Habs sign Price to a two year deal reportedly worth 5.75 million.
Is this the proper deal? I think so…
In his rookie season, Price was awarded the starting position – more or less, and played like a two million dollar a year player.If he had continued his fine play over the course of the following two years, the Habs would be paying him minimum 3 million this year if not more.
Fortunately for the Habs and unfortunately for Price, Carey gave into the temptations of youth and blew not only the starting job in Montreal – he also blew an opportunity to pad his wallet and have his favorite country and western stars perform in his living room making his 70 inch Plasma television obsolete in the process.
In agreeing to the present contract – Price and his agent stood their ground which to me is a signal from Price that the competitive juices that make him a great goalie are flowing as strong as when he won all the MVP awards as a junior.
Fans in Montreal and people in general have short memories. ‘What have you done for me lately?’ is the protocol especially for athletes that live in an economic world that is pure fantasy for the average working class family.The crowd at the Bell Center booed Carey into doing his best Patrick Roy during a game this past season when Price failed to live up to their lofty expectations. Ask a player, any player – how their performance suffers when they are in the line-up for a game and then removed for a few games. During their ‘vacation’ in the press box they have too much time to think and the pressure increases in their mind to perform better when the next opportunity arrives at their doorstep. An entire career can be decided in the handful of opportunities they are given and in Montreal especially – those opportunities are magnified two fold, making a coach or a G.M with limited foresight rush into a decision that could ultimately deploy a ‘star’ player into the backseat of a ten year American Hockey League voyage.
Carey Price demonstrated last season that his maturity level had increased. The players on the team that witnessed Price’s juvenile behavior from the previous season, were cautious when the young net minder was in goal and rightly so. There were too many nights that Price demonstrated a lack of focus on the ice and instead of showing the guys that he was out of line – he carried that uncertainty into practices and the dressing room.
Many people in Montreal ridicule Bob Gainey’s handling of Price during the latter’s rookie campaign.
Bob Gainey is a man that dealt with his own daughters ‘faux pas’ of youth.He handled her situation much like he handled Carey’s situation and that was with tough love. “You wanna dance? Now you must pay the fiddler…” Is what Gainey was saying as he threw Carey to the wolves night after night.This was also the reason that Gainey brought in the likes of Gionta, Moen, Gill, Gomez and Camalleri. In players such as Komasarek, Higgins and Kovalev…there were no role models for Price to learn from.
Carey Price has learned a great deal about the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens, the french media and himself in the past three seasons. When he was forced to watch Halak from the bench last season…what do you think was going through his mind? He was mad at himself and when people get mad at themselves , there are two reactions. The anger either turns inward and they get depressed, turn to blaming others and in the worse case scenario – they turn to drugs and alcohol abuse. The other way they deal with it shows their character as they become determined to make up for their mistakes and prove to everyone, including themselves – that their mistakes are part of the ‘accessories’ and not the ‘design.’
Toyota screwed up and now it is up to them to regain the confidence of the North American market.
Carey Price screwed up and began his atonement during the course of last season. Unlike Toyota’s predicament, Carey does not have General Motors, Honda and the Ford Motor Company to deflect the attention away from him. In the automotive market and most markets, the culprit is allowed to redeem themselves in relative obscurity enabling them to re-appear when they have their acts together. Even a player in any other NHL city would work on his game and come back to slowly regain the public’ s confidence.In any other city, if it did not work out then people would not care and he could rejuvenate elsewhere.
Carey Price plays in a market where the Montreal Canadiens are Toyota, Honda, Ford, General Motors and little Johnny’s go-cart all wrapped into one and he is the city’s sole means of transportation to the Stanley Cup parade.
If Carey understands and accepts the ‘bus fare’ then Habs fans should be in for a long and happy trip over the next few years.If not – then we will all have to settle for the 1993 Porsche that we have been riding in for 17 years.A vehicle that looks great, picks up chicks but when you get right down to it – runs like crap!