Mark Madden: Despite what some experts say, Montreal's Carey Price is not NHL's best goaltender

Many feel the Montreal Canadiens’ best hope to make a series out of the preliminary-round best-of-five against the Pittsburgh Penguins is goaltender Carey Price.

Price was NHL MVP in 2015, also winning the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie. He has won three international gold medals for Canada.

But if Price is their only hope, the Canadiens have zero hope.

At 32, Price is a myth. His best days are long behind him. He’s like Tiger Woods, so renowned for his past that no one takes a good look at what he is now.

Price certainly has his fan club, and they are devoted.

Eric Engels of SportsNet tweeted, “There is no doubt in my mind that Carey Price is the best goaltender in the world.” Ex-Penguin Colby Armstrong echoed that sentiment on my radio program.

But that’s simply not true. In fact, it’s absolutely impossible to believe.

Since winning the MVP and Vezina in ’15, Price has been a Vezina finalist just once, when he finished third in the 2017 voting. He’s been in the top 10 in goals-against average only once since ’15. Same goes for save percentage.

In an era when numbers mean more than anything else, Price’s are ignored in favor of rah-rah. His .909 save percentage this season placed him 34th among goaltenders that played 10 or more games. His goals-against average of 2.79 stood him 35th.

Price did lead the NHL in one category: He surrendered a league-most 160 goals.

Does Price stink? Probably not. Are his numbers punished because the Canadiens are subpar? Sure. That said, Montreal plays a very defensive style under coach Claude Julien.

It’s safe to conclude Price is not the best goaltender in the NHL, or nowhere near. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, Boston’s Tuukka Rask and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy are this year’s Vezina finalists. Price might be top 10, but probably not.

Mostly, Price is a shining example of why you don’t mangle your salary cap by giving a goalie big money. Price carries a $10.5 million cap hit through 2026 and is impossible to trade.

But Price still has his true believers.

It’s an interesting phenomenon, the has-been propped up by media, public and inside opinion.

Woods is a shining example.

When Woods won last year’s Masters at 44, it was heralded by his fanboys (including those in the media) as a new beginning. Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors was again in his sights.

That’s absurd. It was a last gasp, much like Nicklaus winning the ’86 Masters at 46. Woods has zero chance to win three more majors to tie Nicklaus. He might win the occasional tournament, perhaps even another major. He’s going to miss the occasional cut, too. His back will flare up.

Woods is now an above-average golfer capable of occasionally raising his game or seeing it sink. That’s all.

Yet Woods still is trumpeted as the very best, despite what the actual results indicate. It’s understandable, because he changed the game. But it’s not fair to those whose rightful spotlight he hogs, like world No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Woods is 14th) and Brooks Koepka (No. 6), who won three majors between 2018 and ’19.

But whenever Woods plays, the networks, websites and Twitter follow him around the course. The crawl across the bottom of ESPN will say “Woods shoots +6, finishes 40th” (that’s what happened at this past weekend’s Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio). The next item will be who won the tournament. The champion gets second billing.

Examples abound: Tom Brady is effective but fading. His rep still dictates to many that he’s the NFL’s top quarterback, or thereabouts. LeBron James hasn’t been NBA MVP since 2013.

But Brady and James are at least still in the discussion. Sidney Crosby, strictly speaking, might not be hockey’s very best currently. But saying so isn’t a silly statement.

Being the best should be mostly what’s factual, not what’s debated or dictated.

But between a slanted media and the mob of Twitter, it’s an odd world in which we’re living.