The Montreal Canadiens’ final game of the season is already shaping up to be a memorable one.
Taking on the Detroit Red Wings at Bell Centre, tonight’s game will be prospect Lane Hutson’s first in front of the Canadiens’ home crowd. It will also serve as the NHL debut of fellow rookie defenceman Logan Mailloux, who was recalled from the Laval Rocket Monday night.
But if the reports are true, one name will likely dominate the conversation.
Canadiens goalie Carey Price, who has spent the better half of the last two years on LTIR, is rumoured to be in attendance to cap off Montreal’s 2023-24 campaign.
Speculation started swirling Tuesday morning when Price’s wife, Angela, posted an Instagram story in Montreal.
@byangelaprice/Instagram
Angela and her husband moved to Kelowna, BC, last summer, but still make occasional trips back to the city they called home for over a decade.
Later, Canadiens reporter Priyanta Emrith put out an X post warning fans to “expect” the legendary netminder, who last suited up for a game in 2022, to be in the building for the game.
Expect #Habs Carey Price to be in the building tonight for the #GoHabsGo final game of the season.
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) April 16, 2024
Montreal’s opponent also increases the likelihood of the Anaheim Lake, BC, native making a homecoming as Angela remains close with Julie Petry, wife of Red Wings defenceman Jeff Petry, who played with Montreal from 2015 to 2022.
It wouldn’t be the first time Price surprised Montreal fans with a return.
While a career-altering knee injury has kept the 36-year-old off the ice for the last two seasons, Price has made multiple Bell Centre appearances, appearing at the final home game of the 2022-23 season and Montreal’s last two home openers.
As the winningest goaltender in Canadiens history, Price made his 700th NHL start — and possibly the last of his career — making 37 saves in a 10-2 win at home against the Florida Panthers in April 2022.
He remains on contract until the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
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