Carey Price Comes Forward and Reveals His Addiction and More in Interview

PUBLICATION

Skyler Walker
January 12, 2023 (10:17)

SHARE THIS STORY

Carey Price has recently announced that him and his wife will be moving far across the country to be with their respective family, which leads to thinking it may be safe to say that Price will not be returning to hockey. That is not the only factor in play, Price has endured severe knee injuries throughout the past few seasons that have been deemed ''risky'' by physicians to return to play, and Price also joined the NHL Players Assistance program after struggling with addiction.

Since Price has stepped away from the game, he has taken part in a few podcasts to talk about his career but has yet to touch base on his addiction, as it's a touchy subject.

Price recently took part in a podcast with the guys at ''Blue Rocket'', a popular french podcast, and it aired last night. Price spoke out about his addiction and revealed the information on it.

Brought to you by HockeyPatrol.com, here are quotes from one segment of the interview:

Why did you sign up for the NHL's assistance program?

"The NHL has substance abuse support programs, it's a really good program for players, whether it's mental health or substance abuse and I felt like I was due.

I started drinking for fun, and I thought I was very good, even excelled, but it got to the point where it wasn't fun anymore. I would wake up on Sunday mornings and say to myself that I would never do that again in my life, but I would always do it again.

It got to the point where I really needed to stop and it was time to get help.

And that's the hardest part of breaking bad habits, is realising that you need help and there's nothing wrong with that. Everyone asks for help in their lives. I felt that asking for help was the right thing to do and it worked for me."

How does the process work?

"The NHL signs you up for a program. There are a few different ways to do it. You can do it from a facility or you can do it at home. I found the best thing for me was to take a step back and walk away and go reset my brain.

I went to a place where I felt comfortable. So to be able to go there and to be able to interact with people who have gone through difficult times and where I went, there were very bright people. Very functional people who you would never think would have problems.

And to be able to hear stories and compare yourself to other people who were going through the same kind of thing, maybe not NHL hockey players, but people who are struggling in everyday life. And to be able to reset my brain and hold myself accountable was really a turning point in my life."

What's it like to open up when everyone's looking at you?

"For a lot of NHL players, that's the hardest part, probably for most of the people who rip it off, too: the judgment. Once you get past that and understand that people aren't judging you and you can be proud and be yourself when you go out.

When I was going out, I used to drink a lot to be socially comfortable because I'm quite introverted and I get anxiety when we're in big groups. You might not think so, but that's the way I am and it led me to drink excessively. So I was thinking about changing my approach at social events and being myself and it's been a good change."

Were you relieved after that rehab? Not just about the drinking, did you think you were back with humans and people realised you weren't a robot?

When you play hockey, people don't see you as a normal person. They see a uniform, a character on the ice. To get away from that and bring a reality to a situation can help."

The full podcast can be seen below: