Why Carey Price is so good

[Glacier]

Price has been shaped by the family he grew up with and the weather he has endured. His pious hard working parents provided a stable home free of drugs and alcohol, a rarity in Anahim Lake. Anahim Lake is the non-reserve community adjacent to the Ulkatcho First Nation. Almost everyone drinks like a fish there, both white and native. Of course, we don't want to confuse Anahim with the Anaham reservation some 2 hours away. Both are named after Chief Anahixm, which is totally unrelated to Anaheim, California. Anaham is the first nations community near the small unincorporated community of Alexis Creek, which in turn is not to be confused with Alexis Creek First Nation some 50 km away, situated between Redstone and Chilanko Forks.

Anyway, back to Anahim Lake. You have to be really tough to grow up there. You have to be tough to say no to drugs and alcohol. You have to be tough to inter-racial tensions and the likelihood that you will get beat up at school at least once. You have to be tough to travel 300 km to hockey practice. You have to be tough to endure the mosquitoes which are so bad that someone I know from Alaska lasted a week there before giving up.

And the weather is worse than even furthest reaches of Alaska. Anahim Lake averages 1.9C at night in July. The frost-free period is two weeks long, and temperature can drop down to -6C at night in the middle of July. By contrast, the Yukon's northernmost community, Old Crow, averages 8.9C as the daily low in July. And then there's winter, which is pretty harsh even by Canadian standards. Dry skating outside in -50 weather. The four seasons in Anahim are:
1) Almost Winter
2) Winter
3) Still Winter
4) Mosquitoes

If you can survive all that, and you get the opportunity to play hockey, you have good odds of making it big in the NHL.

[GordonH]

^^^ he is hell of a goalie for both Montreal & team Canada.

Montreal Canadiens in last few years (with the exception of last season) have made playoffs on Carey's back, since there offense sucks/lack of scoring punch. Hopefully the additions will take some of the weight off him by scoring more.

[JayByrd]

Carey was very lucky to have a somewhat well-to-do family, who could afford the time and expense involved in seeing him through hockey. I say this not to detract from his accomplishments...part of anyone's success, is taking advantage of whatever opportunities they have. He had a chance to succeed and didn't squander it.

I first became aware of Price in his rookie season with the WHL's Tri-City Americans. The Ams turned to Carey in the playoffs, over the veteran Tyler Weiman. He was drafted 5th overall that summer by Montreal, played two more seasons of junior, and by age 20 was nominally the starting goalie for Montreal. The rest is history.

I also never knew he was a cousin of Shane Doan.

[Glacier]

I would not say he comes from a well to do family at all. His parents lived in a shack when Carey was young -- a two room log house without modern amenities. Of course, you don't need a lot of money to live out in Anahim Lake. His mom was the chief for a few years later on, which probably paid more than they were accustomed to getting.

[JayByrd]

I would not say he comes from a well to do family at all. His parents lived in a shack when Carey was young -- a two room log house without modern amenities. Of course, you don't need a lot of money to live out in Anahim Lake. His mom was the chief for a few years later on, which probably paid more than they were accustomed to getting.

There's no minor hockey in Anahim Lake. Carey played his youth hockey in Williams Lake, which is quite a distance away. His father eventually bought a plane to avoid having to drive. I took from that that they must have been fairly well off. Their living conditions in Anahim might have had more to do with what was available there, than their financial situation.

[the truth]

carey price #1 on and off the ice

[sooperphreek]

i suppose the considering he is such a powderpuff and hardly ever plays a full season he gets alot of time off for rest. for these reasons i do not consider him to be the "best".

[GordonH]

i suppose the considering he is such a powderpuff and hardly ever plays a full season he gets alot of time off for rest. for these reasons i do not consider him to be the "best".

Take a look at his GP (games played) WHL has 72 game season, NHL has 82 game season.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... ?pid=72046

It's not his fault the team in front of him in Montreal sucked.

Added later: who do you consider to be the best

[sooperphreek]

not carey price. i get sick of the sports pundants lauding him ad nauseum.

[alfred2]

He is a great goalie, you are very jealous because you are not great

[the truth]

i suppose the considering he is such a powderpuff and hardly ever plays a full season he gets alot of time off for rest. for these reasons i do not consider him to be the "best".

imo, he is by far the best, he has won at every level,only Stanley cup to go

he makes goaltending look so easy its insane, how good is he, habs were the best in the nhl last year because of him, when he went down they were the worst for the rest of the season

[JayByrd]

i suppose the considering he is such a powderpuff and hardly ever plays a full season he gets alot of time off for rest. for these reasons i do not consider him to be the "best".

If having bones that can break and ligaments that can tear makes one a powderpuff, then I guess you can add almost every athlete to that list. You must think very little of Bobby Orr, who was out of hockey by age 31 (Price is 29 right now)

As far as ability to play his position, Price is the best in the world at this time, and is probably close to the top of the all-time list. Whether his career will match up to the Roys and Brodeurs and Sawchuks of the world, who knows. sooper, I wonder if being "sick of the pundits" is colouring your opinion of him as a hockey player. You've watched him play, what do your eyes tell you? Are there flaws in his game that others are missing?

[GordonH]

There is 1 goalie I would have liked to have seen in a 82 games NHL season, that goalie is Vladislav Tretiak. Just see if he would be as good without the rest of that incredible Central Red Army team.

[the truth]

There is 1 goalie I would have liked to have seen in a 82 games NHL season, that goalie is Vladislav Tretiak. Just see if he would be as good without the rest of that incredible Central Red Army team.

for sure that would of been soooo coooool

[JayByrd]

Another player who deserves to be in the conversation is Dominik Hasek. Hasek only ever posted one losing NHL season. Won two Stanley Cups, multiple league championships in Europe, Olympic Gold medal, etc etc. He was a quirky guy who would disappear for long stretches due to seemingly-random injuries (sooperphreek will appreciate that). Part of his success was his unorthodox style...he would do things to stop the puck no one else was doing. Rolling onto his back to make a save on a deking shooter. Dropping his stick on a goalmouth scramble, and grabbing loose pucks with his blocker. Some of those elements have been adapted by others, but there's still never been anyone like him.

Hasek's final NHL season (with the Detroit Red Wings) read like this: 27W-10L-3T, 5 SO, 2.14 GAA, .902sv%. This was at age 42.