Should Carey Price’s number be retired?

[Lafleurs Guy]

You know why goalies in Price's era had less to work with than the habs back in the days, right?

Incompetent management.

There is absolutely no excuse to hire a moron coach who decides to play David Desharnais as his first line center. None.

Want a good laugh? Imagine Desharnais playing with Rocket Richard or Guy Lafleur... how mind blowingly stupid that would look? And we had nowhere near that caliber of playre here.

Forget the HOFers. Imagine if we had Ludwig, Green and Claude Lemieux to go with what we had. Even that would've helped. He didn't have Corson or Richer or Skrudland... It's hilarious how different those clubs are even without the HOFers. And that's just the 86 team. Nevermind the 70s or 50s clubs.

Look at what Hugo's doing now. You think we're going to get stuck with a David Desarnais on our 4th line let alone our first? Not a chance. You think Bouillion or Murray would make this team?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Can you tell us what happend to the "No Excuse" sign?

Our GM took it down.

Guess why.

(Hint, it wasn't because of Carey Price)

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

You know why goalies in Price's era had less to work with than the habs back in the days, right?
Parity... salary cap, etc. Design made on purpose to spread the wealth and talent.
You can't compare different eras, one to one. You have to compare Price with his direct competition and this is where he falls short.

What are you talking about? He was clearly better than all of his direct competition.

 

[NeptunesTrident]

Don’t punish Price because Bergevin was inept. He’s an all time great. He’s a Habs legend and a future Hockey Hall of Famer. Pay him his respect and retire his number.

 

[Bombshell11]

Incompetent management.

There is absolutely no excuse to hire a moron coach who decides to play David Desharnais as his first line center. None.

Want a good laugh? Imagine Desharnais playing with Rocket Richard or Guy Lafleur... how mind blowingly stupid that would look? And we had nowhere near that caliber of playre here.

Forget the HOFers. Imagine if we had Ludwig, Green and Claude Lemieux to go with what we had. Even that would've helped. He didn't have Corson or Richer or Skrudland... It's hilarious how different those clubs are even without the HOFers. And that's just the 86 team. Nevermind the 70s or 50s clubs.

Look at what Hugo's doing now. You think we're going to get stuck with a David Desarnais on our 4th line let alone our first? Not a chance. You think Bouillion or Murray would make this team?

I was not a fan of DD but these are what ifs. I can't reward someone with what ifs. He could of asked to be traded if he saw the team was trash in front of him.

Its not like he was in love with Montreal and decided to stay in Montreal after his unofficial retirement right?

Im pretty sure Carey Price doesn't even give a sheet about his jersey being retired here so why are we trying to force it down his throat? For who's plreasure? Most of the fans wont appreciate it either.

Let the guy enjoy the wilderness and live life peacefully.

Do this favour for Carey since you're such a big fan.

Our GM took it down.

Guess why.

(Hint, it wasn't because of Carey Price)

No way... really? i thought they took it down to relieve stress off Carey's back.

im curious to know why if you have the answer

 

[Naslundforever]

Subban was easely top 5 here for many years. Not sure how you disregard him like this

A Subban level player feels like a dream since he’s gone, 100% agreed.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Roy is celebrated as having huge upset cups. The reality is though that he doesn't really have an upset series to his credit. He spent much of his career here behind two multi-selke winners, two Norris winners, several players who yielded Selke votes over the course of their careers (including terrifc defensive forwards like Bryan Skrudland) and defensive stalwarts like Green, McPhee, Ludwig... you couldn't get near Montreal's crease without getting puched in the face.

Again, Roy deserves all the credit in the world. He was insane in those cup runs and is deservedly regarded as one of the best goalies ever. But he had a lot of help. The 86 team had four HOFers on it. The 93 team had four players at a point per game or better and was packed with really good players.

Price did not have that luxury. Subban was a full on HOF caliber player. Markov, Max, Plek and Gallagher were really solid players but not great playoff performers (partially because we didn't have a number one center.) Those teams had no real depth to them and Therrien played players like Desharnais and Weisse in roles they shouldn't have been in. A couple of good players and a decent coach - we might've been able to win something. But playing with DD as your first line center is laughably bad. Playing Douglas Murray and Bouillion etc... is laughably bad. Just insane how badly those clubs were run.

