Can he be Legen..... wait for it Dary?!?!

In June of 2005, Carey Price was chosen 5th overall by the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, many critics in the city have criticized Mr. Gainey's choice and would have preferred to select a dominant forward, which was available at the time. However, in my opinion the choice couldn't have been any smarter. The great saying is defence wins championships and I believe this holds true with hockey. Ask the Philadelphia Flyers who for many years were a force to be reckoned with , but never had the goalie to make a run. Having said that, let me refresh some memories and take you back to the 2006 Stanley cup playoffs when an improbable rookie in Cam Ward backstopped the hurricanes to a championship, the only other goalie to do so other than Patrick Roy.

I decided to write this because it is infuriating to see how Carey Price is still being criticized as not being the future of the habs and his potential is being overshadowed because some individuals believe his statistics are not good enough to be in discussion with the elite goalies of the National Hockey League. Therefore after listening to a caller on a local radio show, expressing his views on how there is no comparison between Tim Thomas and our beloved Carey Price, I decided to do a little research. I started to collect data of various modern and past NHL goalies to see how they faired in their early careers, more specifically before the age of 24. Patrick Roy accumulated 68 wins, 3.06 gaa and 404 goals against. Martin Brodeur has 82 wins, 2.64 gaa, 367 goals against, faced 4100 shots and had an accumulative save percentage of .903 and played 168 games . Ed Belfour had a 3.87 gaa, 74 goals against, 605 shots against, and a save percentage of .877 and played 23 games. Lets take a look at a few more modern day goalies that could be used more for comparison. Cam Ward has a 3.12 gaa, 438 goals against, 4268 shots against and had played in 157 games has 81 wins and accumulative save percentage of .894 before the age of 24. Roberto Luongo, 2.79 gaa, 481 goals against, 5727 shots against and played in 194 games, has 55 wins and accumulative save percentage of .914 before the age of 24. Marc Andre Fleury had a 3.24 gaa, 406 goals against, 4114 shots against, played in 138 games, has 57 wins and accumulative save percentage of .900 before the age of 24. Jaroslav Halak, 2.62 gaa, 146 goals against, 1697 shots against and 56 games played he has 30 wins and accumulative save percentage of .918 before the age of 24. Jonathan Quick, 2.95 gaa, 292 goals against, 3189 shots against, 119 games played, accumulative save percentage of .892 and has 61 wins before the age of 24. many people will look at this and say that there are notables missing such as Tim Thomas, Lundquist, Kiprusoff and Miller so I will clarify these individuals did not qualify because of when they appeared in the NHL. In this data I collected, I will mention the number of wins these individuals along with some other household amassed before the age of 24. Now I will give you Price's stats, 2.64 gaa, 487 goals against, 5703 shots against, 190 games played and accumulative save percentage of .915 and has 89 wins and counting before the age of 24. Price ranks among the best in various categories when looking at other NHL goalies, furthermore it is impressive that he has 89 wins and counting before the age of 24 only trailing Tom Barasso who had 96 wins, but who knows what can happen with a hand full of games remaining. I understand that this data only reveals certain goalies and also a certain era, but in order to properly address these critics, I believed it was important to use modern statistics that would provide fair analysis. Now the moment I have been waiting for Tim Thomas, which in my opinion is a phenomenal goalie, but unfortunately a late bloomer. Tim Thomas came into the league at age 28, and after 5 nhl seasons broke the century mark with 109 wins, a stat, Carey Price will certainly surpass. I am not trying to discredit the work of Thomas, I just believe it is crazy to compare the two netminders. In addition, in my opinion if Price were to play in a team that is defensively sound like the bruins or on a talented team like the Flyers they would be in serious discussion to win the Stanley Cup, unfortunately the undersized Montreal Canadiens and a depleted defensive core expose the young goalie. However, I truly believe that this kid has the potential to be a champion one day and hopefully his success is shared with the Montreal faithful

yours truly,

canolz