Carey Price's bravery will show the way for others
The Canadiens superstar put himself and his family first, and that's a great thing. Meanwhile, what's in the future for GM Bergevin and defenseman Shea Weber?
At one point during his news conference Thursday morning, Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin said he’s more concerned about Carey Price the person than Carey Price the goalie these days. When he was asked what Carey Price the person means to him, he started to answer the question, then stopped. Tears filled his eyes and he sat with his feelings for a full 25 seconds. “It’s hard,” was all he could say.
We don’t need things such as Carey Price voluntarily entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program to teach us that even ridiculously talented and multimillionaire superstar athletes are real people who sometimes encounter real problems. Or at least we shouldn’t. We also don’t really require these things to put matters into perspective. Of course these players are human. Of course they’re going to be subject to the same human obstacles as the rest of us, and of course the people in their inner circle are going to be concerned about it.
But over the past two days, two of the best goaltenders in the NHL have shown an enormous amount of courage in different ways. Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner, the league’s leading advocate for mental health, stepped way out of his lane in a big way and brought to light some of the problems that are plaguing the NHL and how it treats injuries. “I’m not comfortable with this,” Lehner said earlier this week. “I did it anyway. I’m not comfortable with any of this. It’s extremely hard.” And Price entered the player assistance program, which means he won’t be around the Canadiens for at least the next 30 days. In doing so, the former Vezina and Hart Trophy winner came perhaps the highest-profile player in league history to make a public admission that things were not going well and that he needed some time to tend to his issues.
Price could have gutted this out. If whatever issues have been affecting him were present during the Stanley Cup playoffs just a few months ago, he did a very good job of hiding them while he led his team through four playoff series. He could have summoned that competitiveness once again, could have compartmentalized his emotions and willed himself back onto the ice. He could have been more concerned about the Montreal Canadiens, their fans and his teammates more than he was about himself. He could have thought it would be better to start the season strong to erase any doubt in anyone’s mind that he should be Canada’s No. 1 goalie at the Winter Olympics in February.
But he didn’t. He decided to take care of himself and his family. And he did so in an NHL market that is one of the most rabid in the league. One of the many differences between Price and the rest of us is that, because of the money and fame and adulation, he can’t quietly duck away from his workplace to sort out his issues in anonymity. That is part of the deal you sign up for when you earn the privilege of playing in the best league in the world. But in doing so, you can also set an example, start a conversation or inspire an awakening in someone else. Canadiens teammate Jonathan Drouin, who spoke about the anxiety and insomnia that has plagued him through much of his career and forced him out of the lineup last season, did just that. It cost him an opportunity to ride the wave to the Stanley Cup final, but overcoming a debilitating and paralyzing mental issue was more important. And as Price’s wife, Angela, eloquently wrote in a social media post: “Part of the privilege of being in the position our family is in is that we also get a public platform to show how there is and can be a path to light for anyone who is struggling…It’s incredibly important to us to show our kids that asking for help and letting yourself be supported by others is not just OK, but encouraged – anytime and under any circumstance.”
When he faced questioners this week over a series of tweets that called out the NHL, Lehner said he didn’t want to be a distraction to a team that is chasing a Stanley Cup. “I’m going for the Stanley Cup, but this is a huge issue for me,” Lehner said. “Life matters more than Cups for me.”
There was a time when players such as Price and Drouin and Lehner couldn’t do what they have recently done because the culture of the game wouldn’t allow them to do it. And they certainly wouldn’t have had established people like the thoughtful Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice saying things such as: “It’s not bad, it’s not stigma and I’m happy he’s getting help. I’m sorry that he needed it, but I’m really happy he’s getting it.” Thankfully, that is changing, and it’s being led by some of the biggest stars in the game. Because of that, it might just be a little easier for the rest of us to do it, too.
OTHER CANADIENS TIDBITS…
Under the Department of Very Bizarre Timing, Canadiens senior vice-president Paul Wilson kicked off the news conference Thursday morning by saying that Bergevin’s future with the team will be addressed after the season.
Bergevin is entering his 10th season as Canadiens GM and is in the final year of his contract. It had been assumed that Bergevin, a finalist for GM of the Year last season, would be back under lucrative terms if that’s what he wanted. But there’s speculation that he might not want to continue beyond this deal. Julien BriseBois, coming off consecutive Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning, just signed an extension worth $3.5 million per year. Bergevin would probably command somewhere in the $3 million range on a long-term deal, certainly longer than the three-year extension the Canadiens apparently offered him in the off-season.
When asked about the potential void in leadership starting the season without Price and Shea Weber, Bergevin had this to say: “With Webbie, being here for five years, I think he left a legacy among his teammates how to be a good pro, how to put his team ahead of anything else.” Seems odd that Bergevin seemed to be speaking about Weber in the past tense. When Bergevin announced in July that Weber would not play this season due to chronic foot, ankle and knee injuries, he also floated the idea that Weber might never play again. Weber is under contract for five more seasons with a cap hit of $7.9 million, an amount the Canadiens could park on the long-term injured reserve list if Weber is unable to return. Over those five seasons, he’ll only receive a total of $12 million in actual salary.