Carey Price’s Injury Might Be Worse Than Reported
The Montreal Canadiens have already been without starting goalie Carey Price for nine games earlier this season due to injury. After re-aggravating his ‘lower body injury’ over the Thanksgiving Holiday he might miss even more action this time around. All that’s being said officially is that the reigning Vezina/Hart Trophy winner will be out ‘a week’. The Canadiens have also said that he will ‘undergo tests’ early this week and the team will have a statement once the results are known. If that sounds potentially more serious than just a week out of action, it is. But the ‘party line’ around the Canadiens franchise is ‘no comment’ beyond the aforementioned. Head coach Michel Therrien’s comment is all you need to know according to the team: “We don’t know how long Carey will be out, but for us, it’s business as usual. We’re focusing on tomorrow’s game.”
Over the weekend, Francois Gagnon of RDS and CTV reported that Price will be out at least a month with his latest injury–almost certainly a left knee injury. The team emphatically denied this report, though Gagnon maintained its accuracy. There have also been a number of online media outlets speculating about the nature of the injury by ‘process of elimination’. There has been talk of a possible ligament tear but had that been the case originally it’s doubtful that Price would have returned to action as quickly as he did. Ditto with any more serious structural damage to the knee such as a torn patella tendon or the like.
The most likely scenario involves a partially or completely torn meniscus. Meniscus injuries are the most commonly occurring knee ailments and particularly among athletes. It’s cartilage in the knee that provides stability, particularly under stress. It’s very common among NFL and CFL football players but it’s possible to play with the injury despite some discomfort. The testing scheduled for Price is likely to assess the full extent of the injury after which a decision must be made to have it surgically repaired or not. Given the circumstances, a surgical repair appears likely. That would mean that Price would be out ‘three to five weeks’ putting his return in early to mid January just in time for the stretch run and playoffs.