NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 8, 2021
Carey Price enters the league’s player assistance program, the USA, Finland and Czech Republic name their first players to their respective Olympic men’s hockey teams, Blake Coleman suspended, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.
MONTREAL GAZETTE: Canadiens goaltender Carey Price entered the NHL’s player assistance program. The 34-year-old had been recovering from offseason knee surgery. General manager Marc Bergevin said Price could be absent from the team for at least 30 days but didn’t rule out a longer absence.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (NHL Images).
Bergevin said Price has the support of the club and his teammates. “Today, I’m not thinking about Carey Price, the goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, but Carey Price the human being,” he said.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canadiens will miss Price between the pipes while some fans are wondering why he’s reached out for assistance. None of that is important and the latter is none of our business. What matters is Price gets the help and time he needs to get his life and health back on track.
Speaking of the Canadiens, winger Jonathan Drouin missed Thursday’s game against the Ottawa Senators with a non-COVID-related illness.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens don’t intend on providing any updates on GM Bergevin’s contract situation until the end of the season. His deal is slated to expire at season’s end.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: You can read more about Bergevin’s contract status in today’s Rumor Mill.
TSN: Team USA named Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane and Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones to their 2022 Olympic men’s hockey team on Thursday.
Finland named Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho, Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, and Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen to their men’s Olympic squad.
NHL.COM: The Czech Republic named Tampa Bay Lightning winger Ondrej Palat, Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak and Columbus Blue Jackets winger Jakub Voracek to their Olympic team.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The IIHF requested countries submit the names of their first three players several weeks ago. Canada and Sweden submitted theirs earlier this week.
NHL.COM: Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman was suspended for the club’s final preseason game and their first regular-season contest for boarding Winnipeg Jets forward Jansen Harkins during Wednesday’s preseason game.
THE DENVER POST: Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz will miss three to four weeks with a lower-body injury. He also suffered a lower-body injury in the 2020 playoffs and missed all of last season. The Avs also announced head coach Jared Bednar tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the club’s final two preseason games. It’s unclear when he’ll return behind the bench.
OTTAWA SUN: Senators center Colin White requires surgery to repair a dislocated right shoulder. He’s expected to be sidelined for four-to-six months. Meanwhile, the club announced they’ve signed winger Tyler Ennis to a one-year, $900K contract.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Panthers winger Noel Acciari could miss significant time with an upper-body injury.
SPORTSNET: Edmonton Oilers winger Zack Kassian struck his head on the ice during a fight with Vancouver Canucks’ Zack MacEwen in last night’s preseason game between the two clubs. Kassian had to be helped from the ice but was reportedly talking to teammates in the dressing room and in good spirits.
NEW YORK POST: A power failure in part of the Prudential Center led to the cancellation of the preseason game between the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.
All the best Carey; we are behind you.
Price should either play for the team or be traded it’s as simple as that. Suck it in and play hockey you’re being paid a fortune to play the game that you love. Nuff said!
Says Dr. Phil
Give it up, Rick! That’s an ignorant statement, even for you.
I’ve had dogs my whole life, big and small. Some dogs bark like crazy when folks walk by most of mine didn’t.
My experience is the ones that bark are projecting toughness to the people walking by because in reality they really don’t want them coming into their yard because deep down they are afraid. So you need to address their fear and get them into more public/uncomfortable situations so they gain new experience and confidence to overcome that fear.
Or maybe they were just trolls.
Solid!
Now that sounds like Dr. Phil.
If you had dogs Ray I’d have to feel for the dogs. Just look who the owner is.
Ray Bark was a name of one of my dogs actually. RIP.
He didn’t bark much though so simply called him Ray.
Hey Dubya, in order for you to actually be able to insult Ray I believe he’d first have to actually value your opinions.
Bud lite…..ha ha ha ha.
Rick W Murray, an absolute asinine comment. You know what you can suck…
I think the reason/s Price is on leave is just as much the public’s business as a disc injury to Jack Eichel.
The public needs to get rid of that personna where anxiety is something that’s forbidden. Anxiety and mental health are medical conditions. Diabetes is a medial condition. Heart problems are a medical condition.
Whether a player is out from a concussion, abdominal injury, etc., why is it anxiety, mental health or an addiction is forbidden and can’t be reported in the news? Jay Bouwmeester collapsed on the bench a year or two ago from a heart problem and the media didn’t hesitate to disclose the condition. How is this different?
Carey Price is one of the great poster boys for the NHL and I certainly hope for a full recovery. Every NHL team should be lucky enough to have a Carey Price on and off the ice.
I’m theory you are correct. Destigmatization will only occur when we don’t tip toe around these conditions. On the flip side you have the potential exacerbation of the individuals condition by ignorant fools. Example number one the post above yours.
I just saw a bumper sticker the other day Chism I wish I could I get one for you it read” carefully disguised as an intelligent adult.”
Now that I know you get all your ideas from bumper stickers I understand you a lot better Rick.
There is something wrong with you, Rick. You are nothing but a troll.
I can’t say for certain in Canada, I’m not familiar with the law. But in the US, Hipaa laws prevent any type of personal health information from being disclosed. And for good reason.
What does or does not get disclosed is 100% up to the individual. Had Bouwmeester chose to keep his heart issue private, he was in his right to do so.
Again, I can’t say for certain, but I’d imagine Canada has some sort of law preventing disclosure. Or I’d at least hope they do.
Yes Captain, we do.
People keep health matters a secret to protect against discrimination. Employers tend to discriminate a lot even though they have fair and inclusive hiring practices which I can vouch is BS.
Ignorant fools like that one post above is far too common.
Carey Price wife Anna put out a message talking about mental health and is happy that Carey has put his family first.
Carey Price personify class.
I hope Carey get the help he needs and gets himself to a good place.
A nice feature of this site is when those that post here appreciate good players that are not on their teams. True fans.
Well done, folks.
LJ, someone once said that the true measure of a “star player” – in any sport – is one who can consistently rise to the occasion. That fits Carey Price to the proverbial “T”
I hope whatever counseling he gets works to clear his mind and get him back on the ice sooner rather than later.
The only benefit that could come out of Price letting the public know about his “issue” whatever that may be is once he gets through it he could encourage others to seek help if needed. Other than that his business is his business and his family deserves privacy if that’s what he wants. I just hope he gets the help he needs because we all deserve to be well.