Regarded as the greatest goaltender of his generation and one of the toughest, meanest and most feared defencemen of his generation, the pair were teammates on the Montreal Canadiens team for several seasons and are the two newest inductees into the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame.
Former Olympic gold medallists Kelly Price and Shea Weber will be inducted into the Penticton Hall of Fame at the 2024 induction ceremony on Saturday, July 19, at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Price never officially retired from the Canadiens or the NHL after suffering a serious knee injury, but he remains the winningest goaltender in Canadiens history with 361 career wins.
He was selected fifth overall in the NHL Draft by the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League.
Most hockey pundits consider him the best goaltender of his generation.
His best season came in 2014-15, when he led the NHL in goals allowed average, save percentage and wins.
He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's best player, the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender and the Ted Lindsay Award as the best player voted for by NHL players.
Weber was selected 49th overall in the NHL Draft and played 11 seasons with the Nashville Predators, six of which were as captain, before joining the Canadiens in June 2016.
Weber was a member of the 2005 Canadian World Junior Team that won a gold medal at the World Championships, and helped the team win the Memorial Cup in 2004 as a member of the Kelowna Rockets.
From the time he entered the NHL in 2006 until his recent retirement, Weber was considered one of the NHL's toughest defenders and repeatedly finished in the top five in Norris Trophy voting as the NHL's best defenseman.
Weber's long list of accomplishments includes winning the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2015-16 and amassing 589 regular season points in 1,038 career games with the Predators and Montreal Canadiens.
He scored 42 points in 97 career Stanley Cup playoff games and helped the Canadiens reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Joining Price and Weber in the 2024 class are Tom Kowal (umpire division), Scott Bradley (builder) and the 2010 Fort St. John Flyers.
“B.C.'s hockey community is so deep and rich, and we have another fantastic and deserving class,” said Jim Hughson, chairman of the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame and long-time play-by-play commentator for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.
“Our inductees are from Sicamous, Anahim Lake, Abbotsford, Vernon and Fort St. John – it's truly a regional group with great stories of their significant contributions to the game.”
“It's truly a huge honor being a BC native from the small town of Sicamous,” Weber said in a news release. “I'm one of the fortunate guys to have been able to play my entire minor hockey and junior career at BC, so getting this call definitely means a lot.”
He said he is honoured to be inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame and that it “definitely feels special” especially seeing the people who have gone before him.
In 2015, Price accomplished something no one had done since Dominik Hasek in 1998: win the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Ted Lindsay Trophy and share the William H. Jennings Trophy with Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Price was inspired to play like Patrick Roy and in 2018 he recorded his 290th career win with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Boston Bruins, passing the legendary Habb for second place in Canadiens history.
Price has a 361-261 record in 712 NHL regular season games and 43 wins in 92 Stanley Cup playoff games, including leading the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final alongside Weber in the 2020-21 season.
“Obviously it's a great honour to be inducted, but it means a lot to me, especially to be inducted alongside my teammates,” Price said. “I'm proud to be a British Columbian.”
Price spoke about this realization and said it's a time for reflection.
“It's amazing to me how quickly careers come and go,” he said. “Right now, sitting in my room at home with all my gear and everything, I feel really humbled that I've had such an incredible journey from Anahim Lake to now. It's been a really surreal journey.”
Induction into the state Hockey Hall of Fame is special for all inductees, Hughson said.
“What we're trying to do is really honor the athletes, the builders and the teams that have made our state proud,” he said. “Every year this class is great. It's really a great event.”
Hughson said there are currently more than 300 cabinets filled with photographs, trophies, sweaters and other hockey memorabilia inside the SOEC Hall of Fame.
“I encourage everyone attending this year's event to visit the Hall of Fame,” he said, “to wander the halls, see the exhibits and meet many of the people represented in those exhibits, and then move on to SOEC to honor this year's inductees.”
Hughson said he got to see firsthand just how great Price and Weber were in their prime and broadcasting dozens, even hundreds, of their games was an experience he'll never forget.
“They were both key members of the gold medal-winning team at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, which to me was the greatest ice hockey team of all time,” he said. “There was never a second in that tournament where they looked like they were going to lose. That's how dominant they were. And Shay and Carey were very prominent players on that team.”
Hughson said both men were excited and honored when they were informed of their status as new inductees and look forward to the induction ceremony.
Bradley, a Delta native, is a senior advisor to Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney and has been with the Bruins for 30 years.
As part of the scouting department, the Bruins drafted key players such as Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Prior to turning professional, the British Columbia native coached Abbotsford teams in the Tier II Junior A and Senior AAA leagues for five seasons, leading an Allan Cup finalist team in 1989-1990.
Kowal grew up in Vernon and officiated minor and amateur hockey. After officiating amateur and junior hockey, including in the Western Hockey League and Memorial Cup, Kowal was hired as an NHL official in 1998 and has officiated 1,094 NHL regular season games and 12 Stanley Cup playoff games through the 2017-18 season.
Following his retirement from the NHL, Kowal joined the WHL Referee Development Staff in 2018 and is currently the WHL Referee Development Coach based in High River, Alberta.
In 2010 the Flyers won their first Allan Cup, the 102nd National Senior Championship, with a 3-1 victory over the Bentley Generals. Fort St. John went on to win the tournament undefeated.
The Flyers became the ninth hosting team to win the Allan Cup since the tournament changed to a round-robin format in 1992.
The national title is British Columbia's 12th all-time, behind Ontario's 48.
The Allan Cup was first held in 1908 and is one of the oldest club team hockey competitions in North America.
Tickets are available at the SOEC Box Office and at Valleyfirsttix.com. The event begins at 5 p.m.
