Price Over Halak. Right or Wrong?
July 5, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Either decision, keeping goaltender Carey Price or playoff spring sensation Jaroslav Halak could have been declared “right”. Price and Halak have both developed with the Montreal Canadiens, albeit along different expectation curves. Both are young and talented, Halak the older of the two. But despite recent heroics, Halak was recently traded to the St. Louis Blues and the city figuratively burned over the decision.
To some degree the situation is reminiscent of the Matt Dunigan-Damon Allen quarterbacking situation in Edmonton in the late eighties. The CFL Edmonton Eskimos boasted two highly regarded and talented young quarterbacks but one starting position in a sport that can tolerate only one true field leader. In the summer of 88, the same summer that saw Wayne Gretzky infamously leave Edmonton Oilers for the LA Kings, the Eskimos made their decision. The storied club traded Dunigan and retained the younger Allen. There was no real loser in retrospect.
Both went on to have outstanding careers, both won championships and both have hall of fame careers to look back on.
The Canadiens’ situation is different in that Halak isn’t perceived as nearly the athlete that Price is. But Halak’s spring results, including game seven wins over defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin’s league-leading Washington Capitals were both convincing and breathtaking.
My favourite, personality-wise, is Halak. Of course. The good immigrant and the serious, quiet, team-oriented chap who has one girlfriend and one focus. Price is the anointed local, a golden boy with the physical gifts and impressive pre-pro accomplishments that make him a greater prospect.
But, as John McKay (former NFL Tampa Bay Bucaneers coach) might have said, Price may also be the guy “who has seventy-four girlfriends, has a big hat and drives a big car”.
Still more parallels from football shape my view …
Will Price be a Ryan Leaf or Todd Marinovich? The much-heralded quarterback Ryan Leaf was a total bust but initially he passed the “eye-test” and got the combine numbers. He was a specimen (or as recently resigned Montreal GM Bob Gainey liked to say about Price; a thoroughbred). Leaf was taken first overall but players taken after him; Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb both accomplished far more. Manning has dominated the position and won a Super Bowl. McNabb is considered an elite quarterback despite the championship having eluded him thus far. Both are still adding finishing touches to certain hall of fame careers.
But Leaf, who impressed with his Roman Gabriel stature, strength and Heisman pedigree (he was a finalist for the coveted NCAA award) passed out of the league with little impact. By 2002 he was out of football entirely.
Todd Marinovich was a rock-band dude who never wanted to play football. His dad tied his right arm behind his back for protracted periods of time in Marinovich’s childhood so the kid would be leftie (and other horror stories).
Neither Marinovich nor Leaf fulfilled the promise.
Or will the situation be one of greatness despite hubris? Will Price be a Patrick Roy or Dan Marino?
Marino and Roy were both prodigies and both unsavoury in their unique ways. But because of other factors; perhaps drive, ego and will and, of course, great talent; those two claimed great long-term success. Marino may have missed a championship because he alienated too many teammates. No Jay Hilgenberg declarations of blocking buses for the quarterback were ever uttered by a Miami offensive lineman. (Jim McMahon, former Chicago Bear quarterback commanded such respect and his centre, Hilgenberg made the statement famously during the Bears’ heyday in the eighties. “I’d block a bus for Jim”). But nonetheless, Marino may have been the best pure passer in football history.
In hockey and for Montreal, the future is now. And the name is Carey Price. The 22-year old is entering his third full season and with the recent addition of 29-year old Alex Auld as the projected veteran backup, Price’s ascension to the post of unidisputed starting goaltender in Montreal seems complete.
But which path for Price? Marino? Leaf? Depends on how serious he is about hockey. I see little inclination for him to prove his worth. He has the plaudits and laurels that some never get, that some fight for years to earn. He’s already been compared to George Hainsworth on the cover of a national newspaper’s sports section. He’s been on the cover of ESPN’s national magazine. What does he have to prove?
And now he’s been told, once again, that what little he has given his team is enough. That his pedigree is enough. But he is behind the development curve. His Calder Cup and gold medal with the juniors are fast becoming distant memories. He is, despite the positive press and spin from certain media members as well as the Hab brass, not developing at the rate expected. He lost his job early in 2010 to Halak, a Jacques Martin decision, and might have been demoted to Hamilton Bulldogs the previous season under former head coach Guy Carbonneau. But Gainey overruled.
Will he ever catch up? Will he ever realise his potential? Certainly, he, like Leaf before him, passes the eye test. He is a large goalie with the athleticism of a smaller man, a rare and coveted quality in both football and hockey.
But physicality is linked to mentality. And perhaps the only thing that might motivate him now is being shamed on the public stage. And, perhaps this is extreme but I don’t see that happening unless he flames out and is finally fully castigated by Montreal fans and media and is eventually traded. Only then will he make something of himself. Or, if he is the Marinovich type, he’ll just bounce around til every Dick Vermeil and Mike Ditka in the hockey world gives him chance after chance.
Which shall it be?
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