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Canadiens' Carey Price will make season debut Friday against Islanders – Montreal Gazette

Published

2 years ago

April 15, 2022

Harry Miller

“It’s been a long, long road for him,” teammate Brendan Gallagher says about goalie. “He’s eager to get in there.”

Author of the article:

Stu Cowan • Montreal Gazette

Publishing date:

Apr 15, 2022 • 6 hours ago • 4 minute read • 13 Comments

Montreal Canadiens Carey Price makes a save during third period of Stanley Cup finals game against the ampa Bay Lightning in Montreal Friday July 2, 2021. (John Mahoney / MONTREAL GAZETTE) ORG XMIT: 66365 – 2407 Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

Canadiens goalie Carey Price will make his long-awaited season debut Friday at the Bell Centre against the New York Islanders (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

Price has been sidelined since having knee surgery last July to repair a torn meniscus and in early October — less than a week before the start of the regular season — he entered the the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program for 30 days to deal with substance-use issues.

Price was in the starter’s net for Friday’s morning skate in Brossard and afterward head coach Martin St. Louis confirmed the veteran goalie would start against the Islanders.

It will be Price’s first game since July 7, when the Canadiens lost the Stanley Cup final to the Lightning, dropping a 1-0 decision in Tampa in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series. Price was outstanding during the Canadiens’ unexpected playoff run, posting a 2.28 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage in 22 games, along with a 13-9 record.

Teammate Brendan Gallagher said after Friday’s morning skate that Price told him following Wednesday night’s 5-1 loss to the Blue Jackets in Columbus that he would be starting against the Islanders.

“It’s been a long, long road for him,” Gallagher said about Price, who has been his teammate for 10 years. “He’s eager to get in there. It’s nice to see him again on game day. He’s already in that frame of mind down there. He’s getting ready to do what he does that I’ve seen so many times throughout the years here. It’s going to be exciting to see him in the net. It’s something he’s worked incredibly hard for. So in front of him we got to give him a good effort and hopefully find a way to win a hockey game.”

The Canadiens have long been out of the playoff race and have only eight games remaining in the regular season, including Friday’s matchup with the Islanders.

“Right now, the position we’re in it’s not the easiest thing,” Gallagher said. “This is going to help. It’s going to add some jump to our game, for sure. He’s somebody that for me, personally, has meant a lot to me as a teammate. But to this organization when you see a guy go through what he’s been through this year, for him to be back in the net you can see how much it means to him. So you want to represent that well and find a way to win a game for your teammate and do everything you can to help him out. So it’s going to give us some jump, for sure.

“You can kind of see the way he’s preparing down there … he’s doing what he does normally on a game day and it’s good to see,” Gallagher added. “It’s been a while and I enjoy seeing him down there because it’s always a good feeling — a comforting feeling as a teammate of his when you see him getting ready to play a game.”

When Price last spoke with the media at the end of January, he said he was hoping to play this season.

“It’s always been my goal ever since I got back here,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of setbacks that weren’t foreseen. It’s been a frustrating process, no doubt. But, at the end of the day, I’ve got to take care of it and moving forward I’m starting to skate again, so hopefully I’ll keep on progressing and be able to get back in a uniform pretty soon.”

Gallagher said Friday morning he has watched how hard Price has worked this season with a goal of returning to the lineup.

“There’s been a lot of setbacks that he’s had to handle and he’s handled them like a pro and he’s kept pushing forward to get to this point where he’s been able to get back in the net for us,” Gallagher said. “For us to do what we do, it’s not lost on us how lucky we are and when it’s taken away from you for long stretches of time — like it has been for him — it’s exciting to get back in the net and you always want to perform and do your best.”

Price will turn 35 on Aug. 16 and has four more seasons remaining on his eight-year, US$84-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $10.5 million. The goalie also has a full no-movement clause in his contract.

When he spoke with the media in January, Price said he had no plans to lift his no-movement clause.

“Me and my family are very happy here, we’re settled in,” he said. “We know this is our home. There’s a reason I signed a contract like I did here with a no-movement clause was to be here. So as of right now I have no plans to move anywhere.”

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

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Maple Leafs announce Oreo as new helmet sponsor for upcoming NHL season

Published

5 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.

The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.

The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.

Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.

The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.

Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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Weegar committed to Calgary Flames despite veteran exodus

Published

6 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.

The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.

A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.

Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.

“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”

His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.

Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.

Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.

“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.

“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”

The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.

After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.

He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.

“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”

Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.

“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”

Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.

“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”

Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.

It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.

“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.

“You never know.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.

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Fledgling Northern Super League adds four to front office ahead of April kickoff

Published

6 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

The Northern Super League has fleshed out its front office with four appointments.

Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.

The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.

“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”

Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.

Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans

Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.

Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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