Montreal Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher, Carey Price made right choice

The Montreal Canadiens will not have Brendan Gallagher and Carey Price representing them at the World Hockey Championship which was the right decision.

The silver lining of not having your team in the playoffs is seeing some of their players take part in the annual World Hockey Championships. It’s a good way to add some positivity to a year, especially a disappointing one (assuming you have some sort of success). With the Montreal Canadiens season set to end on April 7th, fans were already starting to predict who from the team will be playing in Denmark this summer.

The one name that made sense to go was Carey Price. If you could describe the 30-year-old’s season in one word, it would be rollercoaster. It started poorly, but Price got back on track after returning from injury. Then some blunders in combination with the team’s defensive breakdowns on a nightly basis saw a lot of rubber go past the Habs, starting goaltender.

Unfortunately, the experience didn’t change after he returned from his concussion, which confused many fans. The season is over, and there’s nothing to play for, so why bring Price back? The BC native mentioned that it was his choice to come back to the team in an attempt to have a positive finish to the year. That makes sense, besides the mini-synopsis of Price’s 2017/18 above, if you’ve watched the games, you’ve seen how bad it’s gotten.

It’s because of that why fans believed Price would be an automatic choice to play for Canada at the Worlds. However, that’s not the case. According to Pierre Lebrun, Hockey Canada was informed that Price would not be available to play for them over the summer. When asked why, he emphasized that he wanted to spend more time with his family.

That’s completely understandable and shouldn’t come with any negativity. As good as it would be for Price to play and be put in a critical role as the probable starter for Canada, it’s also equally as important for him to rest and reset ahead of next season. Think about it; fatigue was one of the things impacting Price at the beginning of the year. Not only was he playing a lot of games for the Montreal Canadiens over the years, but the number of shots and scoring chances he had to fend off was high as well.

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It may not be the most engaging decision for Price, but it was a good one.

The same goes for Brendan Gallagher who also decided to forgo going to the Worlds. Rest was also the main reason behind this choice, but anyone can see why he would want to take some extra time to sit back and relax. Gallagher is subjected to abuse every night as he’s always in the dirty areas taking hits and love taps from sticks to maintain his position. It’s been working considering his 30 goals, but it takes a toll on you.

If Gallagher played for Team Canada, you can bet that he wouldn’t adjust his playing style and get beat down even more.

There’s a bigger picture at hand here. Although there are still games left in this season, the focus for the players at least is on next season. This summer should be dedicated to getting ready for that, and the team’s best players, which include both Price and Gallagher, have to come back for training camp at 100%. If rest is what they need, then they should get it.

On the bright side, Montreal Canadiens fans may be able to watch Jonathan Drouin play in the tournament. He hasn’t received an invitation, but apparently, he’s in the mix of players to get one. Drouin told media that if he’s invited, he won’t say no, so there’s a possibility there.

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Other players could go to the Worlds for their respective countries. Seeing Alex Galchenyuk and Artturi Lehkonen to name a few would be interesting to see as well. Hockey in Denmark this summer could be a good one for the Montreal Canadiens, even if Gallagher and Price aren’t there.