Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price Misses First Home Opener Since 2016
Don Khan Swaylo | Oct 17, 2021 |
For the first time since 2016, the Montreal Canadiens are starting the season without their centerpiece in net, goaltender Carey Price.
The Habs dropped their home opener – and first game with a capacity crowd since 2019 – to the New York Ranger 3-1. Price made the announcement via a joint NHL and NHLPA statement to enter the league’s player assistance program on October 6th, 7 days before the start of the Canadiens’ season opened in Toronto against their legendary rivals – a game they would drop 2-1.
Per the New York Post, head coach Dominique Ducharme said at the Wednesday press conference that Price was “not doing well right now.” General manager Marc Bergevin said the leave would be a minimum of 30 days while alluding that it “could be longer.” The organization, Bergevin specifically, was “caught off guard” after learning the news on the 6th but is optimistic that Price will make it back before the end of the season.
Price, who had offseason knee surgery in July to repair a torn meniscus, had been training and rehabbing separate from the team and missed training camp Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Angela Price, Carey’s Wife and provider of a pocket square via unconventional means for the 2019 NHL Awards made a statement to address the situation, posting this Instagram message with Carey and the family: Liv,4, Millie, 2, and the couple’s newborn son, Lincoln, just about to turn a year old in a few days.
“Part of the privilege of being in the position our family is in, is that we also get a public platform to show how there is and can be a path to light for anyone who is struggling. No matter what is on the line, we hope we can communicate the importance of putting your mental health first not just by saying it, but by showing up and doing the work to get better. Carey’s showing up for himself and our family and making the absolute best decision possible for us. I will continue to show up for him and our kids and seek out the support that I may need on any given day. And it’s incredibly important to us to show our kids that asking for help, and letting yourself be supported by others is not just ok, but encouraged – anytime, and under any circumstance.”
To play armchair psychologist for a moment, being a professional athlete is incredibly taxing, and recovering from a major surgery is not simply physically taxing, but also mentally. Compounding it are the factors that Price is 34 and plays a very physically demanding position, where your knees are worked nightly. That’s a heavy load on the mind. In addition to that, he’s a hockey player IN MONTREAL, the Mecca of the sport. There really is no North American equivalent in professional sports; you’d have to scour some European football leagues for an apt comparison. If you are not Canadian or don’t follow the NHL, you won’t properly understand the media insanity that the Habs have to deal with on a daily basis. The Canadiens are an institution – in fact, a religion – in Quebec, so dealing with that for 14 years is something for which very few people have the stomach. One year after reaching the 2020-2021 Stanley Cup Final for the first time since the most decorated franchise in the league (24 Cups) won Canada’s last trophy in 1993, an unquestionably massive burden is almost single-handedly on Price’s back.
Godspeed to the 2014-2015 Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) recipient, and nothing but the best for one of the best to ever strap on the leather.
