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Montreal Canadiens: Are Price’s Trophies Irrelevant?

By Lissa Albert |
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Jun 23, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; A detailed view of signage during a press conference in advance of the 2015 NHL Awards at MGM Grand. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Montreal Canadiens: Are Price’s Trophies Irrelevant?

Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price was a big winner, capturing three trophies at the NHL Awards on Wednesday night in Las Vegas. It was a huge night for the goalie who captured the attention of many, not just those who knew him before.

I began to see detractors on social media. Those who practically gloated that the “real” prize is the Stanley Cup. That his trophies are but consolation prizes that mean nothing if you don’t have the Cup.

At first, I thought they were the jealous fans of teams who had either not made playoffs, or who will attempt to rile up Habs fans just because it’s the Thing To Do.

But I saw Habs fans who posted similar sentiments. That the trophies are nice but mean nothing.

If that were true, why are the Awards held at all?

There is a difference between the Stanley Cup and the NHL Awards. Let’s examine that.

The Cup is won in competition. The Cup is the result of 4 rounds of playoffs, in which the best teams challenge each other to eliminate all opponents but one. And in which the two best teams in the NHL battle for the ultimate prize.

The Cup is won on the ice, using skill, talent, strength, teamwork, and perhaps incorporating some luck as well.

The Cup is won by those doing what they do not just for a living, as a career, but that which is their passion.

There is no question that the team hoisting the Stanley Cup each year is the team that has earned its glory.

Is winning the Stanley Cup really the ultimate prize? As a player, yes. In hockey, playing 82 regular-season games and winning the best-of-7 playoff games, in 4 rounds against 4 different teams, in a short period, yes. Winning the Stanley Cup is every team’s goal, every player’s dream.

But the NHL Awards are different.

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Jun 24, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA;

Carey Price

talks to media after winning four awards during the 2015 NHL Awards at MGM Grand. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Given out on a stage, with dressed-to-the-nines players accepting their individual awards, there is a process by which they are decided.

First, the Awards are voted on by different groups. Some trophy winners are decided by the general managers of each team. Some are decided by the hockey writers who cover these teams and these players for the majority of a 12-month period. And one – the Ted Lindsay Award – is voted upon by the players.

The process is as follows – for most of the trophies (the Vezina has top 3 candidates voted upon):

…each individual voter ranks their top five candidates on a 10-7-5-3-1 points system. Three finalists are named and the trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.

Next, the spirit of the NHL Awards is what we need to examine.

This isn’t the Academy Awards. I’m a former Hollywood-awards watcher (I no longer partake) so I used to bemoan the process. Films pitted against each other for “Best Picture” were incredibly anomalous. How can you compare “Gone with the Wind” to “The Wizard of Oz” in the same category? But there they were.

Apples and oranges.

Not so with the NHL Awards. In the category of Vezina, for example, it’s goalie vs goalie. Judged on the same scale.

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The Norris is for defensemen only. Again, on the same level, same position.

Some other awards are more ambiguous – the Calder is given to rookies. The Selke to defensive forwards.

Each trophy can be interpreted different ways but the interpretations don’t have the broadest range. It’s still hockey player vs hockey player.

During the season, hockey analysts, as well as fans, begin to see players emerge as dominant in their particular niches. It was not long into 2014-15 that the Vezina trophy began to be whispered about with each Habs game – win or loss – and Carey Price’s name along with it.

By March, it was being asked in polls, surveys, “Question of the Day” type tweets and so on, and Price’s name was consistently brought up as Vezina winner.

It wasn’t just the Vezina, though. There were other teams who had players burst forth and stand out, and trophies were brought up as possibilities for these players.

There is one team that will win the Cup every year. Just one team. 20+ players, a coaching staff, GM, front office; that’s it. One city celebrates.

What about the others, those who came close? We know that history doesn’t remember silver-medal winners, but the NHL Awards do.

Carey Price was honored as the Best Goaltender this season (Vezina), the Most Outstanding Player (Ted Lindsay Award – as voted on by his peers), and the overall Player Most Valuable To His Team (Hart).

As the regular season ended, he and Corey Crawford split the William Jennings Award – which is the award given to the goaltender who let in the fewest goals all season.

The Jennings Trophy is awarded based on statistics. Every other award Price won is based on subjective voting. That makes each one extremely meaningful.

All in all, he was thoroughly recognized for the historic season he had.

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Jun 24, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Carey Price talks to media after winning four awards during the 2015 NHL Awards at MGM Grand. Including the Ted Lindsay Award (foreground). Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

When introduced as a finalist for the Hart Trophy, it was analyst (and former player) Nick Kypreos whose words resonated. To begin the segment, he wanted to draw attention to “the artistry of Carey Price.”

Those words were so incredibly true; Price’s saves, night after night, were pure artistry on ice. It’s one of the reasons we all loved to watch him in nets; his extension, lateral movements, acrobatic feats.

Add to that his astonishing calm demeanor, how nothing rattles him, he controls the pace of the game as much as the skaters do, and it makes Carey Price an artist in nets.

These trophies were all about tribute, recognition, and honoring players. We all enjoy being appreciated, and the NHL Awards give the winners of each trophy that extra “hey, thanks, we think you rose to the top this season and we want to honor you for that.”

While Carey Price acknowledged the team that supported him, in his speeches, he knew it was for his individual efforts that he was honored. Being the picture of humility that he is, he did thank his teammates, every speech.

One tweet that I saw used the word “earned” instead of “won”:

And that brings it to the level of the NHL Awards and their meaning. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Price would win the Vezina. Even competing coaches said he was the only person for the trophy.

He didn’t get it for being a nice guy. He got it for his prowess between the pipes.

But his peers lifted him above all other players (700+ active players) and voted him “Outstanding”.

And the hockey writers saw him as the MVP above 2 fellow nominees, both skaters, one of whom scored 53 goals this season, almost unheard of these days in the NHL.

One segment during the show had bystanders offering their opinions on the Hart Trophy. The host joked, “the goalie doesn’t do anything, he just bats at the pucks, he doesn’t have to skate down the ice and shoot or stop pucks.”

But for the first time since Jose Theodore, in 2002, a goalie received the Hart Trophy. Because that goalie was Carey Price, and the hockey writers believed him to be the most valuable player in the league.

How can that be meaningless?

His post-awards conference revealed more. While he continued to pay tribute to the season, and his teammates, here are some quotes:

When asked about the honors of receiving the votes:

I’m very humbled by that – especially the players. I compete against these guys. We go to war out there and for them to vote for me is really special. It’s been an amazing season – there’s still one more thing that I want to get, though. It’s my ultimate goal. I’d trade all 4 of these in for that one.

Of course he would trade the trophies for the Stanley Cup. However, it doesn’t mean he is not grateful, or thrilled by the trophies he won.

See, that’s the thing people should understand. While the Cup and the NHL Awards are earned in different arenas, each is special in its own way.

Not winning the Cup does not diminish the experience of winning an NHL Award. Or two. Or four.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other. The reality is that the Habs did not win the Cup this year.

The reality is that Carey Price’s historic season was profoundly recognized by those people whose life’s work it is to be immersed, in one way or another, in the game of hockey.

How can anyone say the trophies are meaningless unless a Stanley Cup is won? Taken on their own merit, the Awards given in the NHL are a spectacular honor to every winner.

Let’s take things as they are, not as we wish they were or how they might have been.

I stand by my conviction that Price’s excitement and gratitude are sincere, and that in lieu of the Cup, he is very pleased to have swept the Awards the way he did.

What are your thoughts?

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