MONTREAL – When it comes to playing again, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price still has a long way to go.
There are also important milestones along the way.
Sidelined with a lingering knee injury, the 35-year-old Price is on the long-term injured list and there is no timetable for his return. Price said Monday he was focused on his day-to-day life and not the potential end of his 15 years in the NHL.
“We will have to take it step by step. I have no intention of retiring at the moment,” he said. “Right now, my focus is just not to feel any pain day to day. I still have problems walking up and down stairs, and it’s hard to carry my kids up and down the stairs.
“So my first priority is just to get my body to a place where I’m pain-free in my day-to-day life and go from there.”
Price helped Montreal reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals – a surprising streak that began with wins over two Canadian teams and then the Vegas Golden Knights – and then suffered numerous setbacks returning to play. knee surgery and sought help from the NHLPA/NHL Player Assistance Program last year for substance abuse.
He won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in June, which is awarded to the NHL player who best embodies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication.
Price played just five games last season as the Canadiens fell from their perch as Stanley Cup finalists. He then got a second opinion about his knee injury in Pittsburgh and the suggestion was another surgery.
The veteran goalkeeper said he was “not fanatical” about the idea and called the procedure “intrusive”.
“The surgery is called OATS,” Price said. “Basically, they take a plug of cartilage and bone from a lower part of your knee and place it in the damaged cartilage area. It’s pretty serious and the success rate is over 50%, and from a pessimistic perspective, it’s like, “Well, there’s a 50% chance it won’t work or a 30% chance or whatever.”
“It’s something, unless I urgently need it to get through my life, that I might consider at that time, but right now I’m watching my young children and playing with them at the day to day is the most important thing to me.”
For now, Price continues to tend to his injury – a long and tedious process that has yet to come to fruition.
“That was the most frustrating part, but I’ve talked to several people who have had this type of injury and it took them over a year to start feeling normal,” Price said. “So I’m still hopeful. There’s a possibility of another injection, but we’ll have to see. We just have to keep trying to solve a problem, but this operation is a bit worrying for me.”
There’s no more room for Price’s name in the Canadiens locker room at the Bell Centre. It’s a telling change for Montreal veterans like Brendan Gallagher, who has lived through the ups and downs of the team’s recent history alongside Price.
“It’s different to look down and not have him here. He’s really been the focal point of this team, of this organization for so many years,” Gallagher said. “It’s different, but I’m just lucky to have spent the years I spent with him, and he made me look good many nights. I would never say that to his face, but I owe him one or two.”
Price considers himself to be in a “grey area” when it comes to making the team. He was presented to a standing ovation at the Bell Center as a non-playing Canadian on the season opener on Oct. 12. The fifth pick in the 2005 NHL Draft said he always tries to find a balance between staying close as an injured player and respecting his teammates’ space.
“Any injured guy will tell you that’s a weird position,” Price said. “You feel like part of the team, but you don’t feel like part of the team.
“I don’t want to be there every day and use resources day to day. These guys come here and they work hard every day. They see coaches every day and I don’t want to hinder their progress. I’m not going to not be part of that process here this season, so I feel like I’m on the way. I’ll be there, I miss being with the guys.
Montreal is 3-3 and has allowed 18 goals this season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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