CHASING THE CUP
Price, Weber all business
For the first time in their Hall-of-fame-worthy careers, Carey Price and Shea Weber are in the Stanley Cup final. And based on their robotic reactions, they could not be more ... blasé about it? Seriously, someone check for a pulse.
Talking with reporters on the eve of Game 1, Price and Weber both displayed the emotional range of a Speak & Spell toy as they refused to drop their guards and get happy about a moment they have waited all their lives for.
There were no smiles. No laughs. Not even a single “I told you so” for bucking the odds and getting further than anyone thought possible.
Instead, it was business as usual. It was also boring as usual.
When asked what this means to him after 14 long years of waiting for an opportunity that many didn't think would come, Price practically let out a yawn.
“There's been some hard times, there's been some good times, but it's a part of the journey and a part of the story,” he said, speaking in his familiar monotone.
“It's been a good ride so far and hope to keep it going here.”
Did you ever doubt it would happen?
“No, I never said that,” Price added.
Well, others did. There were doubts from all over. Some said Montreal would never win with US$10 million per year invested in an overrated goalie who had been coasting on his international reputation and who's best years were well behind him.
As for Weber, he was the over-the-hill defenceman who was acquired in the controversial trade for the popular P.K. Subban, who's advanced age and declining production and remaining term threatened to anchor the Habs in an endless purgatory of mediocrity.
Even the province's premier weighed in, with Francois Legault tweeting a year ago: “Big challenge in 2020: Should we trade Price and Weber?”
Luckily, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin didn't listen to any of that. He didn't break up his high-priced core when Montreal wasn't winning and the team was spinning its tires. Instead, he built around them, believing that as long as the team had Price and Weber, then it had a window of opportunity that was worth pursuing.
And now, it's finally paying off in ways not many outside of the organization believed was possible.
“There's not much we can do about that,” Weber said of the criticism. “We don't listen to that stuff. If it happens, it happens. We're here to see things through and thankfully we're in the position we're in and, like Carey said, we're excited to get things going.”
Price, who Bergevin called the “backbone of the team,” is showing why he is worth so much money. With a 2.02 goalsagainst average and a .934 save percentage, he's risen his game to an unheard of level in these playoffs. In the first round, he limited Toronto's Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to one goal combined. In the second, he held Winnipeg's Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler and Pierre-luc Dubois to just one goal. And against Vegas, he completely shut out Mark Stone.
As for Weber, he only has one goal and four points in 17 playoff games. But he's the centrepiece of a defence that hasn't allowed a power-play goal since Game 4 of the first round, logging the most minutes on the team and ranking second among defencemen in blocked shots and hits.
“They've been through a lot, these two,” said Bergevin. “Pricer, as a goaltender in Montreal, as we know it's demanding. There's a lot of expectation . ... Webby, he came here as part of a trade. And I know there's a lot of people that were guessing or second-guessing this transaction. And again, to get something that special you have to give up a good player.
“So I'm not taking anything away from P.K., but to get Shea Weber here in Montreal, and what he brings on and off the ice for me, it's special and we're four wins away from winning a championship.”