Should Carey Price’s number be retired?

[Lafleurs Guy]

Why do you feel the need to insult people, did you see me insult any one? How do you expect me to respect you if you can't respect yourself. I din't even disagree to the fact that Price was a rookie.



what are you talking about 2 weeks? look at their seasonal record, Halak was clearly doing better through out the season, he was getting dem victories, making dem key saves at dem key moments.. all season long. 2010 was a catastrophic season for Price, which he eventually learned from .



Budaj had 8 wins, 1 Loss... please, stop.



From 2014-2017, he was great

GM? yeah of course, who's fault is that though?
Coaches, players... no one is blaming him for how bad they managed the team or how poorly they treated Subban.

Great goalies have played for worst teams and worst GMs before. Its not an argument to use to retire his jersey.



Who disagrees? we're talking about retiring his jersey man... keep up with the program please.



Yes he was a beast physically and if he had Roy's mental, he would probably have 4-5 stanley cups by now.



All roads lead to ROme

Patrick Roy was replaced by Hayward in the 87 playoffs right after 86. He was absolutely brutal against the Bruins almost every playoff season to the point where Harry Sinden used to make ‘Patrick Roy in the playoffs’ jokes. By the time 93 rolled around the majority of fans wanted him traded. And when things went south team wise he bolted in the middle of a game.

Price was a much more consistent playoff player than Roy was for us. He simply didn’t have the horses to win. Swap the teams and Price has multiple cups and Roy has none. This has zero to do with ‘mental toughness.’

It’s absolutely stupid to point to a bad playoff season as a reason to bar any player. Nobody gives a shit about that. If they did h then nobody would get in. Roy had some brutal years. Does that matter? Hell no. He’s well worthy of the retirement- even with him bolting the way he did.

What matters is body of work. Does the player have the resume or not? Price clearly does. The only thing he doesn’t have is a cup. If people want to arbitrarily make that a requirement- so be it. But I don’t think it makes sense to do that. Again I notice you still haven’t come up with a reason to say why his resume isn’t as good as those other players as you said it was. He’s every bit the player they were and in some cases has a better resume than some who’ve been retired already.

Hopefully the next squad wins some championships. I’m optimistic it will. If that’s the case Carey Price will be the lone HOF talent we’ve had from our last cup to the next. No reason to hold him back because our management wasn’t competent enough to build a decent club.

Moreover, not only do I think he deserves it, I think he WILL eventually get his jersey retired. It may take 15-20 years but I think it’s going to happen.

 

[nhlfan9191]

No you dont have to cater to the current generation and trends As an organisation with history and traditions.

Price was not part of a winning team and no player is bigger than the team.

The rafters are reserved for the cups and those who brought them home.

Subban won a norris and was a top D every year for us, should he get his jersey retired? Arguably the best defender we got in the last 31 years?

No he dint win it.

No honey no money.

The NHL is a business. Majority of 20/30 year olds don’t care about Lafleur or many of the other jerseys in the rafters because they didn’t watch them play. And they’re the ones Molson’s going to be relying on for money sooner or later. That’s the reality. Not celebrating individual players because of team achievements is ridiculous. Especially when you have such a different contrast between eras. Subban is irrelevant in this conversation. He didn’t even play ten years here.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The NHL is a business. Majority of 20/30 year olds don’t care about Lafleur or many of the other jerseys in the rafters because they didn’t watch them play. And they’re the ones Molson’s going to be relying on for money sooner or later. That’s the reality. Not celebrating individual players because of team achievements is ridiculous. Especially when you have such a different contrast between eras. Subban is irrelevant in this conversation. He didn’t even play ten years here.

This is an interesting point. Price is the best player we’ve seen for an entire generation of fans. A blue chip HOFer who’s resume is equal to or better than many of those already retired.

Should that generation of fans who suffered through bad teams, haven’t seen a cup and love Price be ignored because they didn’t win a cup? I mean, there were many nights where Price was the only thing worth watching. It seems disrespectful to simply write him off (and the fans who watched during that period) simply because the team wasn’t good enough to win a championship.

