On his television screen, Jordan Garneau watched Carey Price break the hearts of Team USA and Team Sweden at the Winter Olympics.
Garneau, albeit on a different level, could relate to the pain the Americans and Swedes were feeling after not squeezing a single puck past the Team Canada goaltender and having their visions of gold dissipate into a warm Sochi breeze.
Back in 2003, when Garneau was a high-scoring right-winger for the Coast Inn of the North midget Cougars, he and his mates were victimized by Price in a best-of-three playoff series. As a result, the heavily-favoured Cats missed out on the triple-A provincial championship tournament. And, a few weeks later, Price and his Williams Lake cohorts celebrated a B.C. title after they beat Kamloops in the final.
That year, the Cougars were the top team in the Cariboo league but rankings didn't matter a bit when they met up with the Price-powered Williams Lake club in playoffs. In games played at the Kin Centre, the visitors skated to a 3-2 win and a 6-5 overtime decision. In the 3-2 game -- dominated territorially by Coast Inn -- Price made 43 saves. The next day, he was under siege again but helped his team get to overtime, where, as the saying goes, anything can happen.
Garneau, now 27, doesn't think much about the loss to Williams Lake anymore. But, at the time, it really stung.
"You expect to win, and Prince George teams were usually the favourites," he said this week. "To lose to Williams Lake was not the best feeling. It was kind of the end of our season. We tried to pick up and go to a later tournament but it was basically done. Carey stole the show from us and they went on to win provincials that year. That kind of says it all right there. Williams Lake, they never had strong teams but Carey Price was definitely the backbone of that team."
At the Olympics, Price went 5-0 for Team Canada and won his last two games -- the semifinal against the United States and the final against Sweden -- by shutout. Overall, he had a goals-against average of 0.59 and a save percentage of .971. Sure, it helped that he was playing behind perhaps the best defence ever assembled, but he did the job, especially in the games that really counted. Against the high-octane Americans, he made 31 saves, and against the Swedes, 24.
Some of the qualities that make the six-foot-three, 212-pound Price good now also made him a star during his minor hockey days.
"He was a really big goalie and very athletic for his size too, as he still is," Garneau said. "And you see how he can play the puck at the National Hockey League and international level, just think of that back when you're 15 years old, a goalie playing the puck like that. It's pretty hard to beat."
Whenever Garneau knew he'd be facing Price, getting motivated wasn't a problem.
"I always got up for games against Pricer because I knew if I beat him I was doing something right," he said. "That was my goal every game was to try and pop a few on him."
Garneau didn't just know Price as an opponent, but also as a teammate. On two occasions, they played together in the provincial Best-Ever program. As well, they wore matching uniforms on various all-star teams.
"You could laugh and joke with him," Garneau said. "Everyone always says goalies are weird and different and everything and I'm not saying Pricer wasn't a little different but he was always fun to be around and hang out with. He was just a great teammate overall."
Price went from minor hockey to the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League and eventually to the Montreal Canadiens, who made him the fifth-overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft. He's now in his seventh NHL season with the Habs and is living the life most minor hockey players only experience in their dreams.
And Garneau? He did have some serious potential as a player but the game he loved ended up being cruel to him. He started his junior career with the Prince George Spruce Kings in 2004-05 and skated in 59 games with the Quesnel Millionaires in 2005-06. He had scholarship opportunities in the United States and Canada but concussions forced him to quit. Despite all his talents, he had to accept the fact he wouldn't be playing anywhere on scholarship.
Garneau says there are "definitely days where I wish I was still playing hockey and could kind of put myself in Carey's shoes." But, he's happy. He's married to local girl Alex Miller and is building a career as an electrician. Life, he says, is good.
Garneau doesn't keep in touch with Price anymore but enjoys watching him do his thing. And seeing Price win gold with Team Canada gave him quite the charge.
"It's pretty cool to see someone you played against, and were actually good friends with, do something like that on TV," he said.
Garneau satisfies his own need for the game by skating in the Masters A Division of the Prince George Rec Hockey League. One of his teammates is his dad, Jason.
None of Garneau's games will show up on television, and that's OK.
For him -- as is the case with most guys who grew up at the rink -- just being on the blades once or twice a week is enough.
It has to be. Because guys like Carey Price? They're a rare breed indeed.
