Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, who was placed on the long-term injured reserve list in early September, says he doesn’t have a retirement plan “at this moment” and isn’t keen on having another knee surgery.
The 35-year-old played five games near the end of last year’s NHL regular season but told reporters on Monday at the team’s practice facility in Brossard, Que., his rehab “hasn’t been successful” and another knee procedure has a success rate above 50 per cent.
Price first had surgery during the off-season in 2021 after Montreal’s run to the Stanley Cup final and subsequent loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
He also endured multiple setbacks in his return to the ice and during that time entered the NHL’s player assistance program for substance abuse.
“We’ll have to take it step by step. I don’t have a plan to retire right at this moment,” he said. “Right now, my goal is to just be pain-free from day to day. I’m still having some issues getting up and down stairs and carrying my kids up and down stairs is difficult.
“So my first priority is just to get my body in a place where I’m pain-free in my day-to-day living and go from there.”
WATCH | Price gets standing ovation before Canadiens’ season opener:
Montreal fans gave star goalie Carey Price a warm welcome during opening ceremonies of the Leafs Habs game.
Price had a second opinion on his knee injury in Pittsburgh at the conclusion of last season and was suggested to undergo another surgery.
Quality of life
The recommendation left Price feeling unwell and a risk to his overall quality of life. The netminder added he was “not fond” of the idea and called the procedure “intrusive.”
There’s a possibility of another injection. … We just have to continue trying to solve a problem but that surgery is a bit worrisome for me.— Canadiens goalie Carey Price on his recovery from lingering knee soreness
“The surgery is called OATS,” Price said. “Basically, they’re taking a plug of cartilage and bone from a lower area in your knee and placing it in the cartilage-damaged area. It’s pretty serious … and from a pessimistic perspective it’s like, ‘Well, there’s 50 per cent chance that it could not work or 30 per cent chance or whatever.’
“It’s something, unless I was in dire need of to get through my life, that maybe I would consider at that point but right now I’m looking at my young kids and to play with them day to day is the most important thing for me.”
For the time being, Price considers the next step to be continuing the rehab he had already been going through. A lengthy, tedious process that hasn’t been successful as of yet.
“That’s been the real frustrating part but I’ve talked to several people that had this type of injury and it’s taken over a year for them to start feeling normal,” Price said. “So I’m still holding out hope. There’s a possibility of another injection but we’ll have to see. We just have to continue trying to solve a problem but that surgery is a bit worrisome for me.”
There are no spaces with Price’s name anymore in the Canadiens’ dressing room at the Bell Centre. It’s a telling change for veteran players like Brendan Gallagher, who lived the highs and lows of the team’s recent history alongside Price.
“It’s different looking down and not having him in here. He was really the focal [point] of this team, this organization for so many years,” Gallagher said. “It’s different but I’m just fortunate to have spent the years that I did with him and he made me look good on many of nights. I’d never say that to his face but I owe him one or two.”
‘Grey area’
Price thinks of himself as being in a “grey area” when it comes to being a part of the team. He was introduced to a standing ovation at the Bell Centre as a non-playing Canadien during the season opener on Oct. 12. The fifth overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft said he is still trying to find a balance between staying close to the team as an injured player and respecting his teammates’ space.
“Any injured guy will tell you that it’s kind of a weird position to be in,” Price said. “You feel like you’re a part of the team but you don’t feel like you’re a part of the team.
“I don’t want to be in there every day and using up resources day to day. These guys come in here and they work hard every day. They see trainers every day and I don’t want to impede their progress. I’m not gonna be a part of that process here this season so I feel like I’m in the way. I’ll be around, I miss being with the guys.”
The native of Anahim Lake, B.C., has played 712 NHL regular-season games and 92 in the post-season, amassing a 2.51 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.
At the end of the 2014-15 season, he won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie and Hart Trophy as its most valuable player.
Price also won a 2014 gold medal with the Canadian Olympic team in Sochi, Russia.
Slafkovsky having tests on upper-body injury
Canadiens rookie forward Juraj Slafkovsky is having tests Monday on the upper-body injury he sustained last week.
The team announced he won’t practice Monday.
Slafkovsky, 18, is day-to-day and missed Saturday’s game against Dallas with the injury.
The top overall pick of the 2022 NHL draft, Slafkovsky scored his first career NHL goal in Montreal’s 6-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
Slafkovsky was named MVP at the 2022 Beijing Olympics after scoring a tournament-high seven goals in seven games while representing Slovakia.
He collected just five goals and 10 points in 31 contests with TPS Turku in SM Liiga, Finland’s top professional league.