OTTAWA – In a dressing room filled with superstars it’s nearly impossible to shine brighter than the rest.
However, when it comes to Team Canada’s entry at the World Cup you get the impression that Carey Price basically occupies his own solar system.
The level of respect the Montreal Canadiens goaltender commands from his peers is quite something. The shooters talk about how impossible he is to score on. Braden Holtby, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner coming off a 48-win season, says “he’s the guy to push yourself to become.”
A few eyebrows were raised when Holtby ceded any competition for the No. 1 job before even arriving here to training camp. Two weeks ago, he told reporters in Washington that Price should be Team Canada’s starter provided his health allows it.
After three days of practice at Canadian Tire Center, his opinion remains unchanged.
“Anyone that’s looking at it from a sane perspective would (think that),” Holtby said Wednesday. “He’s won everything internationally. He’s just won the gold medal at the last Olympics, world juniors, everything. I mean I’ve never played in an international game.
“I don’t know, I think that’s just the respect that Carey has around the league from fellow goaltenders and everyone around.”
Indeed, there is no hint of an internal debate about who should start the games that matter.
The only question, really, is how Price will handle his first action in more than nine months. Physically, he believes he’s long since recovered from the strained MCL in his right knee that ended his season on Nov. 25.
Mentally? Well that’s something else entirely. To him, Friday’s pre-tournament game in Columbus against Team USA represents another hurdle to be cleared on his way to reclaiming past form.
“I’ve been skating a lot,” said Price. “I don’t have any question marks about my health or my body. I’ve tested absolutely everything to the limit, I did everything correctly. So I have absolutely no worries about anything.”
The 29-year-old isn’t taking anything for granted about his role with the team. He says that he needs to play well to keep his grip on the net and, in some respects, that’s true.
But he’s also clearly earned the benefit of the doubt if things don’t go exactly as planned right away.
Holtby and Corey Crawford will split Saturday’s game against Team USA, leaving Price as the presumed starter for Team Canada’s final pre-tournament tuneup vs. Russia next week – although head coach Mike Babcock isn’t prepared to disclose the official plan for that third game just yet.
In the minds of players who saw Price stop 103 of 106 shots while winning every start at the Sochi Olympics, the hierarchy is already established. There is almost a reverence to the way they talk about him.
Even after the long layoff due to Price’s knee injury, they see the same player. Just ask captain Sidney Crosby if he’s detected any signs of rust in practice and the answer is succinct: “None.”
In the past, he’s called Price the best goalie in the world.
“He’s big but I think he plays even bigger,” said Crosby. “Every NHL goalie is big nowadays almost, but he really uses all the size. He’s really good at anticipating. When he needs to challenge, he’s out there cutting off a lot of angles. … He’s quick side to side and he’s a big body so he gets the pad and probably his body over there most times.
“You really have to look for those second and third (chances) and he doesn’t quit. He makes you earn them, that’s for sure.”
John Tavares has faced Price numerous times since entering the NHL in 2009 and can only remember scoring a handful of times against him. One that came quickly to mind was in November 2015 when he drove hard to the net and was rewarded when teammate Kyle Okposo drew Price out of position and threw the puck into the crease.
“It was kind of behind him and I just tapped it in,” said Tavares. “I didn’t beat him with a shot, so I’ve still got to beat him with a good one.”
Of course, that’s a feat rarely achieved.
“There’s nothing like when you put everything on (a shot) and you think you got all of it and he just snags it like it was a basketball bouncing towards him,” said Tavares. “He just makes the game look easy, let’s everything comes to him.”
Holtby is thrilled about the opportunity to sit beside Price in the dressing room and watch how he works during this World Cup.
Over the years, he’s counselled the occasional frustrated teammate in Washington who was thwarted by his counterpart. What stands out most to him is the way Price moves around the crease.
“He’s just fluid,” said Holtby. “He’s really smooth, which I think plays into the heads of a lot of shooters because they think it looks easy. It shouldn’t be easy for him and that kind of (puts them) behind the eight-ball, it kind of gets in their heads that way.
“His effortless pushes that get him there in time is obviously (a strength) – I’ve heard that over and over again. It’s not new.”
Neither is the praise for the soft-spoken man from Anahim Lake, B.C.
Even though Price has been out of the public eye for some time while recovering from injury, nothing seems to have changed about his place among the game’s best.
