Montreal Canadiens: 2023 Hall Of Fame Class Proves Carey Price Is First Ballot Lock

The Montreal Canadiens added yet another former player to the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday when Pierre Turgeon was elected in his 14th year of eligibility.

The rest of the former NHL players voted in with him prove that Carey Price is not going to have to wait nearly as long as Turgeon did before he gets in. While Turgeon had a long, and great career, he was never considered among the best at his craft in the world.

Price, on the other hand, was long considered one of the best goalies in the world, and spent a few years as the unquestioned number one goaltender on the planet. He has credentials that none of the three goaltenders that were elected yesterday can match.

Joining Turgeon in the Hall of Fame this year are former goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon. All three had lengthy, and impressive careers, but if this is where the bar is set for Hall of Fame goaltenders, someone should be checking for Price’s ring size already.

Lundqvist played every game of his career with the New York Rangers and won a total of 459 games. He made it to one Stanley Cup Final but did not win a Stanley Cup. He won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender once, in 2012, and that was his only individual award. He also backstopped Sweden to an Olympic gold and a silver at the Olympics as well.

Comparing goals-against averages in different eras makes no sense so we won’t even focus on that. It would make Barrasso and Vernon look much worse since they played in ridiculously high scoring eras.

Barrasso stormed onto the NHL scene winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year and Vezina Trophy in his initial season. He also won a Jennings Trophy in his second season, but did not take home any more individual hardware throughout his career. He did go on to win 369 games and two Stanley Cup titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992. A solid resume, but not necessarily a generational goalie that needed to get into the Hall of Fame.

The same can be said about Vernon. He won two Stanley Cups, one in 1989 with the Calgary Flames and another nearly a decade later with the Detroit Red Wings. Vernon never won a Vezina Trophy, though he did take home the Conn Smythe as Playoff MVP in 1998. He also won a Jennings in 1996 but he only played 32 games that season. He had 385 wins in his career but was never considered the best goalie in the world.

Price was considered the best goalie on the planet for a long time. He won a total of 361 games, setting a new Canadiens franchise record, and took home some individual hardware as well. He won the Vezina Trophy as well as the Jennings in 2015. He was also named the winner of the Ted Lindsay Award as the best player in the league and he won the Hart Trophy as league MVP which is an incredibly rare feat for a goaltender.

Price was also legendary when representing his country. It all started at the World Juniors in 2007 when he won Tournament MVP due to his 1.14 GAA and .961 SV%. He played five games at the Olympics in 2014 and posted a 0.59 GAA with a .972 SV%, leading the team to a gold medal. At the World Cup in 2016 he had a 1.40 GAA and a .957 SV% in five games as Canada won it all again.

When comparing him to the goaltenders that got in this year, there is no doubt that is a Hall of Fame resume. The waiting period for getting onto the Hall of Fame ballot is three years after a player is last active. Price looks to have played his last game at the end of the 2021-22 season.

That means he should easily get enough votes to be inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2025.

Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!

Write for us!