The Montreal Canadiens counted upon Carey Price’s excellence to mask a lot of issues within the team. For years, he was the main reason the team found some semblance of success, a difficult task that would eventually end his career early due to a lack of cartilage between his knee and his femur.
But even though Price, who is unofficially retired for salary cap reasons, isn’t currently playing in the NHL, he’s still making an impact on tomorrow’s NHL stars.
Devon Levi is one of those potential stars.
The Montreal native already has a laundry list of accomplishments thanks to his fantastic performances during his time playing in the NCAA, The World Junior Championship, and the World Championships.
Levi, who grew up as a big Price fan, recently joined the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast and revealed that the Canadiens legend has played a big part in motivating the young netminder.
“I met him when I was 11 or 12 years old,” said Levi. “I had just become a goalie. That was very cool, especially growing up in Montreal. You know, idolizing him, going to see his games.”
In addition to sparking Levi’s love of goaltending, Price followed Levi’s career, which surely served as a motivating factor when the information got back to him.
“It was funny, because my girlfriend was at the Toronto Raptors game last year at the Bell Centre,” said Levi. “And Carey Price was right next to her. My girlfriend facetimes me and then hands him over the phone. She says “Hey, this is Devon Levi, do you want to talk to him?” and then he’s like “Oh yeah, I know who Devon Levi is, give me me the phone.” And so he’s like “Hey man, how are you doing?” And then we just had a quick conversation, and I wished him the best.”
Price would follow up once Levi made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres.
“A couple of months later he sent me a really nice text,” explained Levi. “Like, two paragraphs. Just giving me some advice, telling me to enjoy the process every single day. He says he wishes he was just starting out also, so he’s excited to follow.”
For those who doubt how much the simple gesture by the Montreal Canadiens goaltender impacted the young player, Levi’s excitement upon receiving the motivating text messages is impossible to ignore.
“It was really cool, a full circle moment. A great guy, reaching out to me like that, and giving me support,” said a beaming Levi during the interview.
If you’d like to check out the entire podcast, you can click here to view it on YouTube.
More must-reads: