by Kristina, AllHabs.net
MONTREAL, QC. — With the All-Star Weekend Roster being released on January 11 by the NHL and Carey Price being the only Montreal Canadien selected to represent the bleu, blanc, rouge, it is no surprise that one question will be asked and debated repeatedly. Should Carey play?
It is difficult not to forget what happened to Price after he participated in the 2009 All Star Game in Montreal. After starting the season with a sparkling 16-5-5 record through to the All Star break, Price’s play dropped off considerably, winning only seven more games and finishing with a 7-11-5 record for the remainder of the season.
At the time, there were a lot of hypotheses as to why Price deviated from his winning ways following the All Star Game with speculations including a lack of work ethic, desire to be a team player and a loss of focus. Whatever the reason was, Price certainly was not the same after playing in his first All Star game as a sophomore goalie in the NHL.
My analysis is rather simple. He was a kid. At 21 years of age at the time, he had yet to reach the required maturity level of a number one goaltender in this league. But now, at 23, Carey is all grown up and has demonstrated that he can more than handle being the player in the biggest fishbowl in the hockey world.
It is without a doubt that the NHL’s All Star Weekend serves no purpose other than being purely a marketing event to help promote the game of hockey and the NHL. Oh and of course, to give away a truck to the player of the game who can probably afford to buy over 80,000 of those trucks with their yearly salary. Sure the skills competition may be entertaining and the game is usually full of spectacular plays and lots of goals, but at the end of the day the relevance to the players is a far cry from what the NHL makes it out to be.
The NHL even brought on more so-called excitement this year with the Fantasy Draft designed by Brendan Shanahan himself, the VP of Hockey and Business Development for the NHL. “The goal of the All-Star format change was designed to make the game more fun for everyone involved. By giving the players more input on team selection, as well as Skills Competition match-ups, we feel the 2011 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft will inject more excitement and intrigue into all the events surrounding All-Star weekend.”
Just because you wrap it up in shiny paper and stick a fancy bow on it doesn’t make what is underneath any more exciting.
If Sidney Crosby who is arguably “the” face of the NHL withdrew himself from the 2009 All Star Game after obtaining the most votes from fans on the grounds of a nagging knee injury but then played in Pittsburgh’s first game following the break, scoring a goal and notching three assists, then why shouldn’t Carey excuse himself as well?
Or what about the fact that no Detroit Red Wing participated in the 2009 All Star game at all? The organization swallowed having both Lindstrom and Datsyuk suspended for their game against Columbus following All Star weekend for choosing not to participate in the event. Sure, maybe they were legitimately injured and it was worth it for the Red Wings to have their stars be sidelined for a game in addition to taking a rest over the All Star break. But it seems to me that the Red Wings were playing a manageable opponent and opted for their best players to take advantage of any rest they could get.
Ok, so it is not like Carey has to play a full 60 minutes, or try very hard and it would show his respect towards the fans who had him leading the goalie polls until Marc-André Fleury edged him out. But why put yourself in a position where you could get hurt in a game that means absolutely nothing? Montreal fans are the most passionate fans in the world and I am pretty sure that the game of hockey runs through their blood. Nobody needs a reminder from the NHL.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather see Carey hold a shiny cup rather than the keys to a shiny new truck.
As a Penguins fan for over 30 years I would rather see Carey Price play in this game rather than see Fleury blow the lead in the last 3 or 4 minutes to lose the geame like the World’s and then the Playoffs Etc. Etc. Etc. My Vote is for Carey Price all the way.
You sound about as ticked off as a Bruins fan would have been on Saturday night. I watched the Pens/Bruins game last night, Fleury was having a fantastic game until about 4 minutes left in the third, highly unfortunate because he was poised for a shutout. Having that, the entire team collapsed and I wouldn’t put the blame solely on Fleury. He did have an impressive 12 game win streak this season and he was won a cup, I wouldn’t be so quick to throw him under a bus. Good luck to your pens, they sure miss Sid these days.
In my opinion, as NHL players, it is their duty and privilege to go to the all star game if they are selected. As Carey Price put it himself, it’s a reward for hard work.
I completely disagree with players that do not attend the all star game, for any other reason then being injured, or family emergency.
The situation was much different two years ago then it is now, Price has grown up a lot since then, still has growing up to do but i’m really not worried that this game would have any effect on the second half of the season.
That’s my take on it, great article!
theres nothing wrong with attending an all star game. sure it doesnt mean anything in the NHL, but this is just for fun, for players to be rewarded for their hard work. If carey didnt attend the game it would be like he turned his back on his fans who took the time to vote for him. it should be an honour to attend.
I appreciate the time and effort you put into the composition of this article. Really, I do. But, with all due respect, it’s nonsense.
If selected, CP will play, and CP should play. I don’t believe that the question will be “debated repeatedly”, at least not by knowledgable hockey fans. Knowledgable hockey fans will be armed with the following facts:
1) Athletes in all levels of all sports strive to be the best at what they do. Sure, most of them have team-oriented goals, too, but they all want to be considered among the best in their sport. Recognition for such an achievement comes in the form of individual trophies and All Star selections. Like most other NHL players, like most other athletes, CP will be honoured by an All Star nomination, and will look forward to playing.
2) Despite the preoccupation with stats and numbers, hockey is a team game and it always will be. So yes, the record of the Montreal Canadiens with CP in net was 16-5-5 before the All Star break, and the record of the Montreal Canadiens with CP in net was 7-11-5 after. The pre- and post- records are no more a reflection of CP’s participation in the All Star game than they are a reflection of CP’s talent or focus or work ethic. How many times have we Habs fans witnessed CP stand on his head, only to have his team let him down with a lack of offensive and/or defensive support, thus losing the game? That goes down as a loss on CP’s record, but it has nothing to do with him personally or his focus or work ethic or anything else. It’s a TEAM loss in a TEAM sport.
Again, I appreciate your contribution to this site. In this case, however, your analysis is really over-analysis…and more over-analysis is the last thing CP needs. He’s already had more than his share of it from Montreal’s mainstream media.
I’m fairly certain you are engaging in a form of debate right now, which is largely the point of being able to write articles and have readers comment with their thoughts and insight. I also very much appreciate your comments and I’m glad I was able to provoke them so I am not quite sure why you would state that this topic wouldn’t be “debated repeatedly” when evidently it is.
I am not questioning the fact that Carey Price WILL play in the All Star Game. He was nominated by the league to represent the Canadiens and he is by far the best player to represent the Habs based on his play and numbers this year. He also accepted the nomination with flattery yesterday and said he was excited to be a part of the festivities for a second time. Of course, he will play in the All Star Game. My question was merely asking if he SHOULD.
Aside from the points you brought up which I will get to, a “knowledgeable” hockey fan would also know that Carey Price has played more minutes than any other goaltender in the league. In 38 games played, he has banked a total of 2,283:18 minutes. That’s about 45 minutes more than Jonas Hiller, the second leading goaltender in time on ice who has started one game more. The goaltenders of the top two teams in the league in Roberto Luongo and Jimmy Howard have played 32 games and 33 games respectively and have both played under 2,000 minutes. There is a reason for that. Making sure your top goaltender has the energy to be able to maintain a high level of play deep into the playoffs. The end goal is to win a Stanley Cup, not get an All Star nomination.
You could easily turn and say it isn’t a big deal to play, he will only be playing 20 minutes of the game. But here is the thing. It is a big deal; it will be another 20 minutes added to his TOI that he doesn’t remotely need not to mention his warm up time and other related time spent on the ice when he could instead be getting a very well deserved rest. A rest so that he can push this team into the playoffs and hope to have a long run into the Spring. There is a risk associated with playing in this type of game. Carey is a bitter competitor so it is not like he would stand in his net and not try. He is going to do everything in his power to make himself be the “best at what [he does]” and try and stop the best goal scorers, play makers and snipers in the world. There is without a doubt a chance he could pull a groin or get hurt in a game that means absolutely nothing at the end of the day. So yes, Carey is honored by the nomination and yes, he will look forward to playing. All I am saying is that he doesn’t need to play and I’m fairly certain the Canadiens as an organization would rather have their number one goaltender who has won 21 games thus far resting and relaxing over All Star Weekend rather than playing in it.
To your next point, I agree, hockey is a team game and I am by no means saying that Carey Price deserved that 7-11-5 record following the All Star Break in 2009 nor am I saying that it was entirely his fault. All I am saying is that his experience at the All Star Game played some role in affecting his play, his attitude and his work ethic back in 2009. I am not suggesting history will repeat itself because I believe that back then it was just a lack of maturity on Price’s part, but I was just merely bringing up the facts the way I did about Crosby and the Detroit Red Wings.
Bottom line, he will play and he will probably enjoy the thrill and the experience once again. I just don’t think he should.
Sorry, I didn’t realize you had replied. I’ve moved on to more interesting and relevant discussions.
I think that Price should play and will. The ASG comes but once a year and gives fans throughout the NHL a chance to see players they might not see otherwise. The fans must come first, though I wonder why PKS was not chosen among the rookies? Go Habs Go!
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