Those teams had no plan. 'Pricer stop da puck' was the only plan they had.

From a legacy standpoint, the worst thing Price did was resign with us. He should’ve spent the few remaining years of health he had left on a contender. A contender likely would’ve given him a nice paycheque at the time as well. Instead he took the money and the chance of building a name for himself here and well, just read this thread to know why that was a bad idea.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I was not a fan of DD but these are what ifs. I can't reward someone with what ifs. He could of asked to be traded if he saw the team was trash in front of him.

Nobody is suggesting you retire him because of what ifs. What ifs would be health. That is what it is. We can't credit him for back to back Harts for example because he wasn't healthy enough to finish 2016. That would be wishcasting and silly.

But we absolutely can look at what he did in the context of what he was working with. He was the best goalie in the league and did it on mediocre teams. That's a phenenomenal achievement.

No way... really? i thought they took it down to relieve stress off Carey's back.

Nope. They did it because it was an every day reminder of the embarrassing job MB had done.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

From a legacy standpoint, the worst thing Price did was resign with us. He should’ve spent the few remaining years of health he had left on a contender. A contender likely would’ve given him a nice paycheque at the time as well. Instead he took the money and the chance of building a name for himself here and well, just read this thread to know why that was a bad idea.

Part of the reason he has the health problems he does is because he didn't have a lot of protection in the crease. Subban was good, Weber was good. But it wasn't really until the end when we got a couple of guys who'd protect him the way a goalie should be protected. In his last year here the protection was atually pretty good. It was the first time I'd seen the defense be better than the goaltending. You could tell Price just wasn't right in that last year here. It was only when he came back for the playoffs that he looked like himself again and then he went on that insane run.

 

[Naslundforever]

Roy is celebrated as having huge upset cups. The reality is though that he doesn't really have an upset series to his credit. He spent much of his career here behind two multi-selke winners, two Norris winners, several players who yielded Selke votes over the course of their careers (including terrifc defensive forwards like Bryan Skrudland) and defensive stalwarts like Green, McPhee, Ludwig... you couldn't get near Montreal's crease without getting puched in the face.

Again, Roy deserves all the credit in the world. He was insane in those cup runs and is deservedly regarded as one of the best goalies ever. But he had a lot of help. The 86 team had four HOFers on it. The 93 team had four players at a point per game or better and was packed with really good players.

Price did not have that luxury. Subban was a full on HOF caliber player. Markov, Max, Plek and Gallagher were really solid players but not great playoff performers (partially because we didn't have a number one center.) Those teams had no real depth to them and Therrien played players like Desharnais and Weisse in roles they shouldn't have been in. A couple of good players and a decent coach - we might've been able to win something. But playing with DD as your first line center is laughably bad. Playing Douglas Murray and Bouillion etc... is laughably bad. Just insane how badly those clubs were run.

Those teams had no plan. 'Pricer stop da puck' was the only plan they had.

I completely agree. The Roy/Hayward Jennings years were wild. Good times

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I completely agree. The Roy/Hayward Jennings years were wild. Good times

Mats Naslund was the last 100 point player we had.

But I'm betting you know that already.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Part of the reason he has the health problems he does is because he didn't have a lot of protection in the crease. Subban was good, Weber was good. But it wasn't really until the end when we got a couple of guys who'd protect him the way a goalie should be protected. In his last year here the protection was atually pretty good. It was the first time I'd seen the defense be better than the goaltending. You could tell Price just wasn't right in that last year here. It was only when he came back for the playoffs that he looked like himself again and then he went on that insane run.

