NHL GM hints at a return for Carey Price.

The Montreal Canadiens have been without their star goaltender Carey Price for the entirety of the season so far, and up until today there had been no indication of when Price might return. What makes the situation so difficult to predict is the fact that Price is on something of a self-imposed  leave of absence, but on Monday we finally got a bit of information regarding the status of the Habs netminder.

Strangely enough it was St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong who provided the clue, although when he did so he was speaking as the general manager for Team Canada at the upcoming Olympic Winter games in Beijing, China. Armstrong was asked about the goaltending situation for Team Canada at the event and interestingly enough he indicated that Price could still be a member of that team.

"We're hoping all the best for Carey," said Armstrong. "I hear he's getting back on the ice soon and I would say going into it, when everyone watched last year's playoffs, he was pencilled in as the guy. Now there's things that are so much more important than playing hockey and he's going through some of those things right now, and if he gets his game up and he wants to come and he's playing to that level he will be the guy again. obviously."

The first clue provided by Armstrong is the most obvious, and he states it plainly. When Armstrong says he has heard Price will be back on the ice soon he is once again speaking as the general manager for Team Canada, someone who would have been kept apprised of Carey Price's status throughout his absence. I have no doubt that Armstrong has some inside knowledge about the situation, but he also provided additional context clues.

During the interview Armstrong indicated that his scouting of the players would come to an end on January 1st, and given that we have nearly reached the end of November that is a date that is rapidly approaching. This means that if Price wants to get "his game up" as Armstrong indicated, it would necessitate him being back on the ice relatively soon.

The Canadiens only have 13 games on their schedule in the month of December, and if Armstrong believes Price can still claim a spot on Canada's roster he would likely have to appear in most of those.

Armstrong touched on a number of topics during the brief interview and you can catch it all here, but if you're looking for the comments about Price they start at around the 5 minute mark of the video.