After ending his career in the NHL, former Canadian goaltender Carey Price is catapulted to the Professional Women's Hockey League. At least through the new mask of Elaine Chuli, who defends the net for the team from Montreal.
“Carey Price had a lot of success in Montreal, he had a great career and I also followed him to the World Junior Hockey Championships when I was very young [en 2007]. “I always liked the way he played,” Chuli explained why there is a picture of the former CH star on his mask.
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Chuli particularly remembers a shootout in the semifinals of that junior championship against the United States. Price then stopped Patrick Kane twice and finally Peter Mueller for the victory. For his part, Jonathan Toews was the offensive hero of this shootout, leading Canada to the gold medal in the final.
“I particularly remember him wearing black leggings with a maple leaf on the top,” confessed Chuli, who was just 12 at the time.
A Leafs fan
Growing up in Waterford, near Hamilton, Chuli pays tribute to the Canadian but admits she spent most of her youth cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs, including Curtis Joseph.
“The Maple Leafs were the closest Canadian team [de chez moi] and I still really like the city of Toronto,” she noted, stressing that it was important for her, however, to create a connection to Montreal when choosing the elements on her mask.
In addition to Price, Chuli added the legendary Ken Dryden to the illustrations on his device, designed by Ontario company Mask Wraps, and added a panorama of various Montreal buildings.
“I saw his mask on Thursday and seeing these Canadian legends is nice, especially for someone who grew up not far from Toronto,” commented captain Marie-Philip Poulin. It would have been easy for them to use a former Toronto athlete. We see these women moving here and developing a sense of belonging to the city of Montreal.”
From “29” to “20”
About Dryden, Chuli mentioned that for a long time she wore the same number as him, which was 29. However, the idea of giving Poulin a Rolex watch to keep that number with the Montreal team never came close to coming to mind.
In her opinion, the 29 was inviolable, and that's why she now wears the 20 in Montreal. A reference to Vladislav Tretiak? Or maybe Ed Belfour during his years with the Leafs.