Carey Price wants to return to the game when his knee allows him to. Beyond his will, the question is rather whether he can do it this season. And even if he can do it at all.
Posted at 5:47 p.m.
Updated at 6:31 p.m.
During a half-hour interview he gave to representatives of The Press, Sunday afternoon, the new general manager of the Canadian did not hide that both the organization and its star goalkeeper were in the dark about his future as a professional hockey player.
During a press briefing at the start of the evening, the goalkeeper did not contradict his boss. “You never know, it’s always a possibility,” he said. There are a lot of things over the next two weeks that will determine the rest of my season. I’m a little anxious to know the answer. We’ll learn that pretty quickly. »
Price underwent knee surgery last summer, which was initially expected to take him 10 to 12 weeks to recover. It was estimated then that, if all goes according to plan, he would be able to recover in time for the start of the season in October. Six months after the surgery, not only has the goalkeeper still not played a game, but the state of his progress remains unclear.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Canadian general manager Kent Hughes
Price, who additionally spent a month in the NHL’s Player Assistance Program due to substance abuse, suffered two setbacks in his rehabilitation. He put on his full gear in the past few days, something he hadn’t done since mid-December. This is the third time he has reached this point, but the first two ended in a setback. Hence his caution in coming forward on this subject, although he maintains “hoping to be in uniform soon”. “I’ll see how my knee responds. »
That’s what Kent Hughes had in mind when he said “it’s going to take time to know if he’ll be able to play this year, and we don’t know what will happen next season”.
Given his injury history, “we don’t even know if he’s going to play hockey,” continued the GM. The question of his place in the team in the medium or long term, with a view to a total or partial reconstruction of the formation, has not yet been discussed with him, even if a meeting between Price and the direction took place on Saturday.
“We had a good discussion, a positive discussion, but first we want to determine if he will be able to return to action. »
Injuries to critical locations (knee, back, shoulder) that cause complications even after surgery can become highly unpredictable, he said.
Hughes cited the example of Shea Weber: when the playoffs ended, “no one thought his career was over.”
“And we are at where we are at,” he added. The fate of the CH captain was not discussed during the conversation between The Press and the GM, but the latter nevertheless told other media, including 91.9 Sports, that Weber would not play again.