Great take. Not much to add to it. in 2010, Halak became a shadow over the 5th overall pick Carey Price. Halak was traded and it took Carey Price 10 years to equal Halak's 2010 playoff performance.

Exactly.

I agree with your assessment of Price when it comes to the pantheon of Canadiens goaltenders. Lack of a cup is no way to mark a person's career, but at least in the case of Dryden and Roy, they were THE reason the Habs won cups. But at the same time, one can only wonder what might have been.

I often thought of Price, like the emperor in the children's tale, "the emperor's new clothes." Even though I was told just how fantastic he was by fans and media alike, more often than not, I found it hard to see. Was there ever a beautiful new suit?

Excellent Jack.

Thanks Todd.

Enjoyed your article - putting Price in both the Hero and Zero columns perfectly sums-up his time as a Hab.

Thank you. Also helped me to resolve the issue of where to put him.

Good choice 👏

Looking forward to him no longer being a montreal canadien. Not a fan. He's a doofuss. The gun stuff and forgetting Reinbachers name. Embarrassing for the organization.

I had forgotten the forgetting.

Such a clear-eyed assessment of 'the Price era'. Good read. Thanks once again.

Thank you Betty.

Great column as usual Jack. Price certainly was a polarizing personality on and off the ice. I was sure he was the one who would get traded the year Halak took them deep into the playoffs. The rest is history. Too bad he never won a Stanley Cup. The only award that really matters in hockey.

Yes, it is. They gave it all they had it 2021, for sure.

Having Price in the hero and zero section is so “Jack Todd” of you! Love it! Cheers Jack 🤩

Great read as always Jack!

Thank you.

Great appraisal of his Canadiens career, and yeah, rating him 4th makes sense (or even 5th, after Vezina). His legacy moment was in Sochi, not even wearing the Saint Flanelle.

George Hainsworth too, maybe.

A brilliant review of what was, what wasn't, and what could have been. Thank you for that.

Thanks David.

Absolutely a great piece ..and with 1 phrase you really put into words the way I feel about 31 “ In hindsight, the Price Era is especially melancholy because it held such promise and fell so far short” Thanks Jack

Thank you, Denis.

Excellent article, Jack. Thx as always.

Thanks Bruce.

Great piece, as always. 👍

Thanks Patrick.

Great column Jack. I’m fairly sure that a lot of fans do not see Price as an enigma. He was indeed a Hero for his many qualities and a Zero for his huge missteps.

Thanks David.

👍

Very good article, trip down memory lane 😅

Great read Jack, remember watching Price in Hamilton during the Calder Cup win and looking forward of what was to come in Montreal! Hockey is the ultimate TEAM sport and just wish Carey had more help in front of him during his career!

I remember Red dismissing the idea of Roy's number retirement because of how he left the team. Carey's will be retired at some point. Nostalgia is a helluva drug

I don't think it will be. But we'll see.

Price was the best athlete of the 4 in my humble opinion. He was penalized by the social media scrutiny that contemporary athletes have to put up with. I never saw Plante so can’t comment. Loved Dryden but played behind a beyond stacked team. Leaves Roy and CP31 Roy wins, two Cups in the ears!😂

I would hardly call it social media scrutiny when he voluntarily makes a promo for the gun-nut lobby and circulates it around the world himself.

I misrepresented my thoughts. His post was beyond idiotic. I just meant that back in the day, even if you did stupid things, it was easier to get away with it. Cheers.

True that.

Peter Mansbridge did an piece on Price and he spoke to Dryden as well. Dryden said "I was a good goalie on a great team. Carey is a great goalie on a good team."

Could be accurate. But I would differ with Dryden on his self-assessment.

The whole Polytechnique misstep, if it can be called that, left a very bad taste in my mouth. In spite of his sometimes great play, at the end of the day that’s how I will remember him. That and his equally clueless wife.

I used to follow both. Then I saw his Maga wife spewing Maga garbage and unfollowed her. Not too long after, he started doing the same and I unfollowed him. Lost all respect for him. Was extremely disappointed, but being good at hockey isn’t an excuse for being an idiot and talking bullshit.

