Carey Price makes his feelings known on Team Canada's goaltending ahead of 4 Nations Face-Off

Injured Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price backed Team Canada’s goalies to do well in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. Price, whose prolific career was cut short in 2022 due to a debilitating knee blowout, did not agree with analysts who claimed that Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault would be Canada’s weak point.

"They've had success," Price said via CBC.ca. "They've stepped up on the biggest stages."

St. Louis Blues shot stopper Binnington and Vegas Golden Knights goalie Hill were part of their Stanley Cup-winning sides in 2019 and 2023, respectively. Montembeault was a gold medal winner at the 2023 IIHF World Championship.

Price has donned the red Maple Leaf jersey on numerous occasions. The stalwart goalie represented his country in the 2007 IIHF World Juniors, the 2014 Olympics and the 2016 World Cup.

"Those types of situations are why you play," Price said. "To have that nervous energy before a game is something that I miss the most."

Canada will kick off the round-robin 4 Nations Face-Off on Wednesday (Feb. 12) against Sweden. The USA and Finland, the other participating teams, will play the next day.

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid also expects the three goaltenders to perform well. The NHL star also said that it was good that the Canadian players were familiar with each other.

“We’ve played against each other for a long time or played with each other either [in] junior events or World Championships or whatever,” McDavid said via NHL.com. “I feel like we should be pretty comfortable with each other, but building that team rapport always takes time. But we don’t have that time, so we’re trying to get ahead of it a little bit.”

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Carey Price will be missed at 4 Nations Face-Off

Carey Price at the World Cup Of Hockey 2016 Final. (Credits: Getty)

Hockey fans and analysts look forward to the return of the best-on-best hockey with the 4 Nations Face-Off. NHL staff writer Mike Zeisberger recapped some past national-level tournaments in December. One was the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where Carey Price's iron defense and heroics at the crease ensured Canada came home as gold medal winners.

“Goalie Carey Price allowed just one goal in three playoff-round games, including a 3-0 shutout against Finland in the gold medal game,” Zeisberger said via NHL.com.

He added that Canada focused on a grinding, defense-focused strategy in that tournament “that gave the other teams very few quality scoring chances.”

However Canada’s tournament turns out, there is no doubt they would have benefitted from having a goalie of Price’s stature between the sticks.