The floundering Montreal Canadiens have given up hope on getting Vezina Trophy winning goalie Carey Price back from injury this season, according to a report from La Presse.
Canadiens don’t expect Carey Price to return from injury this season, according to reports
Montreal’s only playoff hope just diminished.
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Price hasn’t played since late November, and despite a lengthy recovery process the Canadiens are reportedly ready to concede he won’t return for the regular season. However, there is a particular reason why they haven’t released that information publicly, according to La Presse:
Les gens du Canadien ne croient pas qu’il va revenir pour la saison régulière. On se demande si ça vaut la peine de le pousser à un retour, mais on ne peut pas le dire publiquement; on veut entretenir l’espoir, même s’il est mince. On ne veut pas que les partisans abandonnent. Il y a un aspect marketing à cette situation”, selon une source bien au fait du dossier.
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“People (within the) Canadiens do not believe he will return to the regular season. One wonders if it is worth it to push back, but we can not say it publicly; we want to keep hope alive, even if it is thin. We do not want the supporters (to) abandon (the season). There is a marketing aspect to this situation,” according to a source familiar with the matter.
You can understand why the team might fear fan indifference. Since Price exited with an injury on November 25, the Canadiens have fallen from the league’s top record to three points out of a playoff spot. Without Price, the Habs have only won 10 out of their last 32 games.
If fans knew that their best hope for making the playoffs wouldn’t return this season, they might stop showing up entirely.
Price’s stats before the injury were stellar. The 2015 Vezina Trophy winner posted a 2.06 goals against average and a .934 save percentage while winning 10 of his first 12 starts.
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