Carey Price named Canada’s top athlete

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price on Tuesday was named the recipient of the 2015 Lou Marsh Trophy honoring Canada’s top athlete.

Price, 28, had a stellar 2014-15 season, capturing the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player and the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie.

Price set career highs in wins (44), goals-against average (1.96) and save percentage (.933) last season.

He also won the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL’s MVP as judged by his fellow players, and shared the Jennings Trophy as the netminder on the team with the fewest goals allowed with Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Price, a former Tri-City American, is the first hockey goaltender to win the Lou Marsh, and the first Canadiens player to win the award since Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur was honored in 1977.

A native of Anahim Lake, British Columbia, Price racked up an 83-74-9-3 record in 193 career regular season games to go along with a 2.53 GAA and a .914 save percentage with the Americans. Price was named the WHL and CHL’s Goaltender of the Year in 2007.

Price is just the second WHL graduate to earn the honor. Bobby Clarke (Flin Flon Bombers, 1966-69) won the award in 1975.

The Lou Marsh award is selected annually by a panel of sports journalists from across Canada and is named after the former Toronto Star sports editor. It’s been awarded every year since 1936 — save for 1942-44 — with a hockey player winning 13 times.

Bobsledder Kaillie Humphries won the award last year.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Carey Price named Canada’s top athlete."