Lots of ink is being spilled over the sending of Carey Price to Hamilton. It is in some ways surprising, and in others, somewhat expected. In light of recent performances in which the goalie, in my opinion, appeared rather lucid, this perceived setback might be just what the doctor ordered.
If your reaction to this news was the same as mine, your initial reflex was to question exactly what the heck was behind this unforeseen detour in the crowning of Price as goalie of the future.
I mean, three straight losses aren't Hell in a handbasket!
Admittedly, Price has been far from sharp of late, but this scenario was not in the cards. At least not yet.
This demotion, if one chooses to see it as such, could either be seen as a present lack of faith in Price, or simply as a careful handling of a precious jewel.
After first questioning the move as harsh, I considered the big picture.The Canadiens can ill afford to mess up on the best propect to come into the organization in eons. I'd rather they take cautious chances with him, over risky ones. The Habs organization surely knows Price better than anyone, and knows and understands what is needed by him in this trying time.
The reasons behind this unforeseen move may have to do with confidence, playing time, or in a worst case file, attitude tinkering and righting.
Evidently, the Canadiens organization saw Price slip some, and felt it neccessary to do something major about it. Since neither you or I know exactly what it was that brought this upon, I'll hedge my bets on thinking that those closer to the scene, know exactly what the situation required.
I'm not absolute in believing this comparison holds any water, but the demotion of Maxim Lapierre in October surely did not seem to zap the center of his spirit, intent and focus.What it rectified, we may not ever be priveledge to, but Max played one wicked game against the Hawks!
I questioned that decision at the time as well. I do not question it now.
May the same play out in Carey's case.
A Pair of Robert L notes: While researching some background into this story, I came upon Bertrand Raymond's column in Le Journal de Montreal. I have transcribed the piece here for those who wish to check it out.
On a personal note, this blog has, and may continue, to suffer from a slight bit of irregularity in coming days. With apologies to my regular readers, Eyes On The Prize postings may be slim for another stretch. I thank you in advance for your patience.
Two colliding reasons for the sparingly posted blogs here lately are the fact that I have updated to a newer comp - which is wicked lightning fast compared to my old dinosaur - and that my daughter's hockey schedule is into the thick of the season. Practices and games have been the order of the day on a daily basis.
Although I anticipated the crash of my old donkey in the quicksand computer - the timing sucked! Not only did three Habs stories die with the old machine, all my files were not initially transferable to the new system. Stories I have been engaged in are dead for now, until I can discover the intricacies of transfering hard drive files to this newer comp.
In all this morass, I have lost Wordpad files on the final entry in the Habs / Leafs players series, as well as an article for my local paper - on my daughter Pokecheck's unbelievable 8 goal game!
Yes, ouch! Such is life!
To make matters only more painful, Dave Stubbs of Habs Inside Out called upon me, needing some assistance with a posting while I was in this straightjacket mode, and I could not help him out. Onto the next Haley's Comet!
So, bare with me fellow readers, as GM's always say, it's a long season.