Definitely. You see it all the time. You can be excellent at sports and be a stupid person with terrible judgment. A certain # 99 also comes to mind. Interesting how they both have American wives. Glad the Habs will finally be rid of him.

I’ve been a Habs fan since the Lafleur days. I’ll be glad we have nothing to do with him anymore.

I mentioned the American MAGA wife in a note to a friend today. What a shame he didn't hook up with a Quebecois woman with a wider perspective on the world.

Agreed

Agreed! Some of these guys are with their wives since they were teenagers. I think Price was. Teenage boys are not known to have the best judgment. I should know, I had two of them. 🥴

Ha! I'm just wrapping up the final few days of teenage boy number 3. Familiar with that of which you speak.

Same. I know many, perhaps most, will forgive that MAGA stuff. I will not

Good Morning Jack - excellent article, sir . I am with Lajoie and in my perfect Habs world , Price contract moved and 2 C added in 1 fell swoop . Now that would be a Labour Day to remember 😎. It's been a fantastic Habs summer, will Hughes make it even better .

Maybe HuGo can get a player that that they would package to trade for a 2C. Maybe a 3-way trade where San Jose gets more cheap AAV?

Yep , a 3 way is very possible

Thanks Scott. I stayed away from trade speculation. There's so much BS. When you see them quoting "sources," you know they're lying. Very few people are in the loop so unless you're in a position where those people are confiding in you, it's BS. And leaking news of a deal would cost them their jobs

Cheers, Jack. Being a Habs fan since the 60's, speculation has always been a wild ride, emotionally speaking. Regardless of what does or doesn't happen, it's been a fantastic off-season for Hughes and the Habs. The vibe around the team is absolutely electrifying and how awesome is that .

Thanks Scott. At some point I have to write something about the organization itself. Not many in all of sports that function at this level. It's seamless.

My pleasure indeed. We have both been around to see several Habs regimes , and not all have run smoothly . Sam Pollack was the only other Habs GM that ran such a " tight ship " . It's clear, Molson / Hughes/ Gorton and Marty have created something special indeed. What a time to be a Habs fan.

You know they may never get within sniffing distance of a Cup. It's harder than it used to be. But you couldn't have a better run organization.

Well peronally I believe Demidov and Hutson will lead us to #25 and beyond. Their work ethic is incredible. But , I certainly agree it's definitely harder to hoist Lord Stanley than ever before. I believe our organization is run as smoothly as a Patek Phillipe 24 Karat Gold watch .

The Canadiens secret weapon, in my opinion, is France Margaret Belanger. She's the one who set the wheels in motion for this to become the best organization in hockey - aided and abetted by Chantal Machabee.

Between FMB in the exec, Hughes with his experience as an agent, and CM's experience as a journalist, they really do "get it" with the kids. The environment and culture they've created is something entirely new in pro sports.

And when I say kids, I'm talking about the veterans too, cause they're all kids to me 😂

I think you're right - no one has attempted anything like this and it's working brilliantly.

Ha! You should do commercials.

Cheers 🤣😂

HuGo doesn’t leak, ever.

You got that right.

… and if a dreger or friedman yips some rumour, it came from the other side HuGo is dealing with. I’m pretty sure Kent warns trade partners of the conditions of going to the ‘insiders’.

Great read again Jack! I will remember #31 as a great goalie, injury prone, and at time not very bright. I agree that Roy, Dryden... Were a lot better overall.

Thank you, Jacques

Way more ups than downs. Good recap JT.

Thanks Moe.

another good read Mr. Todd! a fair, unbiased assessment of Carey, on and off the ice(unfortunately). especially enjoy ur Heroes-Zeroes section! *Let us NEVER forget the Poly Technique Massacre

Thank you very much.

Great column- heroes and zeros never disappoints

Thanks Mike

Went back to check gretzky was still there as a zero. 👍🏻

Price made it to both.

No problem. JT’s opinion.

Your rankings are probably right, but honestly being 4th behind three of the all time greats is no bad thing. Those seasons between 2010-11 and 2016-17 were incredible, and utterly squandered by Habs management. What a shame.

Great column. A perfect summary of the contradiction that is Carey Price.

Thank you, Dan.

Great column!

Thanks Bob.