Price more than right for Canada in Games
The weight of the country was replaced by the weight of the bauble around his neck and Carey Price liked the trade.
“It sure is heavy,” said Price, the gold- medal hanging down the front of his Team Canada jersey. “It’s a really cool feeling. I’m just really thrilled and honoured to be part of this experience.”
There was a lot of that going around the mixed zone Sunday as the Canadian players filed through to share their feelings with the world.
They were proud, humbled, joyous to be a part of something this big, this memorable. For two weeks they’d been together and on Sunday, they wrote a fitting concluding chapter to the most dominating defensive performance in the history of best- on- best hockey.
And the main benefactor was a goalie a lot of people thought shouldn’t have been starting.
“I think it came down to that team in front of me,” said Price. “That group of defencemen playing in front of me was just an absolute pleasure to play behind. We didn’t give up a whole lot the whole tournament and they really made my job a lot easier.”
Asked how many second- chance opportunities he had to face on Sunday, he said: “I would guess less than one.”
And that was the story of this tournament for the 26- year- old from Anahim Lake in the B. C. interior.
Price, who was given the Canadian net by head coach Mike Babcock in the final round robin game against Finland, concluded his stellar Olympics in style on Sunday, stopping all 24 shots he faced in shutting out Sweden 3- 0.
Two days before, he stopped 31 shots in Canada’s 1- 0 semifinal win over the U. S.
The Canadiens’ keeper, in fact, left Russia with a set of numbers that defy conventional thinking. In the Olympic tourney, facing the best players in the world, he stopped 103 of 106 shots for a .971 save percentage and a goals- against average of 0.59. Who does this? “He can be a real difference- maker if he chooses to be,” said Babcock. “It looks like he has that fire.”
“That defensive group, that group of forwards, they’re relentless,” said Price.
“Our backchecking, our overall will to win was second to none.”