It took until the day of the game to learn that Carey Price would start for the Montreal Canadiens in the final game of the season. It was his 700th career start, and it might be his last. Sounds poetic, doesn’t it?
And it was a win. A good win. Price didn’t need to be incredible, but he did flash the leather against Ben Chiarot in the third, which brought out the third chant of the night: ‘Carey! Carey! Carey!’ and the Superman theme being played in the Bell Centre for perhaps one last time.
If this isn’t his last game, it seems like it will be his last season as a starter, as Price has admitted that a 50-60 game season seems unreasonable on his body.
It truly would be the end of an era.
Carey Price has been the face of the franchise for about a decade or so. Sure, there were players who played well, like Max Pacioretty or Shea Weber, or sheer cult of personalities like P.K. Subban or Brendan Gallagher, but there has been no one that has had as much impact on the team as Price.
To me, he’s right up there with Sidney Crosby, or Alexander Ovechkin, or Connor McDavid, in just how important and synonymous these players have become to the team that they play for.
But every era has to come to an end, and it is hard to see a better way to leave on top. Sure, Price could’ve had a shutout and that would’ve perhaps been the most perfect way to leave things, but we are just splitting hairs at this point.
I’m just glad that we got one last great Carey Price performance, if this is indeed his last.