Carey Price stood at center ice in Montreal on Tuesday night and soaked up an ovation of close to four minutes, as the Canadiens added their winningest goaltender to the Bell Centre’s Ring of Honor one day after he entered the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The crowd revived the old “Carey! Carey!” chant that filled the building through his 15 seasons in net, and former captain Shea Weber unveiled the plaque that now hangs high above the ice. Price became the 62nd member of the Canadiens organization enshrined in the Hall, and the first added to the Ring of Honor since Weber in 2024.
What Price told the crowd
After a tribute video that replayed his 2021 run to the Stanley Cup Final, Price joked that he felt far more at ease at the other end of the rink, according to the league’s account of his remarks. He called the building his home for 15 years, said being the fans’ goalie had been an honor, and thanked the Canadiens for letting him live out a childhood dream.
Then he turned toward the players’ bench and told the current team that it was their turn now and that they should enjoy it, before closing with a heartfelt thank-you to the stands.
Earlier in the day Price visited the dressing room, where his photo now hangs next to Weber’s, who entered the Hall in 2024. The two had shared the induction night in Toronto on Monday, and Price said the pair had trained together for years in Kelowna, British Columbia. He also admitted the whole weekend was a lot of emotion to process at once and that the size of the honor would probably sink in only once he was back home.
Why Montreal still cares so much
Price played his last NHL game on April 29, 2022, so the outpouring says a great deal about the numbers he left behind. The NHL’s own figures:
- 361 regular-season wins, the most in Canadiens history and 47 more than Hall of Famer Jacques Plante, whom he passed on March 12, 2019.
- 712 games played and 700 starts, both franchise records.
- 19,304 saves on 21,059 shots, more than Patrick Roy in a Montreal uniform.
- 49 shutouts, third behind George Hainsworth (75) and Plante (58).
His peak came in 2014-15, when he went 44-16-6 with a 1.96 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage and nine shutouts. That spring he collected the Hart Trophy as league MVP, the Vezina as top goalie, the Ted Lindsay Award and a share of the William M. Jennings Trophy.
Internationally, the fifth overall pick of the 2005 draft backstopped Canada to gold at the 2007 World Junior Championship, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
A quick calculation shows how dominant that 2014-15 season was: 44 wins in 66 decisions is a winning rate of about two out of every three games, from a goalie who also gave up fewer than two goals a night.
The game that followed
The night ended without a win for the hosts. Nick Suzuki tied the game with 1:38 left in regulation, but Kirill Kaprizov scored on the power play 18 seconds into overtime to give Minnesota a 2-1 victory. Goaltender Jacob Fowler made 22 saves, and the Canadiens still stretched their point streak to 11 games.
Hockey history has been a running thread on Badiyaa this week, from Harold Ballard’s blue-on-blue Maple Leafs jersey names to Macklin Celebrini closing in on 200 NHL points with the Sharks.
The Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday night, with puck drop just after 7 p.m. ET.
Further reading
Image: Kristina Servant from Montreal, Canada, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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