The Price is right
Ask any hockey fan what is the toughest job in the game and they’ll say goaltending. In Montreal that job falls to Carey Price, the goalie who hails from Anahim Lake, British Columbia.
Price credits his parents, Lynda and Jerry Price, as being strong influences on his life and career. “They worked very hard for me to play hockey and getting me where I needed to be,” says Price in an interview.
His mother, a former chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation, and his father, a goaltender who was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1978, taught their son everything he knows. Today Jerry Price is the goaltending coach for the Tri-City Americans, his son’s former major junior team in the Western Hockey League (WHL).
Hockey runs throughout the Price family. Carey Price’s second cousins include Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes and Keaton Ellerby of the Florida Panthers.
Price began his career with the Kennewick, Washington-based Tri-City Americans at the beginning of the 2002-03 season. In 2004-05, Price established himself as a top-notch goaltender with eight shutouts, a 2.34 goals against average and .920 save percentage.
He was drafted by the Canadiens in 2005 and started his pro playing career with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. In 2007, he led the Bulldogs to the Calder Cup championship, where he was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield trophy as MVP, making him the youngest recipient of the award and the only goaltender to do so as a junior. The same year he became the only goaltender in hockey history to be named CHL Goaltender of the Year, World Junior Championship’s tournament MVP and win the Butterfield trophy.
Price was on the Canadiens’ roster for the 2007-08 season, playing alongside Cristobal Huet, before becoming the starting goaltender for the 2009 season. Asked how hard it is to play in such a pressure cooker like Montreal, Price said, “It takes getting used to. I mean Montreal is one of the best hockey towns in the league, so playing here is intense.”
When asked if he identified with being a role model to First Nations youth in Canada and how important it was for them. “I try not to think about it because, it’s a lot to think about. All I try to do is play the best I can.”
Last season during Montreal’s only visit to Vancouver, Price, with the help of his mother and former Hab and First Nations player Gino Odjick, invited 1,000 Native children and adults to watch the Habs practice in GM Place.
The interest in hockey has grown quite a bit in many First Nations communities and there are new leagues sprouting up all over the country. Hockey has become a way out for some youth. “The best advice I can give young people is to work hard and keep at it,” Price offered.
When asked about playing on the world stage at the 2007 World Junior Championships, where he helped Canada win gold and being named the tournament MVP, Price said, “That’s definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
This season, the Canadiens have a .500 record and Price seems to have bounced back from a disappointing 2008-09 season. The Canadiens tend to win games in overtime with Price leading the way. “Overtime and shootouts are exciting, but sometimes it’s all about luck.”