Voted best goalie by peers, repeatedly.
For a stretch of ~3-5 years, Carey Price won all the NHLPA player polls, or Athletic player polls for any question resembling “best goalie”. I unfortunately can’t seem to track down all of the Athletic polls or when they started, so I’ll concentrate on NHLPA:
To piggyback on this...
14 evaluators (goalie coaches, scouts, GMs, etc.) get a rating of 1 to 5, 1 being the best. It's not a list, so multiple goalies can have a number because they do the whole league. But 1's are relatively rare.
2013-14 - Price 1.07 rating (marginally 3rd behind Lundqvist and Quick because there is an element of team success in these)
2014-15 - Price 1.00 rating (1st, "Price was the only goalie to earn a 1 from every voter. In fact, there was never any hesitation."); Lundqvist fell to 2 for the first time in two seasons.
2015-16 - Price 1.00 rating (1st, only goalie with straight 1's that I could find)
2016-17 - Price 1.05 rating (1st again)
2017-18 (now a 10 person panel) - Price 1.05 (1st again, all 1's except one person gave him a 1.5, because "I don't think anyone is a sure one"; in the same poll, a panelist tried to give him a number below one to represent Price being in a class by himself)
The quality of the poll seems to drop a bit here because of the reasoning cited. Like...what's the point of asking a goalie coach to evaluate a goalie if they're gonna look at the team in front of him as a reason to knock him? Any goon can do that...I'll post what I could find of the 2019-20 poll re: Vasilevskiy and Price because it's valid for this thread.
Tier 1
The gap between
Andrei Vasilevskiy and the next goalie on this list is as large as any in this project. That’s a sign of just how much better panelists believe Vasilevskiy is than any other goalie. Really, he could be in his own tier. Last year, he was tied for first on this list and his rating has improved every year since he took over as starter.
“He can win a game by himself,” said one head coach. “Let’s say we get them on a back-to-back and they’re not in the game and we’re barraging them – breakaways, 2-on-1s – it’s save, save, save. Next thing you know, they get into the game, they start playing and – bang, bang, bang – the game is over. He gives them a chance to win every game no matter what.”
Multiple panelists pointed out that the Lightning can play loose as a team and Vasilevskiy is often the difference until the Tampa Bay offense gets going.
“It’s 82 games, they’re just floating in … turning the puck over,” explained a coach. “All of a sudden, you’re getting chances and Vasilevskiy is making back door saves, saves against a regular goalie that probably go in. That’s what happens. Then they start playing, get rolling, get a sweat and now it’s going in. But he’s the reason they won the game.”
As good as the 2019 Vezina Trophy winner was last year, he doesn’t come without concerns. Vasilevskiy had a .856 save percentage in the playoffs last postseason and one panelist said that’s part of the reason he gave a 1.5 instead of a one.
“When they fell apart, he fell apart,” he said. “’You’re still ahead of the elite goalies in the league but you have a hell of a team in front of you buddy.’ Tampa not only wins games, Tampa demoralizes teams. They’re so good.”
After dropping into fifth place on this list last year,
Carey Price is back in the top tier, even if it’s still his second-lowest rating since we started collecting these opinions. Price finished last season with a .918 save percentage, right at his career average.
“He’s just so f***ing good,” said one executive. “He’s technically good, he’s mentally good. That’s a tough place, all the bullshit they have to go through. He stays healthy. He’s pretty darn good for me.”
“He’s battled some things but I have no issue with him,” said one GM who put Price in the top tier.
A goalie coach who gave Price a two, said it had more to do with his team than the goalie.
“His team has been so up and down,” he said. “Him and Vasilevskiy are two of the best goalies in the league along with (John) Gibson knocking on the door. But these guys need support. You put them on good teams, they’re all going to be (tier) ones and Vezina Trophy candidates. Environment plays a big role in the success of a goalie.”
The following season (2021):
It's...
1. Vasilevskiy (1.03, the lowest mark since Price's perfect 1's)
2. Price (1.27)
t-2. Hellebuyck (1.27)
[gap]
4. Rask
##
Some people like to point at nonsense stats and blame the media and all kinds of excuses...but in absolutely no uncertain terms, if you don't like Carey Price, you don't know the sport. There's just not a question about the caliber of this player.
Full disclosure, I had him at 6th overall in my prelim list, just behind Hasek. Hasek gets a lot of "woe is me...Buffalo" points. Carey Price ought to get the same. As bobholly pointed out, the Canadiens fell off a cliff without Price. Hasek gets a red carpet roll out for playing behind a very defensive Czech team in '98...Carey Price sometimes got away from Montreal and...
The little bit of time that we saw him outside of Montreal against the top of his class:
2016 World Cup 5-0, 1.47, .957
2014 Olympics 6-0, 0.59, .972
2007 WJCs 6-0, 1.14, .961
17-0, a ~1ish GAA, .960ish save pct. (just eyeballing those numbers).
I get it's a small sample, I get it's Canada...but compared to guys like Dryden, even Brodeur...this was a peerless run.
Imagine if we had a yearly panel of experts and another of players in a 30+ team pro circuit(s) situation in, say, 1925 or whatever and there's almost a decade long stretch of what is said about Carey Price...he'd probably be in the conversation for 1st overall. Instead, he's going to fight and claw for freakin' 15th...? I don't know, boys...I know that new is scary sometimes, but here's one where we have the answer key.
