An ode to Carey Price's 2014-15 season

When I think of the goaltending greats over the history of the Montreal Canadiens franchise, guys like Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy stand out for obvious reasons.

And before them, the likes of George Hainsworth and Georges Vezina were doing their darndest to keep the puck out from behind them. With their brown leather pads, and skates that are seriously lacking the protective integrity of today's equipment, these guys pioneered Habs goaltending. You could say they paved the way for the guys that paved the way for Carey Price.

During the 2014-15 season, Price returned the favour posting an impeccable 44-win season, along with the top (SV%) and (GAA). The Anahim Lake, BC native was nothing short of the best player in the world during this season. Price was a brick wall behind the Canadiens, making otherworldly performances look like a stroll in the park.

Price cleaned up at the NHL Awards, taking home four new additions to his hardware case. After being the backbone of the Canadiens for his entire playing career, Price was recognized for his brilliance in 2014-15. Although us Habs fans know that what Price did lasted much longer than one season.

The 2014-15 season, however, was a historic one for Price, who was awarded with the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best goaltender for the respective year. He also collected a Hart Trophy, as voted on by the NHLPA, given to the league MVP. Price, then added a William M. Jennings trophy to the mix, along with the Ted Lindsay Award.

Very seldom does a goaltender win the Hart Trophy, in fact it has only happened eight times since the 1928-29 season. That's almost 100 years of hockey. Price, along with Plante and Jose Theodore, all have the honour of donning the Canadiens sweater, while achieving the feat.

It's a shame that the Canadiens team didn't resemble the one which Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have been constructing over the last handful of years. With Price behind the pipes, though the second-line centre issue is glaring, it would be much less of an issue. Price's team in 2014-15 had three players with 60-plus points after a full 82 games.

While impressive, Montreal's offence looks much more potent at this point. Cole Caufield is on pace to score 40-plus goals and hover around 75 points. Captain Nick Suzuki, has 21 goals and 51 assists for 71 points (six shy of his career-high of 77, set in 2023-24; and he is pacing to score 85 points.

I rest my case, and the best part of it all is the Habs still don't have David Reinbacher or Ivan Demidov in their lineup. Michael Hage is also about a season away from joining either the Canadiens or the Laval Rocket. There is a ton of optimism around this version of the Habs and No. 31 between the pipes would set off fireworks in the Bell Centre.

Price will likely be in-house when the Canadiens reach their way back to the mountaintop. While it won't be as a player, I expect that the Habs will have him out on the ice to celebrate with the Habs, if they can put a stop to the Canadian Stanley Cup drought, that will turn 32 years old when the next champion is crowned.

It was hard to watch Price leave it all on the line, in what he likely had a good idea was the last time that he would ever strap on the pads, and pull the red, white and blue CH threads over his shoulders.

Jacob Fowler, the next to carry the torch?

While we could sit here and argue that Samuel Montembeault is the starter for the Canadiens, I think that things will change in the next few years.

After Price went down, the Habs turned to No. 35, to secure things, and hold down the fort in the net. And he has done that, often with less run support than he deserves. But I feel cracks are starting to appear in his armour, and his grasp on the torch isn't so firm.

Jakub Dobes, while he hasn't been given the lion's share of playing time in the Habs net, has looked pretty impressive during his starts. He needs a little more time to show what he can do, and I think that he has the potential to usurp Montembeault in due time.

But I haven't mentioned the guy that everybody feels has the highest potential to grab the torch that was so firmly held by Price for years, and do his best to bring the Habs to the doorstep of the holy grail, and battle their hearts out for it.

That guy is Jacob Fowler, who is an absolute stud in the NCAA for the Boston College Eagles, which is just a continuance of his freshman season.

Fowler, 20, wrapped up his regular season recently with the Eagles, and his numbers this season, look pretty encouraging. It's hard to follow up on what he did last, but I think he did a darn good job of doing just that. For comparison, Fowler played 39 games in 2023-24 and recorded a 32-6-1 record - along with three shutouts, and an impressive 2.14 (GAA) and a .926 (SV%).

Year two for Fowler, has seen him increase his shutout numbers to seven, and his already impressive save percentage, improved signifcantly (.940) as did his goals against average (1.64).

Fowler seems to just have the pedigree, and 'it' factor, and in a hockey hotbed like Montreal, the city might just fall in love with the goaltender from Melbourne, Florida.