Wednesday night, after the game in Columbus, Brendan Gallagher got the most important information of the entire season: Carey Price, finally, was going to be ready.
Posted at 11:20 a.m.
Updated at 11:48 a.m.
It was Price himself who confirmed this long-awaited news to the small forward, who in turn confirmed it at the end of morning training on Friday in Brossard.
So now we can write it: Carey Price will be back. This magical moment will take place Friday evening at the Bell Center, during the visit of the New York Islanders.
“It’s been a very long road for him,” Gallagher said. It’s good to see him here, it’s going to be exciting to see him back in front of his net for a game. He worked so hard to make this comeback. We must offer a good effort in front of him.
“I think this comeback means a lot to him…he’s been dominant in this league, and for him to have to stay away like that, it’s not easy. As a player, you want to be part of the group, otherwise you feel that you are missing something, and you miss it. So that means a lot, because I saw the setbacks he had to take on the way back, and he never gave up in order to get back into the game.”
We are lucky to see him again.
Brendan Gallagher
This will obviously be Price’s first game this season, his last appearance in the Montreal net dating back to the last game of the Grand Final against Tampa Bay, presented on July 7.
The star keeper has since had knee surgery, and the road back has been a very long one indeed.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, PRESS ARCHIVES
Carey Price in training, 1er december
“When you see all the work he’s done to come back… A player’s success is often judged by what he does on the ice but there are a lot of things that have to happen before that,” noted the coach Martin St-Louis. This work is the most important moments for an athlete before he can have success on the ice. What Carey had to go through, the work he had to put in, it’s the fun of seeing that he can finally play. It’ll give the team a boost and I can’t wait to see it.
“He wants to prove to himself that despite the injury he can bounce back. His summer is going to be different if he can prove that to himself, so that’s a plus for everyone. He works very hard. I have this poster in my house that says champions are formed when no one is watching…he’s worked all year to get to this moment. »
This return of Carey Price comes with the visit of the New York Islanders, the former club of the legendary Mike Bossy, whose death we learned at the start of the day.
“It will be an emotional evening,” added Martin St-Louis. I was a little young when Mike came to the NHL, but I have an idea of the impact he had. In Laval, when I was a child, he was the one who gave the trophies to young people at the end of the season. I still have pictures with him…it’s a tough day for the hockey world and for the Bossy family. »
Note also that Mike Pezzetta and Corey Schueneman will return to the Montreal squad on Friday night. Tyler Pitlick and Jordan Harris will be left out.