SOCHI, Russia — “I’m obviously excited,” said Carey Price, sounding about as excited as a guy about to do his laundry, or pick up a carton of milk from the grocery story, or any other mundane, everyday task.
Except there’s nothing mundane about what Price will be doing Wednesday. On that day, he’ll be in goal for the defending gold medalists in their first elimination game of the Olympics. From people back home, the expectations are that two more games will follow. The expectations are also for three straight victories.
Granted it’s not always easy to tell with athletes, but he didn’t seem too worried about it.
The 26-year-old was asked if playing in the hockey-mad fishbowl of Montreal had prepared him for life as Team Canada’s starter, with all the pressure and scrutiny that comes with it.
“You deal with the same type of situation, lots of cameras, lots of reporters,” he said. “But essentially it comes down to doing the same thing: stopping pucks.”
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Is it any easier to ignore what’s being said and written when he’s halfway around the world in Russia?
“I live inside a bubble anyway,” he said. “I don’t get into too much about what anybody has to say really.”
But it hasn’t always been that way, he admitted. There were times when he was an NHL rookie when he wanted to know what people thought of him, and he gave in to the temptation to check.
“You’re not used to that type of coverage,” he said. “You might want to know how people think about you. But at this point in my career, I’m happy with the way things are going, and I know what I need to focus on. I don’t need to focus on what somebody else thinks I should be doing. I know what I need to be doing.”
Price has been solid at the Olympics, stopping all but two of the 35 shots he’s faced. He also came into the Games in good form. However, there are still those who believe Roberto Luongo should be the starter, citing the gold medal Luongo helped Canada win in 2010, as well as his wealth of big-game experience, which Price lacks in comparison.
Following Sunday’s 2-1 overtime victory versus Finland, Price insisted he doesn’t worry about the responsibility of playing the sport’s most important position, on a world stage, while representing a country that considers anything less than gold a failure.
“This is something I’ve done my whole life,” he said. “All I have to worry about is that next shot.”
