Price won the Hart and Vezina trophies in 2015 with a season for the ages: 44-16-6, 1.96 goals-against average, .933 save percentage. Stephane Waite, his goaltending coach, said during training camp that Price believes he can be even better than that, and he appears to be showing it.
"I don't know, man, I feel the same," Price said Thursday. "I don't really feel I need the measuring stick to hold up against any other year. I'm just trying to play the game."
That, in a nutshell, is Carey Price. He is not concerned with the past, he does not worry about the future. He is solely focused on the present.
It's a lesson he learned coming of age in the hockey fishbowl of Montreal, where distractions can engulf you and the slightest dip in performance can make a passionate fan base turn on you in a heartbeat.
No one knows that better than Price, who was the chosen one at the start of his career, over the hill at age 23, and is back atop the mountain of Canadiens fan adulation.
His importance was made obvious last season when the Canadiens crumbled after he was injured. But what isn't quite as obvious is the impact Price has on the team mentally.