Canadiens release statement following controversy regarding Carey Price

He may not be active, but goaltender Carey Price remains a member of the Montreal Canadiens. His team has decided to release a statement after their player took a lot of heat online for taking a stance on potential legislation and aligning himself with a lobby group.

Price recently took to his Instagram account to speak out against a proposed bill in Canada that opponents say would ban guns commonly used for hunting. There have been denials of that accusation by the federal government. However, it announced Monday that everything is being reviewed to make absolutely sure.

In the post, Price stated his support for the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, or CCFR. It has since come to light that the CCFR used the code "POLY" in it's online store in order to give customers a discount on branded merchandise. The code was an apparent reference to PolySeSouvient, a group of current and former students of École Polytechnique, where 14 women were murdered in Montreal on December 6th, 1989. Price has since come out to say he stands by his statement, although he was not aware of the code used by CCFR.

The Montreal Canadiens, in a statement of their own, are backing Price up on that, and saying he was not aware the timing of his statement was being made just before the anniversary of the tragedy.

While it's possible, it's a bit difficult to reconcile that fact that Price lived and played in Montreal for the better part of 15 years, where the horrific incident from 1989 is remembered every single year and usually marked in some way by the team itself, yet it apparently slipped his mind regarding the time of year. Either way, whether you agree with Price's statement or not, he has a right to it as a private citizen. Private citizens also have the right to rebuke statements made publicly by others for or against legislation. Price had to know not everyone would be in agreement with him, and it appears he was prepared to take that on.

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