Carey Price isn't traveling with the Habs for a three-game road trip that begins Saturday. Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Canadiens' Carey Price says he entered treatment facility for substance use

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 11/9/21

Montreal Canadiens star goaltender Carey Price voluntarily entered the NHL/NHL Players' Association player assistance program on Oct. 7 shortly after it was learned he would miss the start of the season as he was working to return from offseason knee surgery and an illness said to be unrelated to COVID-19.

Price reported to the Canadiens Sunday so training staff could examine the repaired knee, and the 34-year-old announced via a statement shared on Instagram Tuesday afternoon that he entered a treatment facility for substance use last month:

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A post shared by Carey Price (@cp0031)

Before Tuesday, neither Price nor the Canadiens offered any in-depth information for why he entered the player assistance program, but his wife cited mental health at the time.

Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme, who has routinely provided vague updates on Price's status over the past month, told reporters Tuesday there's no timetable for when the veteran might play this season. Price isn't traveling with the Habs for a three-game road trip that begins Saturday.

"He's got many things to do right now, so I don't think he's going to be on the trip because there are steps that he needs to be taking," Ducharme explained, per Sean Farrell of the NHL's website. "So I think it's important that we focus on that first before going on the road with the team. I think he's got too many things to do right now before getting into that. He needs to get back in the gym. He had an injury that the therapists are happy to see where he's at right now with that, so he needs to get back to work and do specific work on that. That's the first step he needs to do."

Montreal was 3-10-0 ahead of Tuesday's home matchup against the 6-5-1 Los Angeles Kings.

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