Carey Price news on the heels of a local loss; Habs/Sens; Brady's bridge; Summit Series party at Liam Maguire's.

Pictured-my dear friend Rob Carkner in one of his favourite vehicles. God bless you buddy. RIP.

HOCKEY THOUGHTS

Re Carey Price; that was shocking news yesterday. Carey's wife's statement spoke volumes of how her husband is hurting right now but also how they are moving to get the help needed. There is some irony of this coming so soon after myself and hundreds of others in two sittings attended Rob Carkner’s celebration of life last Saturday.

Mental health is every bit as serious an issue in our society as cancer or any major organ failure. Wendy Carkner, Rob's wife gave an incredibly powerful and poignant talk not only to remind us all about who Rob was but who he had become as his suffering intensified to the point where we lost him. In fact that entire service was so incredibly well done - given the circumstances - it would be impossible to have attended and not come away moved not only by the memories generated but how she verbally hammered everybody in that room to try and understand how serious mental health issues are. Wendy you are an amazing woman. I wish I could have done more. I wish I had of said more. I wish...I wish....

This is why Carey doing what he has done, what Jonathan Drouin recently went through and certainly on a much larger stage what Simone Biles went through at the Olympics, our mental well-being especially during the last 18 months has never been tested so severely and we must under any and all circumstances reach out if we’re struggling at all. First and foremost get your quality of life back Carey. Then if you’re up to it go win a gold medal for Canada and steer the Habs back to the finals.

And on that note, that was some sort of sloppy game last night between Montreal and Ottawa, two mostly NHL ready rosters. Yes the Habs are missing Price, Webber, Edmundson, Byron and Hoffman and of course the Sens are missing Brady but still…..sloppy…..sloppy….sloppy. Barring anything unforeseen it should be Tampa-Florida-Toronto-Boston in the Atlantic. At this point I don’t see anybody else from the Atlantic challenging for a wild card spot but, they’ll all play 82 games and we’ll go from there. Jake Allen is not a starter. Montreal’s D is porous. Savard is terrible, Wideman worse and Edmundson is out another 3 weeks. Yikes. This is not going to be pretty. They’ll score some goals, more than last year but they are going to give up a ton. For now Hab fans will have to cherish the memory of handing the Leafs their worst playoff loss in history. Some solace in that.

As for the Sens, first on Brady; I have seen a few people hit the nail on the head at least how I see it. I don’t believe he was offered 8x8, I think the long term offer was less than that and even if it was 8x8 with the NHL coming out of the flat cap in three seasons or less and with a potential 8yr deal eating some of his UFA status the Sens need to overpay this guy big time, give him the C and let him do what he does best. I think he’s a 30 goal scorer easily, 70pts a distinct possibility and in the equation that most use – for every ten points you earn another million, 70pts is typically a 6.5-7M dollar AVV. He’s going to be the captain, he’s got more guts than 90% of the league already he could be the face of this team just like Alfie was, a true legacy player. O-V-E-R P-A-Y the guy, who cares, they’re a mile under the top of the cap….just unreal. They’ll get it done. I never thought it would go this far and I still can’t believe he’ll miss a regular season game but it sure looks like that now.

You have to think if he’s offered a Petterssen type bridge he takes it. Thing is with most bridges you come quite a bit under what your long term offer is. I can just see Eugene gnashing his teeth so no F**King way we’re doing a Petterssen type deal and this is why they’re at the impasse they are now in my opinion……Life as a Sens fan…That said Pinto is fantastic…Norris ain’t bad either, this just in. If Matthews doesn’t play I think the Sens can get at least 2pts in those first two games against Toronto.

Three more items here quickly. Our list is filling up nicely for Liam Maguire’s a week from today for the filming of a segment of the documentary for next year’s 50th anniversary of the Summit Series. If you’re interested in being a part of it, you get a drink of your choice and you can split some wings or nachos, message me please and I’ll get your name on the list and you can bring friends or family. We’d need you there anytime from 5pm on but definitely before 630. I take the stage at 7pm.

I was also hoping to announce the formal start date of my new gig at Rideau Carleton Raceway. (now the Hard Rock) Unfortunately delays and other issues continue to push us back but rest assured the gig will happen at some point and when it’s official I will post it here.

Liam's Hockey the video version returns next week starting with a look at all of the Canadian teams for the upcoming season.

Cheers everybody, hit that damn ball straight lol – stay safe, stay strong and if need be please…..reach out to talk or get help of any kind.

PS; two very notable players from days gone by who dealt with anxiety, stress and other forms of mental illness were Terry Sawchuk and Frank Mahovlich. It just wasn’t diagnosed as such in those days and frankly nor was it through most of my adult life to date. It’s okay….to not be okay. Reach out. Please.