If there’s one guarantee when the Hockey Hall of Fame announces its annual inductees, it’s this: some will vigorously applaud the selections, and some will find fault with NHL players omitted. This year is no different, and for many, the selection of Alexander Mogilny marked a triumphant “at last” moment. Zdeno Chara, Duncan Keith, and Joe Thornton are also all valid choices. What sticks out like a sore thumb, however, is the glaring omission of goaltender Carey Price from this year’s class.
2025 marked the first year Price was eligible for consideration by the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee. Even looking at the league as a whole, not just as a Montreal Canadiens journalist, Price should have been a shoe-in. Slam dunk. No-brainer.
Multitudes of Habs and hockey fans, plus members of hockey media, likely did a double-take when Price’s name was conspicuously absent. I’m not admonishing the individuals selected in this year’s player category, but rebuking the committee’s decision to not include one of the greatest players we’ve seen in recent hockey history. In fact, my first words were literally, “How is Carey Price NOT a first-ballot hall-of-famer?!”
The committee’s selection process should have gone like this: “Obviously Carey Price, now who else goes in with him?” He’s the winningest goaltender in Montreal Canadiens history, and dominated the goaltending position across the NHL during his career. Many touted him as the best goaltender in the entire world during his peak performance years.
Price, a fifth-overall draft pick, excelled in junior hockey, then catapulted the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) to a Calder Cup Championship. He even earned himself an MVP award in the process. His steady presence in the crease, alongside his work ethic and values on and off the ice, culminated in him winning the Ted Lindsay Award, the William M. Jennings Trophy, the Vezina Trophy, and the Hart Trophy in 2015. Price became the first goaltender in NHL history to take all of that hardware home in a single season.
And who can forget how instrumental he was in carrying the Canadiens on his back all the way to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final against Tampa Bay? Adding to that, Price excelled in international hockey as well, winning a World Juniors gold medal in 2007, an Olympic Gold Medal in 2014, and a World Cup of Hockey title in 2016 all for Team Canada.
So again I ask, how is Carey Price not a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection? You’ll probably challenge me by asking who I would remove to make room for him. My answer: no one. I agree with the guys from TSN Overdrive this week who said why not just have a bigger class this year? Back in 1962, the Hall inducted 27 players in one year. Maybe that’s a bit much, but could they have chosen seven this year instead of six? To make room for the most obvious choice of year?
To say I’m disappointed in the committee’s decision to snub Price is an understatement. There’s only one opportunity to be a first-ballot inductee and they’ve robbed him of that.
