When Carey Price was at his most dominant, he won the Vezina Trophy (top goalkeeper) en Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP) in 2014-15, Carter Hart was just 16 years old.
The foreboding but innocent kid had just started shaping his game at the junior hockey level with the WHL’s Silver Tips in Everett, Washington.
Price was at the peak of the sport.
“He was my favorite goalkeeper who grew up,” Hart said.
On Wednesday, the night before his 22nd birthday, Hart found himself stroking next to Price on the center ice line in front of the scorekeepers’ bench.
There was Hart, on the same NHL stage as his idol, who confronted him in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The NHL postseason is serious business, and requires extreme competitiveness and focus. Hart, whose youth often belies his mediocrity, fully understands the beast that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But the postseason provides special moments and memories. NHL players all looked up to someone in one way or another. For Hart, he allowed himself to appreciate progress.
“Definitely really cool,” Hart said last Sunday about the upcoming best-of-seven matchup of the first round with Price’s Canadiens. “Just had the chance to actually meet him the next week and talk to him for the first time, that was kind of pretty cool. For your first playoff series, playing against Carey Price will definitely be a lot of fun; I’m looking forward to it. it. “
Price, who turns 33 on Sunday, could not spoil the boy’s anniversary. By midnight, Hart and the top-seeded Flyers had a 1-0 series lead after earning a hard-fought 2-1 victory over eighth-seeded Montreal. Hart is 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goal-versus-average and .966 save percentage through three games in the NHL’s return-to-play tournament.
On the ice, the Flyers were able to carry Hart around, after rejecting 27 of 28 shoes, with 16 of those savings coming in the second period when the Flyers really needed him.
From the ice, they made sure Hart celebrated his birthday a little early, making the best of the circumstances in the bubble of the Eastern Conference.
“I think some guys got him ice cream after the game yesterday and just sang him happy birthday,” Shayne Gostisbehere said Thursday with a smile. “He handled it pretty well.”
“Let him do his thing,” Scott Laughton says of Hart.
“Yes, let him do his thing,” echoed Gostisbehere.
After a brief and sweet exchange with Price, Hart did his thing in Game 1.
“Just said hello fast in warmups, good luck and it was just time to play,” Hart said.
If you have to keep cool to your idol … and try to beat him to death #StanleyCup Playoffs! pic.twitter.com/sYU2SYTpR0
NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) August 13, 2020
If Hart continues to play the way he has this season and start the tournament, he could remember the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs for much more than a memorable matchup with Price.
But there is a child in everyone. Then again, Hart is only 22 years old.
“He’s a special kid,” Derek Grant said last week. “He’s so calm. He puts on his mask. You do not know how old he is.”
With his mask off, Hart hopefully enjoyed some ice cream and woke up in the moment.
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