NHL News: Jack Eichel dons the Golden Knights jersey; and Carey Price on road to Habs return
Anthony Scultore
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The Vegas Golden Knights officially introduced Jack Eichel as their newest member on Monday.
“I think first of all it’s just excitement,” Eichel said. “There’s a lot of emotions involved unless you’ve gone through [being traded] before, which I haven’t. I’m just very relieved and so excited and thankful.”
After meeting with the press, the 25 year-old center showed up at a local ball hockey clinic to give the kids in Vegas a few tips and have some fun.
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NHL News: Eichel dons the Golden Knights jersey for the first time
Wearing his customary #9, Eichel was enjoying himself with the kids but his focus is on getting surgery and back on the ice to prove any of his doubters wrong.
“In the grand scheme of the whole process it’s going to be a short time,” Eichel explained. “I’m excited to be here and I’m excited to attack this recovery and get back on the ice.”
Jack Eichel is scheduled to undergo an artificial disk replacement surgery Nov. 12 at a spine clinic in Denver, he said Friday.
The surgery was the centerpiece of the tension between Eichel and his former team, the Buffalo Sabres. The procedure has never been performed on an NHL player and the Sabres were pushing for a fusion surgery for Eichel’s herniated disk.
“I’m very comfortable with it,” Eichel said, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I have extreme confidence in my surgeon and the people I plan to do my recovery with.”
“You hope for the best but prepare for the worst,” Eichel said. “In that case obviously I’m hoping that it’s a three-month recovery, and after three months if I’m ready to get back to doing what I love.”
Price in Montreal on road back to playing
Montreal Canadiens star goalie, Carey Price was back with the team on Monday. Last month, on October 7th, he voluntarily placed himself in the League’s Player Assistance Program.
Price, 34, is former Hart and Vezina Trophy recipient owning a 360-257-79 record with 49 shutouts, a .917 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average in 707 games (695 starts) since Montreal drafted him No. 5 overall in 2005.
“It was great to see him, he’s doing well,” Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said. “For our players, we’re together every day so we have a good group of players and they take care of each other. And to see a teammate come back like that, it’s positive for the guys. Obviously while he was gone we had no news about him, so to see him again and to see him in a good state of mind, that’s positive.”
As for a timetable of when Price is expected to play, it’s impossible to figure out.
“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 said via NHL.com. “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.”
