The Price is Right

Right now, life is good for 20 year old Carey Price. He just won the Calder Cup with the Hamilton Bulldogs (the Canadeins Farm Team) and was named MVP of the series. He has been heralded as the savior for Montreal in the net, and has drawn comparisons to Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden already. An NHL scout has been quoted as saying "Price will be a Michael Jordan at his position". But what is the next step for Price.

The #1 spot at goalie is unknown for the Montreal Canadeins for the '07-08 season.
After a break-out year in '05-06, Cristobal Huet played average hockey in the '06-07 season. David Aebischer, who came over in the Jose Theodore trade had a chance at the starting job last year, but played poorly giving up 3.17 goals per game in 28 games. Finally, Jaroslav Halak made his debut with the Canadeins last year and played well going 4 games over the .500 mark. Right now Price has a huge chance of taking the starting job.

But none of these goalies seem ready to take the starting job in Montreal and play consistent. The players who have the most experience out of those 4 are David Aebischer and surprisingly, Price. Aebischer made it to the playoffs many times with the Colorado Avalanche, and Price just won the 2nd biggest prize in hockey. It is unlikely though that Price will take the starting job at his young age. "Nothing's going to be forced," Trevor Timmins, the Canadiens director of player recruitment and development, said Friday. "We'll just take it step by step .

"I've always preached patience ever since I got to Montreal. We can't be impatient with a young goaltender, especially, because most of them don't come into their prime until their late 20s."

This is a growing trend in the NHL. Many teams have young goalies who are being labeled as the next big goalie. Players like Justin Pogge, Kari Lehtonen and Tuukka Rask are all young goalies that are going to be or have already been thrust into a pressure situation in the NHL at a young age

We'll just have to wait and see what is going to happen over these next 4 months with not only Price, but goalies all over the league.