Carey Price is drawing comparisons to Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy. (Canadian Press)

Running up against the giants of history is a rite of spring every time a Montreal Canadiens goaltender makes his playoff debut, and this time around, the expectations are sky high for Carey Price.

"They have a guy in goal that from all of my sightings has been remarkably composed," said Mike Milbury, an analyst and former general manager, said this week. "The references to Patrick Roy and [Ken] Dryden in Canadiens' history look like they might actually pan out."

Pretty lofty stuff for a goalie yet to hit the crease for a playoff game, but Milbury is not alone in his views. Price has been as good as his advance billing, coming off championships at the world juniors and in the American Hockey League just within the last 16 months.

Price was 24-12-3 with three shutouts, a 2.56 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in 41 appearances in his rookie NHL season. The 20-year-old helped pace the Canadiens to a first-place finish in the Eastern Conference at least a year ahead of what most prognosticators expected from the young team.

Montreal this season went a perfect 8-0 against the Boston Bruins, their first-round opponent in the playoffs, and Price was in net for five of those victories.

Price positioned between Dryden, Roy historically

In a historical context, the surprise aspect of Price's assignment in the playoffs falls somewhere between that of Dryden and Roy.

Coach Al McNeil surprised many people in 1971, passing over Rogie Vachon and Phil Myre to give the job to Dryden, who had played just six NHL games. The big goaltender rewarded the club by stoning shooters en route to the Stanley Cup, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player.

Roy, meanwhile, had already played 47 games by the time the 1986 playoffs rolled around. So it wasn't a surprise he was named starter, but a solid campaign gave little hint of the sensational play that would ensue in the playoffs. He, too, won the Conn Smythe.

The Canadiens beat the Bruins in the first round in both of those Stanley Cup seasons.

It's easy to get giddy at the possibilities this year given Montreal's penchant for storybook seasons among its record 23 Cup wins, but leave it to the sober mind of general manager Bob Gainey to offer some perspective.

"As far as comparing him and the Montreal situation [historically], it seems to me we ran into a goalie from Carolina here a couple years ago [Cam Ward] who was a rookie goalie and ended up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy, so I don't really feel like we have a lock on this, bringing in a new goalie," Gainey said in the lead-up to the Montreal-Boston series.

Composure is Price's asset

Price would not have seemed a likely playoff starter in January, when he was sent back to the minors after a 4-6-2 span. However, the surprising deal that sent Cristobal Huet to Washington at the Feb. 26 trade deadline cemented Price's status as the likely go-to guy in the playoffs.

As Milbury indicated, Price's composure is what stands out for seasoned hockey observers.

"I always generally feel the same way no matter whether I'm playing bad or I'm playing good," admitted Price before the playoffs.

The calmness extends to the technical side of Price's game, said Kelly Hrudey, a Hockey Night in Canada analyst and former goalie.

"He doesn't move too much; he just does what he needs to do, " Hrudey said. "If you compare that to maybe Marc-Andre Fleury when he first came in, there was a lot of extra movements in his game, and he really had to work hard and probably overworked whereas Carey Price is bang-on in just everything he does.

"But it all just goes back to his head, how strong he is."

Even strong players need a sounding board sometimes. At various points during the season, Price has been given counsel by three important people.

Montreal has won 28 of 33 playoff meetings with the Boston Bruins. (Canadian Press)

Goaltender coach Roland Melanson shuttled between Montreal and the team's farm club in Hamilton to tutor both Price and Jaroslav Halak.

Price's father, meanwhile, assured his son the trip back to the minors would be the best thing to happen to him in the long run. Jerry Price, who was a Philadelphia draft pick in the 1970s, long ago instilled in his son the notion that even the greats like Roy and Martin Brodeur practiced to improve their game.

Finally, head coach Guy Carbonneau has made mention of a sit-down he had with Price after it was announced that Huet was being traded, which helped solidify the rookie's status both on the roster and in his own mind.

The coach said the trade helped, with Price no longer having to worry how much time would pass between starts if he were to have a sub-par outing, a common lament of the backup goaltender.

"He didn't have to fight against anybody anymore. He knew that he was going to be the man that would go back in the net," Carbonneau said in late March. "He didn't have to be Superman; he just had to be Carey Price."

And indeed, following the trade, Price played some of his best hockey of the season. In the season's final week, he went 3-0 with a shutout, allowing just two goals.

Young Canadiens team lacks playoff experience

Montreal appears to have Boston's number, and in 28 playoff meetings through the decades, has lost just five series to the Bruins.

But inexperience could be a factor. Several Canadiens have played only in a very modest number of career playoff games, and there is another group of players, including Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse and Andrei Kostistyn, who haven't played at all in the post-season.

Montreal is the centre of playoff tradition, and with respect to the common playoff custom of growing a beard, Price, who is barely out of his teens, said this week that his own facial hair grows in very patchy.

"As long as you're able to shave your neck, that's the only thing," the goalie said of the possibility of growing a playoff beard. "Because your neck gets so itchy. It's almost torturous."

Time will tell whether Price himself will keep proving torturous for opposing shooters.

Game 1 of the Boston-Montreal series takes place Thursday night at the Bell Centre (CBC, 7 p.m.).