According to the Associated Press on Friday, Montreal Canadiens goaltender and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Carey Price of Vancouver, British Columbia has won the 2022 Bill Masterton Award. The award is presented annually to the player who shows the most perseverance, dedication and sportsmanship.
Price missed the majority of the season to undergo treatment for mental health issues and substance abuse. He entered a residential treatment facility.
On the ice, it was a struggle for Price in 2021-22. In five games, he had one win and four losses with a goals against average of 3.63 and a save percentage of .878. Price’s lone win was in the Canadiens’s last win of the season, a 10-2 Montreal win over the Florida Panthers on April 29. The Panthers made the controversial decision of deciding not to play its best lineup, with the decision to rest their top guns for the playoffs. The Panthers did beat the Washington Capitals in six games in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, but were then clobbered by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.
Price won the gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Among the other awards he has won include the 2015 Hart Trophy, the 2015 Ted Lindsay Award, the 2015 Vezina Trophy, and the 2015 William M. Jennings Award.
Price becomes the sixth Canadiens player in franchise history to win the award. He follows Claude Provost of Montreal, Quebec (1967-68), Henri Richard of Montreal, Quebec (1973-74), Serge Savard of Landrienne, Quebec (1978-79), Saku Koivu (2001-02), and Max Pacioretty (2011-12).
