Price Underscores NHL's Important Mental Health Stance

"Pucks with Haggs" publishes twice a week. Subscribe here and get Pucks with Haggs straight to your email! Please feel free to comment, share, like, etc. And Subscribe! Thanks and see you at the rinks!

Sometimes the most challenging thing in the world is asking for a little help when we really need it.

That can go doubly so for elite NHL players that have known success and circumstances bending to their will and talent all throughout their young lives.

The past two years, though, have been disorienting and difficult for everybody, no matter how beautiful, athletic, successful, wealthy or seemingly without a care that person is, and it’s unfailingly true that we truly never know the silent battles that anybody can be fighting on a daily basis.

That’s why Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price should be applauded, and fully supported, for taking time away from the Habs to work on himself. The Gold Medalist, Vezina Trophy winner and NHL All-Star announced last week he was taking time away from the NHL in order to work on his mental health with the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.

This is a player that’s been incredibly successful over a 15-year Hall of Fame-level career and just carried a rag tag Canadiens group to the Stanley Cup Final last season. But Price is also a warm-hearted, compassionate hockey player with young fans like this little boy right after he’d lost his mother a couple of seasons ago.

Moments like these tell you everything you need to know about Price and his levels of empathy for others.

But now it’s Price that needs the help, support and loving embrace from the hockey world. The reasons behind it don’t matter, and how long he’s going to be away from his Canadiens hockey club certainly isn’t important either.

An Instagram post from Price’s wife Angela really says it all: “No matter what is on the line, we hope we can communicate the importance of putting your mental health first not just by saying it, but by showing up and doing the work to get better. Carey’s showing up for himself and for his family and making the absolute best decision possible for us.”

The support around the league for Price was unanimous and encouraging on every level.

What matters is that NHL players are being encouraged to ask for help, and not just wait until after the season to do so.

Mental health is more than just a slogan, or a buzz word or a trending hash tag on twitter. Instead, it’s a real thing valued by the NHL, the NHLPA and its players as fellow Hab Jonathan Drouin found out last season when he needed to step away from Montreal during the Stanley Cup playoffs to deal with his social anxiety and insomnia.

It can obviously happen to anyone at any time, of course.

Boston Bruins forward Chris Wagner spoke openly last season about the mental struggles of being an NHL player during the isolating, ofttimes joyless COVID-19 protocols. Wagner said there were days he didn’t even feel like playing last season, and that was a glaring first clue that something deeper was happening with him amidst the stresses of a uniquely challenging season.

“I mean, for me personally, I definitely dealt with anxiety that I’ve never dealt with in my life,” said Wagner last season while admitting at the time he’d deleted his social media accounts because they were “bad for the brain”. “But then talking to guys, you realize that a lot of people are going through that. I mean, the whole world is, realistically, with COVID and stuff.”

It all reminds this humble hockey writer of a situation a couple of years ago again with the Boston Bruins. Patrice Bergeron noticed one of Boston’s new players, Gemel Smith, seemed to be having a difficult time personally, and encouraged him to talk to somebody about whatever was troubling him.

Smith had been waived twice in the span of weeks by the Dallas Stars and then the Bruins and admitted that he “made himself go to a sunken place” as a result.

Bergeron simply suggested he might want to speak with Boston Bruins team psychologist Max Offenberger about whatever he was feeling. That conversation opened the door for Smith to seek help and get what the support he needed to keep moving forward as a healthy hockey player mentally and physically.

“It was one of those things where you never know if somebody wants to talk about it. [Smith] was just somebody that seemed like he wasn’t himself,” said Bergeron to NBC Sports Boston a couple of years ago when recalling that conversation. “I didn’t know him very well, but he seemed very down and introverted. I thought something was going on and I just reached out to let him know I was there if he needed to talk.

“We had a little talk and I just told him to maybe talk about it [more]. There’s a saying ‘Do not suffer alone.’ And it’s the biggest thing in life and also in hockey. Sometimes in sports there are a lot of things involved with the game that can be hard to handle, and his situation wasn’t easy. It’s hard on anyone. That’s all I did. I just said a few words to try and make him feel better, and it made a difference. I was just trying to be there for him. I really don’t deserve that much credit, but I’m really happy that he’s doing better.”

It all started with an NHL superstar in Bergeron simply and genuinely asking how one of his new teammates was doing. Hopefully another NHL star in Price actively seeking help at the start of the NHL regular season will make it even more acceptable for others to reach out when they need to work on themselves.

This all serves as a reminder of what Bergeron said, “Do not suffer alone.”

If your favorite NHL player can stop, ask for help and get the self-care he needs then so can you if ever the time comes when things are too overwhelming. The big bad hockey world is becoming a more empathetic and understanding place with each shining example like Price, and that’s a welcome change for the better.