Carey Price Gets Robbed

By Josh Thomas

Yes you read that correctly.

 

Carey price is used to being the one doing the robbing. Not this time. This time it was the NHL.

 

The NHL revealed their Vezina cantidates Friday morning. Tuukka Rask, Semyon Varlamov, and Ben Bishop. These are all worthy candidates, but there is one small problem. There is no way Carey Price should have been left off that list.

First things first before I get called biased. As much as I hate the Bruins (believe me I hate the Bruins) Tuukka Rask is going to win the Vezina. He deserves it, and whether or not Price was nominated wouldn't make a difference in the winner. That's not my issue.  

 My issue is that Price deserves some respect, and since I'm saying he deserves to be on that list, someone has to come off.  

 Ben Bishop is a good goaltender. This season bishop posted 37 wins, five shutouts, a save percentage of .924 and a GAA of 2.23. It should also be noted the lightning allowed on average 29 shots per game. Those numbers are very respectable. 

Now let's have a look at prices numbers. 

Price racked up 34 wins, had a save percentage of .927, a GAA of 2.32, 6 shutouts, and one more thing we'll get into later. The Habs allowed 31 shots per game. 

The numbers are almost identical. 

I could be wrong but so far that seems to me like a tie. Maybe Bishop gets the nod because he has 3 more wins and a better GAA by .09.  

 If that is the case then maybe the NHL should look at who the Vezina is supposed to be given to "the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position," 

Funny, I didn't see anything saying he's the best at his position during the NHL season.  

 Now we get to that other thing I was talking about. If you are Canadian and reading this you already know what I'm talking about. Price went to Russia, took the Canadian starting job and ran with it. He recorded 5 wins 0 losses, a save percentage of .971, 2 shutouts and a GAA of 0.59. En route to a gold medal. That. Is. Ridiculous. That is something out of a video game. 

 I understand this is an NHL award but it is supposed to go to the best goaltender. While 5 nearly flawless games against the best players in the world isn't enough to pass Tuukka Rask's 36 wins, .936 save percentage, 2.04 GAA and 7 shutouts. It is certainly enough to surpass the .09 differential in GAA and 3 wins that separate Bishop (who didn't make his Olympic team) and Price. 

 It would have been nice to see the two tenders square off in the playoffs but unfortunately bishop hurt his elbow. 

 All Carey Price has done his whole career is win and get better, he deserves some recognition. It's nothing against bishop. Price just deserved it more. 

Follow Josh Thomas on twitter:

@kidcanada9

Follow Habs Diehards:

@HABSDIEHARDS1