Even more than two years after it concluded in heartbreaking fashion, many Montreal Canadiens fans still look back on the team’s epic run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final with fondness and nostalgia.
But in hindsight, most people can admit that without star goalie Carey Price, none of it would’ve been possible. And it almost wasn’t.
Price, along with dealing with a longstanding knee injury, had suffered a concussion a little over a month before the postseason began. Doing his best to get back into game shape, the Habs netminder even suited up for an AHL game with the Laval Rocket before Round 1 against the Leafs.
While he was fine for the first-round series, leading the Canadiens to an epic comeback from a 3-1 deficit, he was almost injured again shortly afterwards — by a teammate of all people.
Recently appearing on the La Poche Bleu podcast with Guillaume Latendresse and Maxim Lapierre, Canadiens forward Cole Caufield told the story of how he almost injured Montreal’s star goalie in practice ahead of a Round 2 game against the Winnipeg Jets.
“It was probably Game 1 or 2 in Winnipeg, morning skate… I come in, shoot a puck and hit Carey right in the forehead,” Caufield, a rookie at the time, explained.
The 22-year-old revealed that his former veteran teammate Corey Perry stepped in to give him a warning.
“Right after that, Perry came up to me and was like ‘never do that again,'” Caufield said. “I was on the verge of just getting off the ice.”
As a result, Caufield refrained from shooting high for the rest of the team’s skates that spring.
“I just remember every shot after that, in the playoffs, in morning skate or practice, was just on the ice. I just didn’t want that to happen ever again.”
“You don’t want to be that guy, taking Carey out, that’s for sure!” Lapierre said, laughing.
“Oh god, no,” Caufield replied in agreement.
Luckily, the shot off the old noggin didn’t affect Price’s focus as the Canadiens went on to sweep the Jets in just four games.
And despite being a unique season due to COVID-19 regulations, Caufield got his first taste of the Montreal crowd’s passion in the playoffs, and it looks like he’s hungry for more.
“I love this place. I love playing in front of these fans,” he said. “I want to be a big part of this team going forward.”
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