What the Puck: Price diminishes Canadiens' positive vibe this season

The face of the franchise for the past 15 years has caused deep embarrassment and a huge distraction to the Canadiens organization.

Carey Price should do the right thing and retire as a Montreal Canadien.

The face of the franchise for the past 15 years has caused deep embarrassment to the Canadiens organization during the past few days, thanks to an Instagram post in which he posed in full camouflage gear holding a hunting rifle and voiced his opposition to the federal government’s gun control legislation.

Let’s be clear: Price has every right to state his opinion about Bill C-21. He’s passionate about hunting and, like many hunters, he feels the legislation goes too far. That’s what democracy is all about. We don’t all have to agree on everything.

But what the Canadiens’ most famous player this century should not do is tag, and give a shout-out to, the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR), a gun lobby group that is Canada’s equivalent of the U.S. National Rifle Association and which recently used the promo code POLY as part of a sale of clothing and others items. That would be POLY as in the École Polytechnique, the scene of a horrific mass murder on Dec. 6, 1989, in which 14 young women were shot and killed.

It’s actually hard to believe that a gun rights lobby group would go down that rabbit hole, but that’s exactly what they did and it’s beyond reprehensible. So is Price’s support of the group.

After the story broke on Monday, Canadiens management scrambled to try to do damage control. France Margaret Bélanger, president of sports and entertainment for Groupe CH, the second in command to team owner Geoff Molson, told Radio-Canada via email that Price was not aware of what happened on Dec. 6, 1989. That incredible statement led to an avalanche of reaction in the media and social media with people quite reasonably wondering what planet Price has been living on for the past 15 years playing goalie for a team in Montreal where the massacre took place.

Then on Tuesday morning, Price updated his Instagram account to state, in part, that he was aware of the École Polytechnique shooting.

“Despite a previous statement released, I did in fact know about the tragedy. I have been a member of the MTL community for 15 years and I understand the weight this day holds within the community.”

First, the Canadiens and Price need to get their story straight. Secondly, the optics are even worse with this new statement from Price. When Bélanger said Price was unaware, it just made him look like he was out of touch with the city where he plays hockey, just another tone-deaf professional athlete.

But it’s much worse to think that he knew about the massacre and still put out this provocative statement just days before the anniversary of this tragedy. If he hadn’t given a shout-out to the CCFR, this controversy would be a tempest in a teapot.

On Monday, Price also took to Twitter to say he “didn’t agree with the promotional code either,” which begs the question: If you don’t agree with it, why did you give props to the group on your Instagram account followed by 363,000 people? Also, give me a break. You don’t “agree” with the promo code? That’s pretty dubious language. To make fun of the École Polytechnique mass murder is disgusting, not simply something one politely disagrees about.

This is the perfect opportunity for Price to walk away from the Canadiens. He is on the long-term injured reserve list, so at least his US$10.5-million salary doesn’t count as a cap hit for the Canadiens, but being on the long-term injured reserve makes life more complicated for general manager Kent Hughes.

Many think Price is never going to play again and that he’s not retiring because he doesn’t want to give up the US$31.25 million, including this season, still owed under his contract. Price has, of course, provided some stellar play for the CH, most notably his heroics during the 2021 playoffs that brought the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup final.

But his endless injuries have become a distraction for the team and this week’s controversy suggests he is creating another distraction with his thoughtless behaviour. There’s a positive vibe around this team for the first time in ages. There are finally sensible managers in place with Hughes, executive vice-president Jeff Gorton and head coach Martin St. Louis. The team is anchored by young stars Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki and these kids exude positive energy. The last thing the Canadiens need is a controversy like this.

bkelly@postmedia.com

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