What Now For Carey Price? Managing Expectations

What Now For Carey Price? Managing Expectations

By: Shaun Smith- Performance Mental Coach

The trade of Jaroslav Halak to the St Louis Blues marked the start of another chapter in the growth of Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens. Halak, who carried the Canadiens into the playoffs and past the Capitals and Penguins was made a legend in Montreal but Halak did not play his way onto the 2010-2011 Canadiens team as many fans and media personnel may have thought. Instead the Montreal Canadiens went with the future and rolled the dice with Carey Price. So what does this mean for Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens in this upcoming hockey season? We’ll have to wait and see but one thing is for sure Price will need to learn how to manage expectations set on him by his team and his fans for the team to have success.

Jaroslav Halak stole the show last year and brought a Canadiens team that looked doomed to be golfing at the end of the regular season into the playoffs and on a rememberable playoff run. Price was to be the guy last year but Halak came in and won the hearts and trust of the coaches and fans. So what does trading Jaroslav Halak do for the expectations that will be placed on Carey Price in the upcoming season?

The truth is the expectations will be mixed. Some of the fans and media expect that nothing will change and Price will continue to fail to reach up to their expectations that have been placed on him ever since he was unfairly compared to the next Patrick Roy. These fans will be negative right off of the hop and will be all over Price’s every mistake no matter how minute. Comparisons to what Halak did at the end of last season will be made unfairly right off of the get go.

The other side of the fans and media will expect that Carey Price to carry the team the way that he has showed in glimpses throughout his short career. These people will have high expectations of Price carrying them back to the playoffs and to another Eastern Conference Final, if not deeper. These fans and media will expect Price to steal games on a regular basis for his team and failure to do so will result in angry fans.

No matter what side of the fence you sit on one thing is for certain and that is Carey Price at a young age will need to learn fast how to handle expectations quickly. Teams, players and goaltenders have all been eaten alive by expectations that were set on them by fans and media personnel.

Expectations are placed on all of us. We set expectations to get something done by a particular date or get a promotion at our job by a certain time. Bosses place expectations on employees to show up to work and complete a task. Playing professional sports comes with expectations which are often determined by a multitude of factors including the particular market the athlete is in, the previous season, and players that are brought in to help the team.

Think of times when you have had expectations placed on yourself. No matter what the situation was I am sure that you felt the added pressure to get the job done because someone or a group of people expected you to get the job done. The pressure was most likely related to the amount of confidence you went into the task with that you could get the job done. Athletes experience expectations and the pressure related to the expectations in their daily lives just like you have in the past so how do you deal with expectations when they may not be realistic or within your reach? How does Carey Price deal with the expectations which have been put on him due to the recent success of Halak and the Canadiens?

There are many different factors which need to be examined to ensure that Price handles these expectations correctly including managing his emotions within the game, being able to handle the rollercoaster which will be the upcoming season, learning how to handle pressure appropriately, increase and maintain his confidence throughout the season but the biggest factor that will determine if Price experiences success this upcoming season will be his ability to ignore the expectations that others place on him and set realistic and obtainable expectations for each and every time that he hits the ice. Carey Price will need to focus on one game, one practice at a time. If he can do this than Price will have a great season and will be in the best possible situation to put his team back into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The expectations that the fans are putting on Carey Price may or may not be realistic for the upcoming season but the truth is Price will not have a successful season unless he reaches out and gets some help with his mental game. Price will need to learn how to manage the expectations that he places on himself as well as the expectations that others place on him. This is what being the goaltender in a hockey crazy market like Montreal asks of their goaltenders. Price has the ability but he will need to back up his technical and physical attributes with a much stronger mental game this year. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to email me at ssmith@absolutementaltraining.com