First Nations goalie cleans up at 2015 NHL Awards
- Allan Beaver | July 15, 2015
First Nations goaltender Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens put on a show in Las Vegas for the 2015 National Hockey League Awards.
The pride and joy of Anahim Lake, BC captured the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player, Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender and Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player as voted by his peers. Price became the first goaltender since Dominik Hasek in 1998 to win all three.
Counting the William H. Jennings Trophy for the best goals-against average, Price is the first goalie in NHL history to sweep all four awards.
“Everything has just fallen into place for some reason,” Price said at the MGM Grand. “The team has been playing well. Things are just awesome at home. My family is doing great. It’s just been such a blessing.”
Price won the Hart, as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association; the Lindsay, as voted by players and the Vezina, as voted by general managers. Allowing a league-low 189 goals earned him a share of the Jennings with Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Price won the Hart, Vezina and Lindsay in runaway fashion. Alex Ovechkin, John Tavares, Pekka Rinne, Devan Dubnyk and Jamie Benn were all competing for second.
Price encouraged First Nations youth to be leaders in their communities as he accepted one of four trophies he won at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
"I would like to take a moment to encourage First Nations youth," said Price, who was raised in the largely aboriginal community of Anahim Lake, B.C.
"People would say it's very improbable that I'd make it to this point in my life," he said in a minute-long speech to some of the most decorated hockey players in the world, while accepting the Vezina trophy for best goalie.
"I made it here because I wasn't discouraged. I worked hard to get here, took advantage of every opportunity that I had. And I would really like to encourage First Nations youth to be leaders in their communities. Be proud of your heritage, and don't be discouraged from the improbable."