I don’t think that played that much in his injuries. My knees, hip and back are shot from playing years ago and I didn’t play nearly as long and I certainly wasn’t playing an 82+ game schedule professionally. Goaltending in hockey is brutal on the body, especially the butterfly style that everyone uses now. Some guys just get lucky and can endure longer. I think Kreider did irreparable damage to his knee and I always got the feeling the organization didn’t manage it well. He was back to playing close to 70 games the next season. That would’ve definitely taken its toll over the years on top of everything else.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I don’t think that played that much in his injuries. My knees, hip and back are shot from playing years ago and I didn’t play nearly as long and I certainly wasn’t playing an 82+ game schedule professionally. Goaltending in hockey is brutal on the body, especially the butterfly style that everyone uses now. Some guys just get lucky and can endure longer. I think Kreider did irreparable damage to his knee and I always got the feeling the organization didn’t manage it well. He was back to playing close to 70 games the next season. That would’ve definitely taken its toll over the years on top of everything else.

One thing about Price that I never really liked was his insistence on not being pulled. Always wanted to finish the game no matter what. From 2013 to 2017 he was amazingly consistent save two bad stretches.

In 2013 he looked like a shoe in for the Vezina and maybe even the Hart. There was a poll of hockey experts that came out just before his slump declaring him the best goalie in the game or something like that. He promptly nosedived. Wound up 10th in Vezina and 17th for Hart. Pretty consistent after that until mid 2017. He had a .940!!! save percentage going into mid December. By Jan 3rd in was 'only' .930. The next 15 games he was .895 and Therrien got fired. I suspect he was injured and refused to sit. Who the heck knows though?

I don't understand what good he thought it would do when his team was getting shellacked and he just stayed in there. He never wanted to be taken out and it probably messed up his health.

As for Kreider, I don't know. He came back the next year and won everything under the sun. As far as I know he never discussed that particular injury so I have no idea what effect it had on him. For all the injuries he had he still played an awful lot of hockey over those years.

 

[BLONG7]

Can you tell us what happend to the "No Excuse" sign?

Yeah maybe DD was the 1st Center but the team finished top in the league during those days so its not a hella of big issue. The issue was Pacioretty becoming invisible in the playoffs and most other players... we had to rely on PK, 3rd and 4th liners to bring us through.

And you cant say Pacioretty was a bad player, the guy scored 39 goals in an era that players barely scored 50, aside from Ovy of course.

The No Excuses Sign................was taken down by the TWO big losers, in Therrien and Bergevin.\
None of that $hit had ahything to do with Price, or the players, that was on them....

 

[BLONG7]

I was not a fan of DD but these are what ifs. I can't reward someone with what ifs. He could of asked to be traded if he saw the team was trash in front of him.

Its not like he was in love with Montreal and decided to stay in Montreal after his unofficial retirement right?

Im pretty sure Carey Price doesn't even give a sheet about his jersey being retired here so why are we trying to force it down his throat? For who's plreasure? Most of the fans wont appreciate it either.

Let the guy enjoy the wilderness and live life peacefully.

Do this favour for Carey since you're such a big fan.



No way... really? i thought they took it down to relieve stress off Carey's back.

im curious to know why if you have the answer

They took it down.....................because they were the only TWO who were making EXCUSES.
Never Price............he would have never made an excuse.

 

[Not The One]

There is absolutely no excuse to hire a moron coach who decides to play David Desharnais as his first line center. None.

Want a good laugh? Imagine Desharnais playing with Rocket Richard or Guy Lafleur... how mind blowingly stupid that would look? And we had nowhere near that caliber of playre here.

Lol, been a few years since I saw a variation of that particular rant. There was not a single season where DD played more minutes than Plekanec, who had his own line to support. I suppose you though the great Lars Eller was robbed of his rightful place as our next, great offensive center.

And I'll always defend the coach who took the third worst team in the league in 2011-12 to the fourth best team in the league in 2012-13 with almost the same roster. Then they made the conference final the year after and had the second best record in the league the year after that.

What. A. Moron.

But I guess that's going to be explained away pretty easily. Anything good that happened to the Habs was solely because of Carey Price and anything bad is always somebody else's fault.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Lol, been a few years since I saw a variation of that particular rant. There was not a single season where DD played more minutes than Plekanec, who had his own line to support. I suppose you though the great Lars Eller was robbed of his rightful place as our next, great offensive center.

