Heartbreaking announcement from Carey Price.

On Monday after noon, veteran National Hockey League goaltender Carey Price addressed the media about his future as a hockey player and a member of the Montreal Canadiens organization. Although many expected Price to make a major announcement regarding his future, the press conference was largely status quo. Price did however indicate very clearly that he is not open to the idea of having another surgery, something that could very well determine his future as an NHL goaltender in and of itself.

Price described how he still very far away from any possible return to play, explaining that he still has a great many struggles going through his day to day life. His comments regarding his children and his inability to handle them they way he would want to as a father were particularly heartbreaking.

"We'll have to really just take it step by step, I don't have a plan to retire right at this moment," said Price on Monday. "Still having some issues getting up and down stairs and carrying my kids up and down stairs so my first priority is to get my body to a place where I am pain free in my day to day living and go from there."

I feel it's worth noting here that a man who struggles to walk up the stairs is probably very far away from being ready to play in the NHL again anytime soon.

Although these have been hard times for the star goaltender, he also expressed a great deal of gratitude during his press conference on Monday. That gratitude was directed at his family for their support, but also to the Canadiens fan base that, according to Price himself, have been overwhelmingly positive towards him since the injury.

"It's been an emotional rollercoaster for myself, but at the end of the day I've had my family there and my kids and my wife have been very supportive," admitted Price. "Every fan that I've had any interaction with over the last year and a half has been overwhelmingly positive, so I'm really thankful for that."

Although Price stopped well short of making any statements about the end of his career, his comments when it came towards the knee injury suggest to me that there may be no real path to recovery here.

"I was not particularly fond of such an intrusive surgery," said Price of the idea of another surgery. "In my opinion it's a little risky for my quality of life after, and it worries me a little bit to have another surgery."

Price would go on to admit that his plan moving forward is to continue rehabbing the injury, rehab that has thus far proven to be entirely ineffective in getting him any closer to returning to action. Barring any drastic change in fortunes, it sounds very much like Price is heading down a path that does not include a return to action in the NHL.

One thing is certain though, Price confirmed that any possible return, however unlikely it may be, would definitely not be coming this season.

"I'm not gonna be a part of that process here this season," admitted Price.

Sadly Price also admits that he misses 'being with the guys' but would go on to add that he doesn't 'want to be in there every day' and using up team resources because he feels like, as a player who is projected to be out long term, he would only be getting 'in the way.'

Unsurprisingly, many of those guys mentioned by Carey Price had a ton of kind words for the veteran goaltender on Monday when they were asked about his ongoing struggles.

"The Montreal Canadiens are so fortunate to have that guy for the last 15 years - how many organizations would be killing to have Carey Price at their fingertips for that length of time is something special," said fellow goaltender Jake Allen.

"He made me look good on many of nights but I'd never say that to his face..." said longtime teammate Brendan Gallagher.