Price: ‘I don’t have a plan to retire right at this moment’

BROSSARD — Goaltender Carey Price addressed the media on Monday at the Bell Sports Complex.

Price, 35, remains on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) with a knee injury.

Here are a few highlights from his Q&A with reporters:

Price on his plans for the future:

I like to kind of really just take it step by step. I don’t have a plan to retire right at this moment. Right now, my goal is to just be pain-free from day to day. I’m still having some issues getting up and down stairs and carrying my kids up and down stairs is difficult, so my first priority is just to get my body in a place where I’m pain-free in my day-to-day living and go from there.

Video: Carey Price on his future

Price on a particularly tough period in his life:

It’s frustrating. No question. It’s like you go from being in the Stanley Cup Final to sitting here today, and it’s a pretty short amount of time. It’s not a position I envisioned myself being in not too long ago, so it’s been an emotional rollercoaster. At the end of the day, I had my family there, my kids, my wife. They’ve been very supportive. And every fan I’ve had an interaction with over the last year and a half has been just overwhelmingly positive, so I’m really thankful for that.

Price on being with his kids on a regular basis:

It’s been such a blessing just to be at home and kind of getting into a routine being at the house and being a consistent presence in their life. Liv is definitely at an age where she understands that daddy’s a hockey player and he’s a goalie. It’s kind of funny, the other night we were at the Als game and she’s my little personal assistant handing me little footballs to sign with fans. I think Liv will miss watching dad in warmups. That was kind of getting to be kind of a ritualistic thing that we would do together.

Price on his medical status:

I visited with our doctors here. There was my doctor in New York. I went for a second opinion in Pittsburgh at the end of the season. That’s where I had my end-of-the-year second opinion on what my future held and what kind of a plan we’d have going forward. That’s when surgery was suggested. I wasn’t particularly fond of such an intrusive surgery. In my opinion, it’s a little risky for my quality of life after and it worries me a little bit to have another surgery. It’s kind of something I would consider if my quality of life is not at a place that’s acceptable and I’m really struggling in my day-to-day living. Now, I’m just continuing my rehab. It hasn’t been successful thus far. That’s been the real frustrating part, but I’ve talked to several people who’ve had this type of injury, and it’s taken them over a year to start feeling normal, so I’m still holding out hope. There’s a possibility of another injection, but we’ll have to see. It’s just continuing to try to find a way to solve a problem, but that surgery is a little bit worrisome for me.

Price on enjoying life away from the rink:

It’s definitely been a pleasure being able to do things outside of your bubble, because when you’re playing hockey, you’re so goal-focused and you don’t really do much outside of maybe going to the odd dinner here or there. You’re so focused on your job during the season that you don’t really get an opportunity a lot of the time to kind of get out of that. It’s been fun to be able to take the kids out to different sporting events, and me and Angela being able to go to a basketball game, and I’ve spent a lot of time out of the city and gotten a real appreciation for the area outside of Brossard and downtown. It’s been fun to be able to go exploring a little bit.

Price on the goaltending profession:

Right now, goaltenders are better than they’ve ever been, and they’re that way because they play the way they do. It’s a competitive world out there. Everybody wants to be here at the end of the day, and I don’t think there’s a kid out there that wouldn’t sacrifice anything to be here. It’s part of the cost that you pay, and I’ve paid it. If I were to do it all over again, would I do it? You know I would. The best thing you can do is try and take care of your body as best you can because this job is not easy and it’s going to be demanding. There’s no way around it. You can’t sugarcoat it, but the thing you can do is try and manage yourself as best as possible, take care of your body, take care of your mentals, and as Marshawn Lych said, ‘Take care of your chicken.’