Sometimes the price guide doesn’t tell the whole story. Listed as a semi-star, the Noel Price rookie card appears as number 6 in the 1958-59 Parkhurst set. The hockey card is valued at $20 in a 50 card set that as a whole is worth $1800, according to Beckett Hockey Monthly. The top hockey cards in the set of Jacques Plante and Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens are each valued at $300. Yet, Price was a bit unsung in the history of the game.
Noel Price – NHL
Between 1957-58 and 1975-76, Noel played 499 regular season and 12 playoff games in the National Hockey League. His career began with the Toronto Maple Leafs and he played with the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings and Atlanta Flames along the way.
Price was used sparingly in the NHL until expansion in 1967. At 32 years old, he became a regular with the Pittsburgh Penguins and even represented the team at the NHL All-Star game in that first season. In earlier days, Noel played three playoff games for the Montreal Canadiens in 1965-66 as the team captured the Stanley Cup.
Noel Price – Junior and Minor Pro
After four years of junior hockey with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors of the Ontario Hockey Association between 1952-53 to 1955-56, it was off the the WHL and the Winnipeg Warriors for the 1956-57 season. He was selected to the WHL’s Second All-Star Team and was fifth in the league with 142 penalty minutes.
Noel Price Collection
the following season, Price played for the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. He would spend the rest of his career with teams in either the AHL or NHL. With Rochester, Price finished second in the AHL with 153 PIM. His penalty minute totals would shrink throughout the remainder of his career.
His true stardom came in the AHL. Price is the only three-time recipient of the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s top defenseman. He won in 1969-70 with the Springfield Kings, in 1971-72 with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs and in 1975-76, his final season in pro hockey, again with the Voyageurs. In each of those three seasons, Noel was also selected to the First All-Star Team.
Price was a member of four Calder Cup winning teams. He won consecutively in 1959-60 and 1960-61 with the Springfield Indians. Additionally, in both seasons when he won the Eddie Shore Award with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, the team was Calder Cup champions.
An interesting note: In 1971-72, Price was traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Montreal Canadiens. In reality, he was traded from the Springfield Kings to the Nova Scotia Voyageurs. It was the trade that sent the great, but Hockey Hall of Fame denied, Rogie Vachon to Los Angeles, where his NHL career flourished. The following season, Montreal traded Noel to the Atlanta Flames where he had a regular role on defense for three years.
In 2006, the American Hockey League inaugurated their Hall of Fame. Two years later, in 2008, Noel Price, the man who won the Eddie Shore Award and Calder Cup at the age of 40, was inducted.
Noel Price Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1952-53 | Toronto St. Michael’s | OHA | 44 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 120 |
| 1953-54 | Toronto St. Michael’s | OHA | 58 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 157 |
| 1954-55 | Toronto St. Michael’s | OHA | 47 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 129 |
| 1955-56 | Toronto St. Michael’s | OHA | 46 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 84 |
| 1956-57 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1956-57 | Winnipeg Warriors | WHL | 70 | 5 | 22 | 27 | 142 |
| 1957-58 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 69 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 153 |
| 1957-58 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 1958-59 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1959-60 | New York Rangers | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1959-60 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 31 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 52 |
| 1960-61 | New York Rangers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1960-61 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 71 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 97 |
| 1961-62 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 47 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 75 |
| 1961-62 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 1962-63 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 68 | 7 | 29 | 36 | 103 |
| 1963-64 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 72 | 6 | 35 | 41 | 109 |
| 1964-65 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 72 | 4 | 35 | 39 | 78 |
| 1965-66 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 15 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| 1965-66 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 55 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 48 |
| 1966-67 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 24 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 1966-67 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 47 | 3 | 23 | 26 | 60 |
| 1967-68 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 70 | 6 | 27 | 33 | 48 |
| 1968-69 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 73 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 61 |
| 1969-70 | Springfield Kings | AHL | 72 | 10 | 44 | 54 | 58 |
| 1970-71 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 62 | 1 | 19 | 20 | 29 |
| 1971-72 | Springfield Kings | AHL | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 1971-72 | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | AHL | 64 | 3 | 26 | 29 | 81 |
| 1972-73 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 54 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 38 |
| 1973-74 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 62 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 38 |
| 1974-75 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 80 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 82 |
| 1975-76 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1975-76 | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | AHL | 73 | 2 | 37 | 39 | 55 |
| NHL Totals | 499 | 14 | 114 | 128 | 333 |