MONTREAL — Carey Price’s reason for not representing Canada at the upcoming world championships of hockey is perfectly valid.
"I have the utmost respect for Hockey Canada, but I just want to spend time with my family," Price said after the Montreal Canadiens practised Thursday.
That’s his right. Price’s daughter, Liv, will turn 2 years old on May 6 and he’d rather be around to celebrate with her and wife Angela than playing hockey on another continent. There’s nothing wrong with that.
We acknowledge that this has been anything but a banner year for the 30-year-old goaltender who has fallen considerably from the pedestal he stood on before signing an $84-million contract to play the next eight seasons in Montreal. And we understand that there are probably plenty of people who’d prefer he’d make the trek to Denmark this summer, participate in some games with a stellar team in front of him and regain some of the swagger that appeared to be missing for most of this lost season with the Canadiens.
We get that those people aren’t pleased with Price’s 3.07 goals-against average being the highest one he’s posted in his 11-year NHL career, and we know they’re concerned about his .902 save percentage being far off from the .933 that saw him win the Hart, Vezina and Jennings Trophies and the Ted Lindsay Award in 2015.
But if Price isn’t looking for whatever peace of mind a strong performance at the worlds might offer, those people should respect his decision and trust that he’ll do what’s best for himself — and for the Canadiens.
"I’m sure the Canadiens won’t be too upset about me not going," Price said after cameras peeled away from his brief scrum.
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Though Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin told reporters at the March GM meetings that he wouldn’t have a problem with Price participating in the worlds, we’ll agree with Price that he’s probably just fine with the goaltender’s decision to stay put.
"When it comes to that stuff, we don’t have any say and we let the players decide," said Canadiens coach Claude Julien on Thursday before adding, "What I want to see is that Carey comes back ready for next season, in good shape and ready for a good start. It doesn’t matter how he goes about it, that doesn’t concern me."
We can only imagine what kind of firestorm there would be in Montreal if Price went to Denmark and suffered an injury that put any of that in jeopardy. The risk doesn’t seem worth it.
And for anyone who wants to suggest Price will suffer for not taking advantage of this opportunity, consider what he did just two springs ago.
It was following a season that saw him limited to just 12 games due to knee injuries that Price elected not to go to the worlds. He was healthy enough to go, but his wife was set to deliver their daughter in early May and his preference was to remain with them.
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Most everyone in Montreal was highly concerned about what the decision would mean for the Canadiens, but Price looked no worse for wear when he returned in September behind Team Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and backstopped that team to a tournament win.
We should remind you Price had a .957 save percentage and a 1.40 goals-against average in five games there, stopping 156 of the 163 shots he faced, and that he then went on to be Montreal’s best player in the season that followed, posting a .923 save percentage and picking up points in 42 of the 62 games he appeared in.
It’s not as if the decision to skip the worlds hurt him back then. If anything it probably helped him.
We believe that could be the case this time around, too. He does as well.
"It’s going to be a good summer to reset, for sure," said Price.
Things didn’t start off well for him when the puck dropped this past October, and fatigue, a knee injury and a concussion didn’t exactly help him find his footing. It’s not hard to imagine there being value in him stepping away from hockey for a bit and getting back to it when he’s good and ready to.
And we can’t begrudge a guy who’s played over 600 NHL games (pre-season and playoffs included) — and several others on the international stage — for wanting to spend time with his family when the opportunity presents itself.
