I was watching the Canadiens blanking the Bruins last night, 1-0, and I got thinking, “boy, that Carey Price is really very good.”  He really doesn’t look like he’s trying very hard out there.  I know it all has to do with his positioning and his conditioning but I can’t help but miss how excitable Patrick Roy was (since everyone’s comparing Price to Roy I thought I’d pick a different angle).

In the post game interview on CBC Price was asked what he’d do with the puck from the shutout.  Price’s reply really left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  Price said, “I don’t know.  It’ll probably end up in a box with the rest of my stuff, at my parent’s house.”  Ugh.  I found that worse than the standard cliched drivel.  I would have preferred, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the puck.  I’m really more happy that we got the win and that we had a total team effort.”  You know, the standard sports fare.

Now contrast Price’s on camera persona with a veteran, likable, future hall-of-famer in Curtis Joseph.  After coming into a game early in relief of one of the best in the game, and shutting out the Sharks for a comeback win from 3-0, Joseph lauded his team with credit and even boasted about how good the goalie was that he replaced!  Joseph has always been, and continues to be, a class act in front of the cameras and a good interview to boot.

Looks like there is something left to learn for Carey Price.

To say that I’m completely surprised that the Canucks won’t be winning the Stanley Cup this year would be a lie.  They really didn’t have a whole lot going for them in the way of depth, grit or firepower.  If you told me in September that the Canucks wouldn’t even make the playoffs though?  With Bobby Lu in net?  I’m floored.

If you look at his numbers, Roberto Luongo actually still had a pretty darn good year (season-ending 7-1 loss notwithstanding).  His stretch run was nothing less than horrible, going 1-7 in his last 8.  I guess having a baby can be emotional and all but, ew.

Looks like I’ll be cheering for the Canadiens and the Flames.  That would be an awesome rematch of a final (see ‘85-’86 and ‘88-’89).  The past three finals have featured a Canadian team so hopefully this year will be no different.