When the past meets the present

MONTREAL - Carey Price and Joe Morrow aren't the first members of their respective families to have shared a locker room.

In 1976-77, the current Habs' fathers, Jerry Price and Dave Morrow, suited up for the Western Canada Hockey League's (WCHL) Calgary Centennials.
Jerry tended goal, while Dave patrolled the blue line.
Four decades later, the two still have fond memories of playing alongside one another in their late teens.
"Calgary Centennials teams weren't anything great back in the day, but Dave was a good player, for sure. He was one of our best players. There's no doubt about that," praised the now-60-year-old Price, referencing Morrow's significant offensive output from the back end that season, leading all Centennials blue-liners with 23 goals, 45 assists and 68 points in 60 regular season games. "If the pressure was on, he was the guy you wanted on the ice. Anybody who was as good a player as Dave was, was an instant buddy of mine. We got along really well."
Likewise, Morrow had a great deal of respect for the way Price went about his business in between the pipes.
"He was just solid. He talked a lot. Those kinds of things are always helpful when you're a defenseman and you're always coming back with your back to the play and keeping your head on a swivel. Jerry was a talker. He was always involved in the play and always helping. He was a good communicator," recalled Morrow, 59, on his former netminder's playing style. "We always had a good relationship. We had a lot of fun back then."

That year was particularly special because it marked the first time in three seasons that the Centennials clinched a playoff berth. Price backstopped the squad to a preliminary-round upset of the Central Division-leading Medicine Hat Tigers in four straight games, before they fell to the Lethbridge Broncos in the quarterfinals three games to two.
"We took Lethbridge right to the final game and it was a barn-burner. We just didn't pull it out, but Jerry played really well. He stood on his head for that whole series," mentioned Morrow, who ranked second on the Centennials in playoff scoring with five goals and 15 points in nine games. "I remember in the dressing room, everyone was sitting around with their heads hanging. We were just a really close group. We were the underdog, so it was fun to win. We had a lot of fun playing Junior hockey back in the day."
Now, their sons are enjoying a similar hockey experience - albeit at the NHL level - and Jerry and Dave couldn't be prouder that the stars aligned when Morrow signed in Montreal over the summer, bringing the pair together as members of the Canadiens.
"It's a pretty cool situation. There is a relationship there [between a goaltender and defenseman] that develops over time. You learn to rely on each other and you build on that chemistry, so it's nice to see that starting with Carey and Joe," said Morrow. "It's amazing how they've crossed paths so many years later."

Price, who recently reconnected with his former WCHL teammate during the Canadiens' visit to Vancouver in December, is certainly in agreement there.
"I'm just happy to have that connection with Dave and his family, and having Joe and Carey play on the same team, it's a unique thing to see," mentioned Price. "You're just happy that you have that history together, and if Joe is as good a teammate as his dad was, I'm sure he'll always be a good buddy of Carey's."
Interestingly enough, the connection between the Price and Morrow families does, in fact, go one step further. When Joe's older brother, Josh, played for the Tri-City Americans in the early 2000s, he billeted with Jill and Dennis Williams, who eventually billeted Carey during his stint with the WHL franchise.
Likewise, the Centennials eventually morphed into the Americans in 1988, following stops in Billings, MT, Nanaimo, BC and New Westminster, BC, meaning that Carey and Jerry share that unique tie, too.