Goalie Day: Reflecting on Carey Price’s Legacy

Carey Price is still holding out hope for a medical “miracle” that will allow him to overcome the knee injury that has prevented him from playing this season, but even if the long-time Montreal Canadiens superstar never plays in the NHL again, his legacy will live on through all the goalies he inspired to play.

From the way he played, to the equipment he chose and some of the innovative ways he wore it, no one moved the needle in the goalie world like Price.

Beyond all the awards won and records set during 15 seasons in the Canadiens crease, including the most wins (361) in franchise’s storied history and the 2015 Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy, he is the most influential goalie talent dating back to his World Junior Championships coming out party way back in 2007.

With that in mind, InGoal is celebrating the fifth anniversary of International Goalie Day, a holiday created by one of our own on November 1 in honour of Jacque Plante first donning a mask on that date, by kick starting a series of stories featuring the goalies that Price has inspired with his play. It’s a list that includes several of rising Canadian stars, but it’s certainly not limited to them. Price’s impact on goalies crossed borders and age groups, and it’s one worth celebrating, even as every goalie we talked to for it wished mostly to see him play again.

We’ll start the series with Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart.