Canadiens goaltender Carey Price voluntarily enters player assistance program
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is voluntarily entering the NHL’s player assistance program for an unspecified reason.
The NHL/NHLPA Players’ Association made the announcement Thursday morning ahead of a news conference held by general manager Marc Bergevin.
"It's been hard," Bergevin said while trying to hold back tears when asked about how he's dealing with the news given his nine-year relationship with Price.
It's expected the star goalie will be in the assistance program for at least 30 days. The program can be extended further.
The emotionally distraught GM praised Price, as well as forward Jonathan Drouin, for stepping back to deal with their struggles. Drouin is rejoining the team after taking a five-month break for personal reasons that he said were due to battles with anxiety and insomnia.
Bergevin said he was "caught off guard" after finding out about Price's decision on Wednesday.
"If there's other players in the NHL, who have different issues, whatever that is, I think the NHL and the NHLPA are really looking at the well-being of their players, and I commend them to do that," he said.
"[Jonathan Drouin], and Carey and his family, you know, he's got three kids and his wife, so I think we need to support them, we need to respect their privacy and wish him the best."
"I believe better days ahead for Carey and his family."
Head coach Dominique Ducharme had indicated a day before that he did not expect Price to join his teammates at practice before the season begins.
Price is recovering from knee surgery following an operation on July 23.
'PUTTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH FIRST'
Price's wife, Angela Price, posted on her Instagram account Thursday about the importance of "putting your mental health first" and that the goalie was "showing up for himself and his family."
'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," her post reads.
“I love you and I’m so proud of you for having the courage to seek help,” Price’s sister Kayla Price wrote after sharing Angela Price’s post to her own Instagram stories.
The Habs will officially begin their season on Oct. 13 against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
The team, Bergevin insisted, is on good footing despite losing Price temporarily and Weber, who is out for the season due to injuries.
"With [Weber] 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," Bergevin said.
"Carey will be back, I believe, and we have guys that been through the grind already. So, yeah, we do have leadership in this group and I think they'll rise to the occasion one more time."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.