 

[nhlfan9191]

This is an interesting point. Price is the best player we’ve seen for an entire generation of fans. A blue chip HOFer who’s resume is equal to or better than many of those already retired.

Should that generation of fans who suffered through bad teams, haven’t seen a cup and love Price be ignored because they didn’t win a cup? I mean, there were many nights where Price was the only thing worth watching. It seems disrespectful to simply write him off (and the fans who watched during that period) simply because the team wasn’t good enough to win a championship.

That’s what my point has been. It would be like holding McDavid to the standard of Gretzky because the Oilers had a stacked team that won 5 cups 40 years ago. They even won a cup after they traded Gretzky. I’m not saying Price was McDavid but the narrative doesn’t change. I loved Ken Dryden’s quote from years ago. “I was a good goalie playing on great teams. Carey Price is a great goalie playing on good teams.”

 

[RODTHEBAWD66]

NO​

 

[Habs Halifax]

Yes. Best goalie to never win a cup and that is the Habs fault (Bergevin primarily). Price was so good he kept us relevant for years or pretty much a decade.

Price should not be measured by cups. He was so good and everyone in the league talked about it over and over again. Even some Habs fans denied that he was the best goalie. Don't come back with Vasi talk on a contender type BS.

This is an interesting point. Price is the best player we’ve seen for an entire generation of fans. A blue chip HOFer who’s resume is equal to or better than many of those already retired.

Should that generation of fans who suffered through bad teams, haven’t seen a cup and love Price be ignored because they didn’t win a cup? I mean, there were many nights where Price was the only thing worth watching. It seems disrespectful to simply write him off (and the fans who watched during that period) simply because the team wasn’t good enough to win a championship.

100% agree. Just spoke to some of the same things. If anybody is measuring Price on cups, they need to go away with that ignorance.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

That’s what my point has been. It would be like holding McDavid to the standard of Gretzky because the Oilers had a stacked team that won 5 cups 40 years ago. They even won a cup after they traded Gretzky. I’m not saying Price was McDavid but the narrative doesn’t change. I loved Ken Dryden’s quote from years ago. “I was a good goalie playing on great teams. Carey Price is a great goalie playing on good teams.”

The thing that really helps Price is that he’s actually better in the playoffs than the regular season.

From 2015 to 2020 he goes 28 games and gives up more than three goals twice. In 19 of those games it’s no more than two. A .929 save percentage. That is insane consistency and doesn’t even include the crazy run he had in 2021.

Not only does he have the Hart/Vezina placements going for him, he has multiple upset victories in the postseason to go with it. Boston, Pittsburgh, TO, Vegas… and he came within a game 7 OT goal of knocking of the eventual cup champs in 2011. There’s the sweet shutout of Boston in 2008 too.

Dryden had an incredible underdog cup in 71. Roy never had an underdog series win for us. Price did it on the regular. It’s f***ing insane that we got that kind of playoff goaltending and came away with no cups.

Playoff play matters so much. It’s why I think Maurice Richard is the 5th best player of all time. His resume isn’t quite as good as some others if you only look at the regular season but when you factor in the playoffs, he’s insanely good. The guy scored at almost a 50 goal rate in the postseason.

 

[Zalos]

He's definitely going into the HoF. As for having his number retired, I'm sure it will happen in the future. Not instantly, though.

 

[ReHabs]

Yes. Best goalie to never win a cup and that is the Habs fault (Bergevin primarily). Price was so good he kept us relevant for years or pretty much a decade.

Price should not be measured by cups. He was so good and everyone in the league talked about it over and over again. Even some Habs fans denied that he was the best goalie. Don't come back with Vasi talk on a contender type BS.

100% agree. Just spoke to some of the same things. If anybody is measuring Price on cups, they need to go away with that ignorance.

People talked about Thomas, Luongo, and Lundqvist over and over too. And Holtby, Quick, Rinne, Bobrovsky, and Hellebuyck even.

