More Bad News For Montreal Canadiens As Carey Price Prognosis Worsens
There’s a reason that Carey Price won both the Vezina Trophy (for best goaltender) and Hart Trophy (for Most Valuable Player) last season. He’s not only the Montreal Canadiens’ best player but the team’s leader. That’s become obvious from their play without Price. Since the Canadiens opened the regular season with nine straight regulations wins they’ve since gone 15-20-4. They’re 3-6-1 in their last 10 games and their goaltending situation is tenuous at best. Mike Condon looked strong in the early going as he filled in for Price but the psychological dynamics of being a short term fill in and being a starting goalie are completely different. Being ‘the man’ is tough for even veteran goaltenders, let alone a rookie. But until Price returns it looks like Condon and recently acquired Ben Scrivens are it as far as the goaltending situation in Montreal.
There’s much to suggest that the Habs have already declared this season a ‘write off’ which is why they haven’t made an effort to acquire some goaltending help. They’re just 3 points back of the New Jersey Devils for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference but there’s been little to suggest that they’re capable of staying in the mix. And things have recently gone from bad to worse with the revelation that Price’s recovery is behind schedule. Actually, they’ve tried to suggest that he’s behind schedule but there’s been no setback–their verbiage is that Price’s recovery is ‘slower than expected’ but that there has been ‘no setback’ which sure sounds like a contradiction.
Price’s injury is still vague–even Montreal beat writers aren’t sure about the true nature of the problem. There’s much to suggest that it is a torn meniscus but there has been no confirmation from the team. Price has been skating by himself but hasn’t really done anything else–suggesting that a return could be some ways off. In his last update, head coach Michel Therien put the new timeline as pointing to a late February or early March return. On the other hand, there’s another school of thought that the team might just ‘shut him down’ for the year and particularly if they continue to sink in the standings.