Goalie Carey Price reflects on banner NHL career cut short by injury: 'I was blessed'

Carey Price's blank facial expression told most of the story.

The Montreal Canadiens had just fallen in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final. Their season was over. The Tampa Bay Lightning were celebrating a second consecutive title down the hall.

It was July 7, 2021, and Price was hurting, emotionally and physically, as the star goaltender dissected his team's trying season and magical playoff run amid the COVID-19 pandemic on a video conference call with reporters.

He didn't know it at the time, but there would be just five more games in his professional career.

"To come so close and not win, it's pretty heart-wrenching," Price said in a recent interview. "Results aside, the experience was something I'll cherish forever."

The Anahim Lake, B.C., product's knee was already a major issue as Montreal stunned hockey by making the Original Six franchise's first final since Canada's last Cup victory in 1993. Price spent most of the following season trying to get back. His eventual return that spring would be brief.

"I always figured that my career would come to an end when I either wasn't good enough or my body was telling me that it was time," Price said. "When your body tells you, you need to do something else, kid, you better listen.

"I wanted to be able to walk and play with my kids and my grandkids; 15 years is a long time to be an NHL goalie. I was blessed."

The 37-year-old hasn't played a game since April 29, 2022. And while there's been no official retirement announcement — his big-money contract runs through next season — he long ago migrated to life after hockey.

WATCH | Price gets standing ovation before Canadiens' 2022 season opener:

Canadiens Carey Price gets standing ovation in Montreal

"I thought not playing I'd