of 38 shots and lead the team to a staggering 5-1 victory over the Bruins. Both Price and his backup, Jaroslav Halak, became restricted free agents (RFA) during the summer; Halak was traded to the St. Louis Blues while Carey was signed to a two year contract.
Carey played 72 games during the 2010-’11 season, maintaining a save percentage of .923 and a GAA of 2.35. In October of 2011, Carey earned his 100th career win during his 214th NHL game. The 2011-’12 season was not a successful one for the Habs in general, but Carey maintained a GAA of 2.43 and a save percentage of .916 and was signed to a six year contract during the off-season. He started the 2012-’13 season strongly, with 18 wins out of 28 starts, dropped later in the season. Carey was replaced by Peter Budaj after suffering a groin injury, leaving Carey with a .894 save percentage and a 3.26 GAA for the playoffs.
On August 24, 2013, Carey married Angela Webber, whom he had met whilst playing junior hockey with the Tri-City Americans. The day after their wedding, Carey and his teammate P.K. Subban flew to Calgary to participate in the orientation camp for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Carey and Angela are the proud parents of Liv, born on May 6, 2016, and Millie, born December 28, 2018. The couple also share two Labrador retrievers named Motty and Duke.
The 2013-’14 season was much more successful, both for Carey and the Canadiens. On top of his charitable work, which earned him the Jean Béliveau trophy, Carey boasted a .927 save percentage and a GAA of 2.32 during the regular season. The Habs swept both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins in the playoffs before being eliminated by the New York Rangers after Carey was sidelined due to a lower-body injury after colliding with forward Chris Kreider.
The 2014-’15 season would be the best of Carey’s career so far. Carey had a GAA of 1.96 and a save percentage of .933, with 44 wins under his belt. Not only would the Canadiens go on to finish first place in the Atlantic Division, but Carey would also go on to win the Vezina trophy, the Hart Memorial trophy, the Ted Lindsay award, and the William M. Jennings trophy (shared with Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford).
Carey suffered a knee injury early in the 2015-’16 season that unfortunately sidelined him for most of the year; over the course of the season, he would only play 12 games. At the end of the 2016-’17 season, where Carey maintained a GAA of 2.23 and a save percentage of .923, Carey was signed to an eight year contract extension totalling 84 million dollars US for the entirety of the contract.
Carey was sidelined twice during the 2017-’18 season after receiving a minor lower body injury at the start of the season and a concussion later on that kept him out of play until March of that year. Due to injury and performance, Carey suffered his worst year in the NHL, with a GAA of 3.11 and a save percentage of .900 for the regular season. On April 3rd, 2018, Carey made his 557th NHL start, surpassing Habs legend Jacques Plante for that record.
He currently sits at second place in Habs history for most wins with 301 career victories. At the present time, Carey is sitting at a GAA of 2.84 and a save percentage of .904.