I loved Price and still love him. I think he was a star. His prime, however, was cut short and therefore bitter and he was never heads and shoulders above the crowd. His absolute peak was incredible but so was the absolute peak of Lundqvist, Thomas, etc. See below:

Player	Season	GAA	SV%	Wins
Tim Thomas	2010-2011	2.00	0.938	35
Carey Price	2014-2015	1.96	0.933	44
Sergei Bobrovsky	2016-2017	2.06	0.931	41
Henrik Lundqvist	2011-2012	1.97	0.930	39
Pekka Rinne	2017-2018	2.31	0.927	42
Braden Holtby	2015-2016	2.20	0.922	48
Jonathan Quick	2011-2012	1.95	0.929	35
MA Fleury	2017-2018	2.24	0.927	29 in 46
Tukka Rask	2013-2014	2.04	0.930	36
Roberto Luongo	2006-2007	2.28	0.921	47

He didn't have any sustained period of being The Best. Holtby was neck-in-neck with him in '14-'15 for the record.

Please note I did not cite Stanley Cups in this response but Stanley Cups ARE very important in the discussion. The argument that the Habs were bad and therefore Price should get his jersey retired because he was good on a bad team is the wrong one. Jersey Retirements are different. Price didn't do anything that made him worth immortalizing. He'll be fondly remembered as would be Saku Koivu. Simple as. You retire the number of legendary champions, not of people who did their best on a bad team. Come on.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

People talked about Thomas, Luongo, and Lundqvist over and over too. And Holtby, Quick, Rinne, Bobrovsky, and Hellebuyck even.

I loved Price and still love him. I think he was a star. His prime, however, was cut short and therefore bitter and he was never heads and shoulders above the crowd. His absolute peak was incredible but so was the absolute peak of Lundqvist, Thomas, etc. See below:

Player	Season	GAA	SV%	Wins
Tim Thomas	2010-2011	2.00	0.938	35
Carey Price	2014-2015	1.96	0.933	44
Sergei Bobrovsky	2016-2017	2.06	0.931	41
Henrik Lundqvist	2011-2012	1.97	0.930	39
Pekka Rinne	2017-2018	2.31	0.927	42
Braden Holtby	2015-2016	2.20	0.922	48
Jonathan Quick	2011-2012	1.95	0.929	35
MA Fleury	2017-2018	2.24	0.927	29 in 46
Tukka Rask	2013-2014	2.04	0.930	36
Roberto Luongo	2006-2007	2.28	0.921	47

He didn't have any sustained period of being The Best. Holtby was neck-in-neck with him in '14-'15 for the record.

Please note I did not cite Stanley Cups in this response but Stanley Cups ARE very important in the discussion. The argument that the Habs were bad and therefore Price should get his jersey retired because he was good on a bad team is the wrong one. Jersey Retirements are different. Price didn't do anything that made him worth immortalizing. He'll be fondly remembered as would be Saku Koivu. Simple as. You retire the number of legendary champions, not of people who did their best on a bad team. Come on.

All of those goalies played on far better clubs. All had far better protection. Price had better numbers than all of them during his prime.

Moreover, Price was at his best in the postseason, regularly beating far better clubs. Beating two powerhouses on the way to the final is no small feat. And unlike all those players - save Lundqvist- Price was considered among the very best players in the league. It’s also incorrect to say that he didn’t have a sustained period where he wasn’t the best. 2011-2017 he’s the best goalie in the league.

It’s also absurd to equate Saku Koivu with Carey Price. Price is a full fledged HOFer and eons beyond him.

Once again, compare Price’s resume to those already retired. It’s as good or better than many already there.

He deserves more than a bobble head night.

 

[nhlfan9191]

All of those goalies played on far better clubs. All had far better protection. Price had better numbers than all of them during his prime.

Moreover, Price was at his best in the postseason, regularly beating far better clubs. Beating two powerhouses on the way to the final is no small feat. And unlike all those players - save Lundqvist- Price was considered among the very best players in the league. It’s also incorrect to say that he didn’t have a sustained period where he wasn’t the best. 2011-2017 he’s the best goalie in the league.

It’s also absurd to equate Saku Koivu with Carey Price. Price is a full fledged HOFer and eons beyond him.

Once again, compare Price’s resume to those already retired. It’s as good or better than many already there.

He deserves more than a bobble head night.

