This Time, Carey Price Was the One Who Got Robbed

The 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame class was officially announced yesterday. And on a day that should have been full of celebration for every one of the new inductees that got in and deserved the honor, there's one glaring omission that can’t be ignored from this year's class.

Former Montreal Canadiens goaltender and arguably the greatest goalie of the 2010s...

Carey Price.

Before I go further, Yes, I'm a lifelong Montreal Canadiens fan, and yes, I am biased and quite passionate about this topic. But I don’t think that makes me wrong. Carey Price not being inducted as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, I believe, is flat-out disrespectful and is a disservice to one of the greatest goaltenders of the 21st century.

Look at what he accomplished. He played more games (712) and won more games (361) than any goalie in the history of the Montreal Canadiens, arguably one of the most storied franchises in the history of the league, giving those specific numbers even more weight. Price had a career .917% as well as recorded 49 shutouts to rack up 7 All-Star appearances. Then, in 2015, he won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. At the time, he was just the second goaltender this century to win that award. That alone should be enough to cement his legacy, but he didn’t stop there. He also won the Vezina and Ted Lindsay that same season. Not to mention, he was the backbone of a team that did make an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final when the Canadiens were one of the last two teams standing in 2021.

And let’s not forget his international dominance. Who can forget his 2014 Olympic run where he won a gold medal for Canada going 5-0 in his five starts with a mindboggling 0.60 goals against average along with a .972 save percentage. He also won the World Cup of Hockey with Canada in 2016 where he once again went 5-0 in his starts and posted a .957 save percentage. Price was truly dominant on the international stage and as this is the Hockey Hall of Fame, not the NHL Hall of Fame, that level of dominance needs to factored in.

Now, I know what some people are going to say. “Well, he never won a Stanley Cup.” And to that I say—so what? Why were Henrik Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo first-ballot Hall of Famers then? Neither of them won cups either. All Luongo, Price, and Lundqvist made it to the final and came up just short. If Lundqvist and Luongo got in on the first try, how can you possibly justify leaving Price out when you can make a legitimate argument that he was the best of the bunch?

And don't get me wrong, yes, I know Carey Price will still get in eventually, likely even next year. Price will get his moment in the Hall of Fame, and when he does, it’ll be well deserved. But that’s not the point. The point is he should have been inducted in his first year of eligibility. On the first ballot. Every year he was healthy, he was the sole reason teams feared running into the Habs in the postseason, as he always carried underwhelming Habs rosters to the playoffs on a consistent basis. Throughout his time in the league, not only did he have the respect of other players, coaches, and fans across the league, he scared them due to how good he was.

Price was the gold standard for goaltending throughout the 2010s. And he did it all with class and composure, even when the Habs couldn’t put the team around him he deserved or needed to etch his name on that Cup.

So yeah, I’m biased. But I’m also right. Carey Price wasn’t just great—he is one of the greatest ever. And the fact that he has to wait for his place in the Hall of Fame is just wrong.

In a strange turn of events, this time, Carey Price was the one who got robbed.