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Price (knee) won’t start skating ‘til mid-August

Carey Price

Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) watches from the bench during the third period in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs in Montreal on Saturday, May 17, 2014. The Rangers won 7-2. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

AP

The good news for Carey Price is that he hasn’t -- and won’t -- require surgery on his hyperextended knee.

The bad news, however, is that he’s going to be off ice for a while longer.

“I was lucky and unlucky at the same time,” Price said of his season-ending injury, per the Tri-City Herald. “If my leg was two inches shorter at the post I wouldn’t have been hurt at all. If it were two inches the other way, I probably would have had to have reconstructive knee surgery.

“I’m doing OK now. I won’t be skating again until the middle to August so that will be the true test. Right now it feels pretty good.”

Hurt in a collision with Chris Kreider during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against New York, Price took a number of light practice sessions while Dustin Tokarski manned the net, in the hope of making some kind of comeback. There was talk of Price possibly returning to tend goal should Montreal make the Stanley Cup Final but, after being dumped in six games by the Rangers, Montreal’s focus turned to getting its star netminder healthy for next season.

Looking ahead, the real question will be if Price can get enough rehab/skating in prior to the start of Montreal’s training camp. He’s looking at about 2-3 weeks of activity to get into shape, so it’s possible he could be held out of early exhibition contests, just to make sure the knee has healed properly.