The Prices Move Back To BC – An Insight

By JD Lagrange – It doesn’t take much in Montreal to make a big deal out of very little. When Carey Price’s wife Angela posted on her Instagram account that the family would be selling their home in Montreal to move back to their Kelowna, British Columbia residence, at the end of the school year, everyone knew it was coming. It was just a confirmation of what she had said months ago, but that didn’t prevent traditional media to present it as news.

But why is that? Carey missed all but the last 5 games last season, and suffered another major setback trying to return. He has yet to put on skates this year and will not be returning this season. If it wasn’t for insurance companies being so finicky at looking for loopholes not to pay monies owed (they’re better at collecting premiums), Price would likely announce that he won’t be returning, his knee preventing him to do his job. But no, he has to play the insurance game and tip-toe around like a criminal sneaking around a house at night while the occupants are sleeping.

Contract left

Carey Price

Some people are playing the card of the offended virgin because Price still has three years remaining to his contract. In their mind, Price should be tied to lamp post in Montreal for those three years, even if he’s not playing. Of course, it’s easy to have an opinion on what someone else should do with their life as it doesn’t affect them. Guess what? If he was playing, it would be a non-issue. But those people ignore the fact that his career is done. No contract can and will tie anyone in one City when off-duty.

In addition, he is not getting paid by the team, as some claim. He’s paid by the long-term disability insurance company. I have been on disability in the past and my employer wasn’t paying me. It was Sun Life that issued me the payments. In Price’s case, the only handicap to the Canadiens is that they must put him on LTIR. But that wouldn’t change if he was in Montreal, Kelowna, Seattle or Hong Kong!

Family and lifestyle

Further, those of you who have children may understand the importance of family. Carey and Angela’s parents and relatives are all in British Columbia and in Washington State, about 5,000 kilometers away. For some of you, that doesn’t hit home. For others like myself, I understand. My father didn’t get to see his grand-kids grow up because I moved to BC. Whether you want to accept this as a reason or not is irrelevant. Family is important to many people and the Price’s have strong family values. It’s a good thing.

Another aspect I can totally relate with Carey is that I know the difference between Quebec and BC when it comes to being an outdoorsman. Having spent the first 25 years of my life in Sherbrooke, I’ve been in BC for well over 30 years now and there is simply no comparison when it comes to outdoor activities between the two provinces. There is so much Crown Land in BC, it makes for amazing hunting and fishing without seeing other hunters or fisherman next to you, or having to bait game to come on private property. Like it or not, Carey is an outdoorsman and BC is not only his home, it’s the best place for outdoor activities.

Roy hypocrisy

This brings me to Patrick Roy, a man I used to idolize pre-1995, but whom I have since learned to despise by his own doing over the years. Never shying away from wanting the spotlight on himself, Roy made a lame attempt at backslapping Price. In a recent interview with BPM Sports, the former goaltender said: “I would rather retire than to say: ‘My leg hurts, pay me!‘”

This is so typical of that individual. The more I listen to him, the more I see of him, the happier I am that Geoff Molson didn’t make the monumental mistake of hiring him in a position of power with the Canadiens. Much like P.K. Subban who recently said that he would have taken $7 million to stay in Montreal – although he held out at camp to get his $9 million contract – Roy is an hypocrite. No, Patrick, no one believes that you would have left $23.5 million on the table to retire “because your knee hurts”. What arrogance also in downplaying the seriousness of Price’s injury, going as far as questioning his character…

Why doesn’t Price retire? Here’s why:

SEASONSIGNING BONUSBASE SALARYTOTAL SALARYCAP HIT
2023-24$6.5M$2M$8.5M$10.5M
2024-25$5.5M$2M$7.5M$10.5M
2025-26$5.5M$2M$7.5M$10.5M

So fans and media can bellyache all they want, the Price’s decision of moving back to BC should come at no surprise. I’ll go further in saying that anyone with any family value and common sense will understand and even support the Price family in their decision. They will remember that Carey, much like Shea Weber and Paul Byron, permanently damaged their bodies in a heroic attempt to bring Stanley Cup number 25 to the City of Montreal. Their only “failure” was to come up short against a good team $18 million over the cap.

But rest assured, Carey and Angela, this man understands you, as do most Habs’ fans. And we support your decision. Thank you again for who you are, what you stand for, and for what you have done for this franchise and your generosity in Montreal. We only wish, like you, that you could have been better supported during your career with some offensive skills, and got your Cup with the Canadiens. See you when your jersey gets retired… or somewhere in BC.

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Local Impact Lacking On the Habs

By JD Lagrange – It’s been a while. In fact, it’s been too long since the Montreal Canadiens counted an impact player from Quebec in its ranks. Historically speaking, the team was created to be a group of French Canadians to rival the Montreal Maroons, way back in 1909. While some are quick to blame the organization for it, they are not the biggest reasons, believe it or not, as we’ve demonstrated before. But they are also not blameless. Over the years, management has passed on some very good local talent only to draft slugs instead. Every team does, but it makes matters worse when it’s the Canadiens passing on quality French Canadians, it seems.

Added pressure

On the Hockey Sans Limites podcast last week, I was debating with my friend and host Yanick Gagné on the topic. He, like many others, feels like no Quebecois can survive the pressure of being a top-6 forward or top pairing defenseman in Montreal. Many feel like these guys would be devoured alive by both fans and media.

There is no denying that there is added pressure being a local talent, speaking the language and playing in Montreal. The examples are countless. Look at Jonathan Drouin today. Look at the likes of Patrice Brisebois, David Desharnais, Mike Ribeiro, Pierre Dagenais, José Théodore or Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, just to name a few. Fans and media are the first, year in and year out, crying about the lack of French Canadian speaking players on the team yet, they are the first ones to chase them out of town. It’s hypocritical, nothing less.

A long time coming

Patrick Roy

Just yesterday, I was discussing with someone on Twitter on the topic. He said something that hit me. He claimed that he didn’t remember the last time a Quebecois worked out in Montreal. I advanced the name of Phillip Danault but then, the topic turned to the fact that he wasn’t an impact player. While playing on the Canadiens’ top line and being the most productive center on the team, he certainly wasn’t amongst the top centers in the NHL, for sure.

Digging a little further, I realized that the last impact Quebecois on the team was none other than Patrick Roy. He was traded in 1995, so it will be 27 years ago to the date in December! Wow… no wonder younger fans don’t remember the last impact French Canadian on the team! Many of them weren’t even born back then.

Prior to Roy, you have to go back to Vincent Damphousse, Pierre Turgeon and Stéphane Richer. I’ll let you do the math but I’ll tell you right now, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

Pierre-Luc Dubois

Which brings me to a hot topic this summer… You have a 24 year-old from Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, who is openly stating that he won’t sign a long term deal with the Winnipeg Jets because he wants to play for the Canadiens. Not impact enough? We’ve provided our readers with Pierre-Luc Dubois’ statistical comparisons to Jonathan Huberdeau at the same age. We’ve debunked his so-called “attitude” issues…

Still, instead of welcoming the idea, being excited about the fact that a top-end local talent, an impact center of 6-foot 2-inches, 210 lbs wants to wear the jersey, fans are questioning his character and finding every excuses NOT to trade for Dubois. That’s right, you can’t make that stuff up!

So, fans and media… You want to play the blame game? Grab a mirror and take a deep, long look folks. Perhaps it’s us who don’t deserve to have them play on our favourite team.

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