Carey Price enters NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.

[Draconator]

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-canadiens-star-carey-price-enters-leagues-player-assistance-program-152031224.html

 

Carey Price will not start the season with the Montreal Canadiens while taking part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, the league announced today.

 

Price voluntarily entered the system, which assists players and families with matters of mental health, addiction, and substance abuse.

 

No further details will be provided.

 

The 34-year-old had been absent from training camp with what was being called a "non-COVID-19-related illness," and also underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in the offseason.

 

Price was brilliant for the Canadiens in their charge to the Stanley Cup Final last season. He won 13 of his 22 starts with a .924 save percentage. 

 

The big-game performances seemed to re-cement his position as Canada's No. 1 netminder for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

 

The NHL/NHLPA player assistance program has been a useful tool for players in need. You may remember Bobby Ryan checked into the program in 2019 before a memorable return to the Ottawa Senators. He went on to play for the Detroit Red Wings the following season.

 

While Price addresses his personal matters, Montreal will rely on a tandem of Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault, who was recently acquired on waivers from the Florida Panthers.

 

Here's hoping that he gets the help he needs and gets back healthy and happy. 

[Gugny]

I don't follow hockey and honestly have no idea who this guy is.  But good for him for working on getting the help he needs and I hope it all works out for him.

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Good for Price!!!!

 

Too bad they didn't have it when Clint Malarchuk played back in the day. His OCD worsened after his jugular was cut by the skate. Supposedly, he'd be driving down the road, hit a bump and would have to go back and check to see what it was!

 

"...Malarchuk, meanwhile, believed that he was going to die. "All I wanted to do was get off the ice", said Malarchuk. "My mother was watching the game on TV, and I didn't want her to see me die." Aware that his mother had been watching the game on TV, he had an equipment manager call and tell her he loved her. Then he asked for a priest. ...

 

"...Malarchuk's performance declined over the next few years until he decided to leave the NHL. After this, he struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder (as he had since a young age), as well as nightmares and alcoholism, but he remained in pro hockey in the International Hockey League. ..."

 

Goalies kinda always had it rough in the mental health department, injuries don't help!

 

 

 

[Nextmanup]

On 10/7/2021 at 1:08 PM, Gugny said:

I don't follow hockey and honestly have no idea who this guy is.  But good for him for working on getting the help he needs and I hope it all works out for him.

 

He's a top 3 goalie, league wide, for the last decade.

 

My guess is he is an alcoholic, which is fascinating if true....b/c I have no idea how you could play at his level in the NHL for that long and be an alcoholic.

 

Then again, I just saw a piece on HBO about CC Sebathia.  He had his own little routine/ritual down so that he was able to play sober and still have a huge binge drinking problem on off-days. 

 

Of course, Sebathia is playing a lot less than Price as a goaltender, but maybe Price worked out a similar type of routine.  I don't know.