Players vote Price best goalie in NHL
Weber’s shot, Tatar’s nickname and Bell Centre ice also make NHLPA poll
Carey Price is the best goalie in the NHL, Shea Weber has the second-best shot, Tomas Tatar has the best nickname and the Bell Centre has the best ice.
Those were among the results released Wednesday from the NHLPA Player Poll that surveyed more than 500 players on more than 20 hockey-related questions covering skills, arenas, teams and other fun topics.
Price was voted best goalie by 29.9 per cent of the players, finishing well ahead of the Nashville Predators’ Pekka Rinne (17.3 per cent) and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (17.1 per cent).
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said about Price following practice Wednesday in Brossard. “There’s no reason to be surprised ... what he’s accomplished in his career and everything else. He’s human … he’s had some low points at times. But 90 per cent of the time he’s been outstanding, so I don’t see a surprise in that coming from the players. I think it’s well warranted and he’s done what he’s had to do to get that recognition.
“I think if anything, you got to feel confident when you got a goalie like that in front of you for everybody,” Julien added. “Whether you’re a player, whether you’re a coach, whether your a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, when you see a goaltender like that play the way he has been, it certainly gives us some confidence.”
The majority of NHL players believe Alex Ovechkin has the best shot, with the Washington Capitals captain getting 50.2 per cent of the votes. Canadiens captain Weber finished second with 14.6, followed by the Winnipeg Jets’ Patrick Laine with 12.6 per cent.
Tatar’s “Tuna” nickname was voted the best with 5.6 per cent of the votes to edge the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Artemi “Breadman” Panarin at 5.2 per cent.
“It started in Detroit,” the Canadiens’ Tatar said, referring to his time with the Red Wings. “Tomas Holmstrom pretty much looked at my jersey, saw my name and he was like: ‘Oh, OK, I’ll call you Tuna.’ And since then it kind of got bigger and bigger. After the trade from Vegas (to the Canadiens last summer) I think Shawsy (Andrew Shaw) tweeted right away something about Tuna as well. So that’s how it started here.”
Tatar voted for Price as the best goalie.
“He’s outstanding,” Tatar said. “As an opponent, I always knew he was good. He was tough to score against. He’s really calm in the net. As a teammate, you just can see how hard he’s working and what he means for this locker-room. Obviously, in the big moments Carey is the one who steps in and gives us a chance to be in a game. I think everybody knows how big he is for this team.”
Price has a 30-22-5 record this season with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.
The Bell Centre has the best ice in the NHL, according to 29.6 per cent of the players, followed by Rogers Place in Edmonton with 20.4 per cent of the votes. The Bell Centre ranked second in best atmosphere with 21.2 per cent of the votes, trailing the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with 42.5 per cent.
The Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid was voted the best forward (63.6 per cent of votes), the most difficult player to play against (30.9 per cent) and the player you would select to start a franchise with (60 per cent). Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman was voted the best defenceman (31.7 per cent). The Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov was voted the most underrated player (21.5 per cent).
Former Canadien P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators was voted to make the best TV analyst after retirement (10.8 per cent). The Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand was voted both the best (21.3 per cent) and worst (12.5 per cent) trash-talker in the NHL. scowan@postmedia.com twitter.com/ StuCowan1