And I'll always defend the coach who took the third worst team in the league in 2011-12 to the fourth best team in the league in 2012-13 with almost the same roster. Then they made the conference final the year after and had the second best record in the league the year after that.

What. A. Moron.

But I guess that's going to be explained away pretty easily. Anything good that happened to the Habs was solely because of Carey Price and anything bad is always somebody else's fault.

Price was hot 3/4 of the 12/13 season, Markov finally got healthy, Subban transitioned into an elite defenceman, Gallagher was an incredible surprise and Galchenyuk was very good in his rookie season, we were able to get rid of dead weight like Gomez without wasting any cap, etc. There were many reasons that team drastically improved from the season prior and Therrien was at the bottom of that list. Gainey’s core that he grew were all coming of age which is where Bergevin got his success the first half of his career in Montreal. And Pacioretty made a special request to play with Desharnais so they were glued. I rarely remember Plekanec ever playing with Pacioretty during the Therrien days.

 

[Darz]

I am really on the fence on this one. I could argue either side of the argument.

On one hand, imo, Carey is the best goalie the habs have had in my lifetime, and as a 54 year old, that includes Dryden and Roy. He may have never had the team success that Roy or Dryden had, but game in and game out (again, imo) he was the best. So if the team decided to retire his number I would not argue it.

On the other hand, we are talking about the Montreal Canadiens. This is a team that hasnt retired numbers that every other team in the NHL probably would have (Shutt, Lemaire, Koivu), so, I'm not sure if Carey should have his number retired.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Lol, been a few years since I saw a variation of that particular rant. There was not a single season where DD played more minutes than Plekanec, who had his own line to support. I suppose you though the great Lars Eller was robbed of his rightful place as our next, great offensive center.

And I'll always defend the coach who took the third worst team in the league in 2011-12 to the fourth best team in the league in 2012-13 with almost the same roster. Then they made the conference final the year after and had the second best record in the league the year after that.

What. A. Moron.

But I guess that's going to be explained away pretty easily. Anything good that happened to the Habs was solely because of Carey Price and anything bad is always somebody else's fault.

Yeah, forget Price.

Let’s have Michel Therrien night.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I am really on the fence on this one. I could argue either side of the argument.

On one hand, imo, Carey is the best goalie the habs have had in my lifetime, and as a 54 year old, that includes Dryden and Roy. He may have never had the team success that Roy or Dryden had, but game in and game out (again, imo) he was the best. So if the team decided to retire his number I would not argue it.

On the other hand, we are talking about the Montreal Canadiens. This is a team that hasnt retired numbers that every other team in the NHL probably would have (Shutt, Lemaire, Koivu), so, I'm not sure if Carey should have his number retired.

I think we need to be consistent. Have a look at the numbers retired. Does he stack up? He’s got the same or better resume than others there.

If he wasn’t retired he’d have the best resume not retired. You’d have to go back about 100 years to find Joliat whose resume might be better.

He’s also the best player we’ve had in the last 30. It’d be nice to retire someone who’s played in this century.

 

[Bombshell11]

Yeah, forget Price.

Let’s have Michel Therrien night.

Why don't we ask the actual players who got their jersey retired?

I bet if you asked them the question they would all have a good laugh, look at you funny and be like... "so any way".

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Why don't we ask the actual players who got their jersey retired?

I bet if you asked them the question they would all have a good laugh, look at you funny and be like... so any way....

I think they’d be more than fine with it. Ken Dryden certainly would. He’s been pretty vocal about his thoughts on Price.

Guy Lafleur used to joke about us having having four fourth lines… Bob Gainey drafted him.

 

[1909]

I would retire Toe Blake #6 before Price’s # 31

 

[Bombshell11]

I would retire Toe Blake #6 before Price’s # 31

The only jersey I would keep retired is the one from The Rocket.

Any one else's i would keep their jersey up there but allow them to be re-used.

 

[Bouboumaster]

He was easily the best player on the team for almost 15 years and he is the leader in terms of Wins for goaltending

He has no cup, yes, but I'm blaming 100% Bargain Bin's stupid ass for this

So yeah, for sure

If a player deserves it, it's him