I don’t know why this guy keeps bringing up Saku Koivu. Lol he had two 70 point seasons and was a 50-60 point player the rest of his time here.

 

[ReHabs]

I don’t know why this guy keeps bringing up Saku Koivu. Lol he had two 70 point seasons and was a 50-60 point player the rest of his time here.

Don't pretend the same sentimental types who insist on Price didn't also insist on Koivu.

I've put forth arguments about Price and Price alone, none of you seem to want to acknowledge that Price was never the single best goalie in the NHL for a significant span of time, much less the best player in the NHL at any point.

So what that leaves is: no Cups, no sustained period of dominance, and a lot of "what ifs". You don't immortalize that, you give him his due credit for being a great player and you move on respectfully. When we win the next cup we will do it with a legendary goaltending performance, and that player could very well be wearing #31.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Don't pretend the same sentimental types who insist on Price didn't also insist on Koivu.

I've put forth arguments about Price and Price alone, none of you seem to want to acknowledge that Price was never the single best goalie in the NHL for a significant span of time, much less the best player in the NHL at any point.

They aren’t even in the same league so no, they aren’t in the same sentiment. I have made the argument, you choose to ignore it. You’re cherry picking stats that fit your narrative. Price was the best statistical goaltender from 2010-2017. That’s 8 seasons. That is a significant span of time. Why aren’t you bringing up the graph for that instead of trying to debate who had the better single season save percentage since the lockout? That isn’t Saku Koivu whose a forward that didn’t even have a single PPG season in his career.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Don't pretend the same sentimental types who insist on Price didn't also insist on Koivu.

Very few people would support Koivu’s jersey being retired. The HOF is a prerequisite. He wasn’t an exceptional player the way Price was.

I've put forth arguments about Price and Price alone, none of you seem to want to acknowledge that Price was never the single best goalie in the NHL for a significant span of time, much less the best player in the NHL at any point.

Your arguments don’t hold water. Price was widely considered the best goalie in the league for years. He was statically the best goalie in the league from 2010-2011 through 16-17 and that was on some horrible teams. His numbers took a huge hit when MB tanked the club in 17-18 but even then he was still seen as the best in the league by his peers for a long time.

And yes he absolutely was considered among the best players in the league. Regularly appeared in the top five of TSN’s top players. Bob McKenzie remarked that Price was the only player who might be able to surpass Crosby as having the best career from the 2005 draft. That was back when he looked like he was on his way to back to back Harts before getting hurt.

Injuries limited him and it was a short career. But even in the short career he had it’s a legit HOF resume. It’s incredible that he was able to have the career he did with those teams he was on.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

So what that leaves is: no Cups, no sustained period of dominance, and a lot of "what ifs". You don't immortalize that, you give him his due credit for being a great player and you move on respectfully. When we win the next cup we will do it with a legendary goaltending performance, and that player could very well be wearing #31.

Best statistical goalie in the league for a sustained period of time 10-11 to 16-17
Hart, Vezina, Pearson
Dragged a horrible team to the finals
Multiple big playoff upsets
7 times in the top ten for Vezina
4 times top 20 in Hart voting - 2x top ten
.919 post season save percentage -.924 from 2011 onward.

That’s a better resume than many who are already retired.

 

[Bombshell11]

Best statistical goalie in the league for a sustained period of time 10-11 to 16-17
Hart, Vezina, Pearson
Dragged a horrible team to the finals
Multiple big playoff upsets
7 times in the top ten for Vezina
4 times top 20 in Hart voting - 2x top ten
.919 post season save percentage -.924 from 2011 onward.

That’s a better resume than many who are already retired.

You're too invested in this.

Maybe let it settle for 15-20 years and see how you feel about it then.

I dont think you're open to be reasined out of your position.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

You're too invested in this.

I just provided you with the stats supporting his case. If you don’t think it does, tell us why.

Maybe let it settle for 15-20 years and see how you feel about it then.

I dont think you're open to be reasined out of your position.

I’m always open to good arguments. You haven’t provided any.

You said he wasn’t close to those other players and I showed you their resumes. I asked you to explain and you didn’t answer. If you disagree that’s cool, tell us why.

