Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price has been selected as the Hickok Belt Award winner for the month of February 2014. Voting was conducted by a select panel of members of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA). Price was selected for his outstanding performance throughout February, a month in which he led the Canadian hockey team to gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics with his astounding goaltending. Price was named best goaltender at the tournament by the International Ice Hockey Federation directorate after posting back-to-back shutouts. His 31 saves against the United States in the 1-0 semifinal game and 24 saves against Sweden in the 3-0 gold-medal game helped clinch gold for Canada. Price finished the tournament with a 0.972 save percentage, allowing only 3 goals on 106 shots.
Other finalists for the month of February in order of how the NSSA voters ranked them included: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (auto racing), Malcolm Smith (football), Viktor Ahn (speedskating), Jessie Vetter (ice hockey), Darya Domracheva (speedskating), Marit Bjoergen (cross country skiing), Bubba Watson (golf), Jason Day (golf), and Karrie Webb (golf).
Price’s selection as the Hickok Belt Award winner for February 2014 recognizes him as “the best of the best” in professional sports for the month and makes him the second candidate eligible to receive the 2014 overall award, joining previous 2014 monthly winner Kevin Durant.
Voting for the 2013 overall Hickok Belt Award winner is currently underway and will be announced in the coming weeks.
