Carey Price

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size = 250px
team = Montreal Canadiens
league = NHL
position = Goaltender
catches = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 3
weight_lb = 219
nationality = CAN
birth_date = birth date and age|1987|8|16
birth_place = Anahim Lake, BC, CAN
draft = 5th overall
draft_year = 2005
draft_team = Montreal Canadiens
career_start = 2007|

Carey Price (born August 16, 1987 in Anahim Lake, British Columbia) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League.

Playing career

He was drafted in the first round, fifth overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He spent his junior hockey career playing for the Tri-City Americans in the Western Hockey League and started his pro career with the Hamilton Bulldogs in the American Hockey League.

In 2007, the Montreal Canadiens signed Carey Price to a three year contract worth $850,000 USD. He played his first professional game and recorded his first professional win on April 13, 2007 in an American Hockey League game with the Hamilton Bulldogs against the Grand Rapids Griffins. He was the 1st star of the game as well as stopping 27 of 28 shots.

Price led his team (15–6) to the Calder Cup, with an impressive goals against average (2.06) and save percentage (.936). In his first game of the Calder Cup finals, he stopped all 46 shots to post a shutout. He won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the Calder Cup playoffs MVP while he was 19 years old. He is the youngest player ever to win this award.

Price was named Tournament MVP at the 2007 IIHF World Junior (U20) Ice Hockey Championship in Sweden in Canada's third straight (thirteenth overall) gold medal win. He was also named the tournament's top goaltender and was named to the tournament's All-Star Team along with teammates Jonathan Toews and Kris Letang.

He is the only goaltender in hockey history to be named CHL Goaltender of the year, World Junior Championship's tournament MVP and win the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy, all in the same year. He is also the only goaltender in hockey history to win the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy the same year as playing junior.

On October 1, 2007, Price was named to the Montreal Canadiens roster for the start of the 2007–08 season.

Price made his highly anticipated Montreal Canadiens debut on October 10, 2007, versus the Pittsburgh Penguins and recorded 26 saves for the Canadiens in a 3–2 win. Through the first month of the season, he would be awarded the Canadiens' Molson Cup for October, given to the player with the most first-star selections.

Although assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL midway through the season in January, he was called back up shortly over a month later. Then, with the trade of starting goaltender Cristobal Huet before the trading deadline, Price assumed the starting role. Subsequently, Price was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for March [citeweb|title=Habs' Price named Rookie of the Month|url=http://www.tsn.ca/NHL/story/?id=233357|publisher=TSN.ca|year=2008|accessdate=2008-05-03] and the NHL First Star of the Week (ending April 6, 2008) [citeweb|title=Price named NHL's first star of the week|url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=233756|year=2008|publisher=TSN.ca|accessdate=2008-05-03] as the Canadiens finished first overall in the Eastern Conference. Price completed the regular season leading all rookie goaltenders in wins (24), save percentage (.920), and shutouts (3).

On April 15, 2008, in a 1–0 win against the Boston Bruins, Price became the first Montreal Canadien rookie to record a playoff shutout since Patrick Roy in 1986. [citeweb|title=Carey Price earns 1st playoff shutout|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2008/04/15/bruins-canadiens-report.html?ref=rss|publisher=CBC Sports|year=2008|accessdate=2008-04-17] He would go on to record another shutout in game seven to eliminate Boston, but would eventually lose in the second round to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Personal

Price was raised in Williams Lake, British Columbia. His father, Jerry Price, was also a goaltender. The elder Price was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the eighth round, 126th overall in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. His father never played in the NHL, but he did play four seasons of pro hockey in various leagues. He is currently the goaltending coach of the Tri-City Americans, his son's former team. His mother, Lynda, is the current chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation. Shane Doan, reigning captain of the Phoenix Coyotes, and poker professional Justin Bambrick are cousins to Carey Price.

Awards

* WHL West First All-Star Team - 2006–07
* Del Wilson Trophy (WHL Top Goaltender) - 2006–07
* CHL Goaltender of the Year - 2006–07
* Jack A. Butterfield Trophy - 2007
* Calder Cup - 2007
* Molson Cup - October 2007
* NHL Rookie of the Month - March 2008
* NHL All-Rookie Team - 2007-08

Career statistics

Regular Season

External links

* [http://knol.google.com/k/andrew-bell/carey-price/1gi7uxqqtt51h/12# Profile for Carey Price]
* [http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=287218 "Price Steals the Show for Canada" by Bill Meltzer] -- NHL.com December 2, 2007
* [http://www.nhl.com/features/system/price020606.html "Carey Price: Continuing the legacy" by Shane Malloy] -- NHL.com June 2, 2006
* [http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/11737/la_id/1/ss_id/23170/player_id/8674.htm Hockey Canada player profile]
*hockeydb|72046

References