Hamilton won the series 4-1, delivering the city's first pro hockey championship and Ontario's first pro hockey championship since the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1967.
Labels: AHL, Calder Cup
by James Mirtle @ 9:34 PM
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A sportswriter at The Globe and Mail, James covers the NHL and the game of hockey. He is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, a senior editor with McKeen's Hockey and was the NHL network manager at SB Nation from 2008 to 2010. A graduate of Thompson Rivers and Ryerson universities, James grew up in Kamloops, B.C. — one of Canada's great hockey cities — and was a season ticket holder in the Blazers' glory years.
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8 Comments:
Figures. Takes a Canadiens farm team to do the job the Leafs and Sens can't do! ;)
Lyle, I appreciate your work, but sir you are no Randy Turner....
Read this famous column from May where the Winnipeg Free Press columnist lambastes the Habs for starting Carey Price.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/topstory/story/3960378p-4572888c.html
Given how far off Turner was in his estimation of Price and the Canadiens attitude toward their farm club, I'm happy not to be in Turner's "class".
What is it about some pundits' low opinion of Carey Price? The Habs were ripped for drafting him fifth overall in 2005 (most famously by TSN's Pierre "MONSTER!" McGuire), and then Turner and Ed Tait of the Free Press.
Yet the kid was the CHL player of the year for 2007, was named the WJC MVP this year backstopping Team Canada to a third straight gold medal, and was the 2007 AHL Playoff MVP backstopping Hamilton to the Calder Cup.
What will it take for Price to be taken seriously?
Probably not much. At least not in Hamilton. We're all ready to elect him to be Prime Minister.
If any up and coming goaltender was every worthy of a man crush, it's got to be Carey Price. His calm demeanor endears him to every coach he's ever played for. I'd assume that holds true for his teammates as well.
I just read an article that says he's 6'2" and already 225. The kids already got the size and strength to play in the NHL.
Give him a few more years and he'll come screaming out of the gate and show everybody, most notably McGuire, wrong.
I think Gainey got ripped for the pick not so much for taking Price, but for passing up Gilbert Brule, who was still available at #5. Funny how quickly things change -- in 05-06, Price struggled a bit, while Brule put together a very strong season in leading the Giants to a WHL title and an appearance in the Memorial Cup. A year later, though, and it's Price who looks like the hot prospect, while Brule had an inconsistent year in Columbus. (The whispers around the Habs organization were that they had concerns about Brule's durability, a legitimate worry given his last two seasons.)
No question Gainey is looking like a genius now, as Price looks like the best young goaltending prospect to come along in quite some time. Given how unpredictable goalies can be, though, I'd be tempted to wait a year here before anointing Price as Patrick Roy's heir.
Yeah, I was also livid about them not taking Brule at the time, but it's definitely worked out for the better, all things considered.
(Side note: I took German with Brule's girlfriend this past year. He's done pretty well in that department, at least.)
I saw Price play in junior hockey quite a bit, and back then he was this thin kid on terrible Tri-City teams. He didn't have a winning record in the WHL until after his draft year.
I recall thinking at the time the Habs should have taken Brule, but looking back on it all, the third-best player in that draft (behind Crosby and Johnson) quite likely was Anze Kopitar. (Although Price can still move as high as second depending on how he fares in the big leagues.)
Kudos to the Canadiens scouting staff so far, though. If nothing else, he's a winner.
And it's remarkable that he's gained close to 50 pounds in, what, three years? I'd like to meet his trainer.
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