According to Pierre Lebrun, Team Canada has been informed that Montreal Canadiens Goaltender Carey Price will not be available for the IIHF World Championship. The World Championship will take place between April 14th and April 20th in Denmark.
Team Canada was informed this morning that Carey Price won't be an option for the world championships.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 29, 2018
Carey Price Unavailable for Team Canada during World Championships
So far this season, Price is 16-24-6 with a 3.07 GAA and a.902 SV percentage in 46 games this year. Price missed 14 games this year with a concussion.
Over his 11-year NHL career Price has played for the Montreal Canadiens. He has 286 wins and 199 losses with a career 2.46 GAA and a 9.19 SV percentage in 555 games. He was originally drafted in the first round, fifth overall of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens.
Montreal Canadiens Protect Price for Health
With the season coming to an end for the Habs, one of the biggest questions was if he would play during the World Championships. The Montreal Canadiens are obviously worried about his health knowing he has missed multiple games in the past few years. The Habs will look to protect Price and hope that he returns to his Vezina form next season.
Brendan Gallagher
Canadiens right-wing Brendan Gallagher has also said that he won’t suit up for Team Canada. Gallagher has had a career year with 30 goals and 49 points in 77 games. Gallagher has indicated that after a long season, he has too many bumps and bruises, and feels that he should skip the tournament.
#Habs Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher both confirm they won’t play for Team Canada at IIHF World Championship. Gallagher says his body is too beat up. Price says he wants to spend time with his family #HabsIO
— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) March 29, 2018
Team Canada Next Steps
Not having Carey Price for the World Championships is a big loss for Team Canada seeing that they don’t have many options. The lack of options leaves the door open for other teams to fo further in the tournament. For instance, during the Olympics, Canada felt the effect of having only non-NHL players, which resulted in a Bronze Medal. For the World Championships, Team Canada doesn’t have a lot of options to choose from at the NHL level seeing that Goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury and Braden Holtby are on playoff-bound teams. I wouldn’t rule out one of them joining Team Canada depending on how deep their NHL teams go in the playoffs.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