The only reason to not include him is the fact that he has no cup. On that front, I disagree. But people are entitled to their own opinion there.

 

[Habs Halifax]

People talked about Thomas, Luongo, and Lundqvist over and over too. And Holtby, Quick, Rinne, Bobrovsky, and Hellebuyck even.

I loved Price and still love him. I think he was a star. His prime, however, was cut short and therefore bitter and he was never heads and shoulders above the crowd. His absolute peak was incredible but so was the absolute peak of Lundqvist, Thomas, etc. See below:

Player	Season	GAA	SV%	Wins
Tim Thomas	2010-2011	2.00	0.938	35
Carey Price	2014-2015	1.96	0.933	44
Sergei Bobrovsky	2016-2017	2.06	0.931	41
Henrik Lundqvist	2011-2012	1.97	0.930	39
Pekka Rinne	2017-2018	2.31	0.927	42
Braden Holtby	2015-2016	2.20	0.922	48
Jonathan Quick	2011-2012	1.95	0.929	35
MA Fleury	2017-2018	2.24	0.927	29 in 46
Tukka Rask	2013-2014	2.04	0.930	36
Roberto Luongo	2006-2007	2.28	0.921	47

He didn't have any sustained period of being The Best. Holtby was neck-in-neck with him in '14-'15 for the record.

Please note I did not cite Stanley Cups in this response but Stanley Cups ARE very important in the discussion. The argument that the Habs were bad and therefore Price should get his jersey retired because he was good on a bad team is the wrong one. Jersey Retirements are different. Price didn't do anything that made him worth immortalizing. He'll be fondly remembered as would be Saku Koivu. Simple as. You retire the number of legendary champions, not of people who did their best on a bad team. Come on.

Show me the rosters each of those goalies had?

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

No .

And I want the Habs to unretire all the numbers except for #7 and #9

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

No .

And I want the Habs to unretire all the numbers except for #7 and #9

No Beliveau? Harvey? Lafleur?

Tough crowd.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

For any other franchise, it's a no-brainer.

For Montreal, it's a bit tougher. Legit case that players who did more for & with Montreal that didn't get their jersey retired.

I think if you include his international results (Sochi, WJC) as part of the body of work, and account for a decade of his injury shortened career being bungled by bargainbin, then he makes the cut.

Crazy that he's still only 37. Considering his last NHL showing was a HOF worthy cup finals run performance @ 33... He could've had 3-5 more elite seasons with a healthy body... Gone too soon

I think if you have to dig into Sochi and WJC to justify his jersey retirement for the Montreal Canadiens then you have already answered the question. Those apply to his HOF inclusion, they are meaningless when it comes to raising his jersey to the rafters.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I think if you have to dig into Sochi and WJC to justify his jersey retirement for the Montreal Canadiens then you have already answered the question.

The good news is, you don’t have to. His Montreal resume speaks for itself.

But the Sochi performance was f***ing amazing and it’s cool to talk about.

Those apply to his HOF inclusion, they are meaningless when it comes to raising his jersey to the rafters.

Correct.

 

[InglewoodJack]

Yes, and they’ll do it after he wins the cup with us as our goalie coach.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

In the same way that I don't think a HOF means you should get retired it's the same way around for me. I don't think not making the HOF should disqualify you from having your jersey retired. Does anyone think a guy like Daneyko shouldn't have his number retired in Jersey?

Like if Brendan Gallagher played 20 seasons here, over a 1000 games and won a couple of cups while being a key cog as the same level of player, I'd say retire his jersey. It's all about club legacy.

 

[JianYang]

I think a player is worthy or he’s not. Price is worthy.

The Canadiens aren’t going to win the cup the way they used to when their were six teams. It just doesn’t work that way anymore. More and more superstar players are going to be retiring without cups. It’s just the reality of a 32 team league.

It will be reasonable to conclude that there will be 4 big markets that the nhl would like to tap.

Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix/Scottsdale and Toronto #2

I can see a 35-36 team league eventually.... which would be 6 times as large as 1967 and earlier. Times have changed and we should keep up.