NHL AWARDS: HABS’ PRICE DUE FOR BIG HAUL
Canadiens goaltender a favourite to win both the Hart and Vezina Trophies
An admittedly offbeat fact, should Canadiens goaltender Carey Price be announced as winner of either the Hart or Vezina Trophy at the NHL awards gala on Wednesday:
In Las Vegas, where good luck is a precious commodity, Price would become the 13th different Canadiens player to win either award, a dozen Habs since the mid-1920s having won each of them.
Teammate P.K. Subban, meanwhile, is bidding to become just the third Canadien in history to win multiple Norris Memorial Trophies as the league’s best defenceman, after Doug Harvey’s six and joining Larry Robinson’s two.
Price’s name might by now be in a sealed envelope, and it’s not outrageous to say that he’s the favourite to win both.
Price’s stellar goaltending campaign was one for the books, and indeed some of it went into the record ledgers.
Price led the league with 44 wins (a franchise record), a 1.96 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. He also tied for second in shutouts, with nine. Single-handedly, he stole a dozen or more points during the regular season, leading the Canadiens to the second-best record in the NHL. The Canadiens then went two rounds and 12 games into the playoffs.
The Hart, awarded to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team, is selected by a ballot of journalists on the NHL beat, leaguewide.
Price is a finalist this season with two snipers: Washington Capitals’ Alexander Ovechkin and John Tavares of the New York Islanders.
Since 1981-82, the Georges Vezina Trophy has been awarded to the goaltender judged by a general managers’ vote to be the best netminder in the league, a subjective call not based purely on statistical performance.
Price is up against Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators and Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild.
The 27-year-old Price is also up for the Ted Lindsay Award, which goes to the league’s MVP as judged by his peers, a ballot taken among members of the NHL Players’ Association.
Price is a Lindsay finalist with Ovechkin and Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, vying to become the only Canadien to win the award since Guy Lafleur took it home three straight seasons from 1975-76 through 1977-78, when it was named the Lester B. Pearson Award.
Even in the implausible event that Price is shut out on Wednesday, he won’t head back to his summer home in Kelowna, B.C., empty-handed.
Price and Chicago Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford, who just won the Stanley Cup for the second time, Will share the William M. Jennings Trophy for having played at least 25 games for the teams that this season tied for fewest goals allowed (189).
Six different Canadiens defencemen have won the Norris a total of 12 times since it was introduced in 1953-54. Subban is hoping to receive the prestigious prize on Wednesday for the second time in three seasons.
The Norris recipient in 201213, Subban is in the running for the media-voted award alongside Drew Doughty of Los Angeles and Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson.
The sartorially splendid Subban is sure to rock the red carpet outside the MGM Grand Hotel when he arrives for the awards show on Wednesday afternoon.
“You’ll have to wait and see,” he joked Monday afternoon.
Subban was on the Vegas red carpet last year, but as a celebrity interviewer, posing questions to award nominees.
On Wednesday, his family with him in Vegas, Subban expects to live the moment to its fullest.
“I just want to have fun with the experience,” he said. “There are a lot of great superstar players who aren’t at the awards. It shows you it’s not easy to be here and I just happen to be. I’m very lucky to have won a Norris Trophy before.
“Regardless what happens, I think I had a fantastic year individually and I think my numbers speak for themselves. At the end of the day, I’m going to enjoy the experience. Whether it’s myself or the other two guys, I think we’re all deserving in our own way.”
If you like to wager, here’s as a good a bet as any you’ll make in Las Vegas this week:
By the time the Canadiens play their Red vs. White pre-season intrasquad game at the Bell Centre on Sept. 20, the dressingroom plaque of Habs trophy winners will have been revisited.
The arena’s technical crew will have done some engraving — just how much we’re about to find out.