Jumat, 15 April 2022

Canadiens' Carey Price will make season debut Friday against Islanders - Montreal Gazette

“It’s been a long, long road for him," teammate Brendan Gallagher says about goalie. "He’s eager to get in there."

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Canadiens goalie Carey Price will make his long-awaited season debut Friday at the Bell Centre against the New York Islanders (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

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Price has been sidelined since having knee surgery last July to repair a torn meniscus and in early October — less than a week before the start of the regular season — he entered the the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program for 30 days to deal with substance-use issues.

Price was in the starter’s net for Friday’s morning skate in Brossard and afterward head coach Martin St. Louis confirmed the veteran goalie would start against the Islanders.

It will be Price’s first game since July 7, when the Canadiens lost the Stanley Cup final to the Lightning, dropping a 1-0 decision in Tampa in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series. Price was outstanding during the Canadiens’ unexpected playoff run, posting a 2.28 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage in 22 games, along with a 13-9 record.

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Teammate Brendan Gallagher said after Friday’s morning skate that Price told him following Wednesday night’s 5-1 loss to the Blue Jackets in Columbus that he would be starting against the Islanders.

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“It’s been a long, long road for him,” Gallagher said about Price, who has been his teammate for 10 years. “He’s eager to get in there. It’s nice to see him again on game day. He’s already in that frame of mind down there. He’s getting ready to do what he does that I’ve seen so many times throughout the years here. It’s going to be exciting to see him in the net. It’s something he’s worked incredibly hard for. So in front of him we got to give him a good effort and hopefully find a way to win a hockey game.”

The Canadiens have long been out of the playoff race and have only eight games remaining in the regular season, including Friday’s matchup with the Islanders.

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“Right now, the position we’re in it’s not the easiest thing,” Gallagher said. “This is going to help. It’s going to add some jump to our game, for sure. He’s somebody that for me, personally, has meant a lot to me as a teammate. But to this organization when you see a guy go through what he’s been through this year, for him to be back in the net you can see how much it means to him. So you want to represent that well and find a way to win a game for your teammate and do everything you can to help him out. So it’s going to give us some jump, for sure.

“You can kind of see the way he’s preparing down there … he’s doing what he does normally on a game day and it’s good to see,” Gallagher added. “It’s been a while and I enjoy seeing him down there because it’s always a good feeling — a comforting feeling as a teammate of his when you see him getting ready to play a game.”

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When Price last spoke with the media at the end of January, he said he was hoping to play this season.

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“It’s always been my goal ever since I got back here,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of setbacks that weren’t foreseen. It’s been a frustrating process, no doubt. But, at the end of the day, I’ve got to take care of it and moving forward I’m starting to skate again, so hopefully I’ll keep on progressing and be able to get back in a uniform pretty soon.”

Gallagher said Friday morning he has watched how hard Price has worked this season with a goal of returning to the lineup.

“There’s been a lot of setbacks that he’s had to handle and he’s handled them like a pro and he’s kept pushing forward to get to this point where he’s been able to get back in the net for us,” Gallagher said. “For us to do what we do, it’s not lost on us how lucky we are and when it’s taken away from you for long stretches of time — like it has been for him — it’s exciting to get back in the net and you always want to perform and do your best.”

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Price will turn 35 on Aug. 16 and has four more seasons remaining on his eight-year, US$84-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $10.5 million. The goalie also has a full no-movement clause in his contract.

When he spoke with the media in January, Price said he had no plans to lift his no-movement clause.

“Me and my family are very happy here, we’re settled in,” he said. “We know this is our home. There’s a reason I signed a contract like I did here with a no-movement clause was to be here. So as of right now I have no plans to move anywhere.”

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

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2022-04-15 18:22:30Z
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