French-language newspaper La Presse reported Friday that the chances of Price returning this season were slim and that he has an injury to his right knee. La Presse also reported that the Canadiens do not believe the injury will require surgery.
"You know what? There's going to be a lot of speculation," Therrien said. "People are going to speculate about what I hear from a lot of people. But that's our market. We know what's going on with Carey. It takes more time, obviously, than we were expecting. Like I said, he's working extremely hard and he's put in a lot of hours to make sure that he's going to make that comeback. The fact that he's working extremely hard is not to make sure that he's going to look good this summer on the beach; he wants to come back and play for the Montreal Canadiens."
Price, who won the Hart and Vezina trophies last season, has been out since Nov. 25 because of a lower-body injury.
The initial prognosis was Price would need six weeks to recover from his injury, then it was announced he would not return until after the All-Star Break. But on Jan. 21, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said he expected Price to need another three to four weeks to recover. Friday marked the three-week mark and Price does not appear close to returning in the next week, meaning his absence will extend beyond the revised timetable. Price has yet to appear in a practice or skate with his full complement of goaltending gear.
The Canadiens have gone 10-20-2 without Price. They are three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
