Carey Price will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this Fall and will more than likely make his way to the Ring of Honor as well, but should his number hang from the rafters?
On Monday, the Hockey Hall of Fame announced that Carey Price had gotten the call and would be inducted on November 9 in Toronto. When former Montreal Canadiens captain Shea Weber was inducted in 2024, the team wasted no time in adding him to its Ring of Honor on November 16, 2024, just a few days after his induction ceremony.
Weber became the 61st member of the Ring of Honour, a display around the Bell Centre that immortalizes members of the organization inducted into the Hall. One can now wonder whether the Canadiens will do the same for their former goaltender, who left an indelible mark on the franchise's history by establishing a new record for most wins with 361. Chances are that they will and that there will be a night honouring Price at the Bell Centre next fall.
The question now becomes, will it stop there, or will the organization decide to send his famous number 31 to the rafters? The Canadiens have retired 15 numbers in their history to honor 18 players (two players shared three numbers: Bernie Geoffrion and Guy Lapointe shared number 5; Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore shared number 12; and Elmer Lach and Henri Richard shared number 16).
Only three goaltenders have found their way to the rafters: Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy. Is Price worthy of joining them? That’s a question which will likely prompt a lot of debate in the future. Some will dismiss the idea because the British Columbia native has never won a Stanley Cup, but is that fair to him? Would Plante, Dryden and Roy have been able to lead the Habs to a Cup if they had played with Price’s teammate with very little attacking support? Or would Price have won Stanley Cups if he had been part of the Canadiens’ formidable dynasty from the 70s’?
That’s a question that’s a lot easier to answer, isn’t it? And that should tell you something; it should tell you that yes, Price is deserving of that honour. He’s won everything but Lord Stanley’s mug: the Vezina Trophy, the Hart Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Trophy, the William M. Jennings Trophy, the Bill Masterton Trophy, the Calder Cup, the World Cup, the Olympic Gold medal and the World Junior Championships gold medal. It would be the first time a player who’s never won a Stanley Cup sees his jersey raised to the rafters, but Price is worth making an exception for.
When Roy retired in 2003, the Canadiens didn’t send him up to the rafters right away; he had to wait until 2006 before his number 33 went up to the rafters, so it could be some time until we find out if the organization feels Price is worth setting a precedent for.
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