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The NHL Draft stage can even be a little intimidating to some of the game’s biggest stars.
Stage nerves are what may have contributed to legendary Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price forgetting the last name of the team’s first-round draft pick on Wednesday night, a seemingly harmless gaffe that he later apologized for.
Kent Hughes and Carey Price of the Montréal Canadiens are seen on stage during round one of the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena on June 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Price had the honor of announcing the Habs selection with the No. 5 overall pic,k but just as he was about to deliver the good news to one lucky player, he went blank.
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"Les Canadiens de Montreal are proud to select David . . ." Price said, looking around, before turning to the organization’s leadership behind him.
In a true act of mercy, general manager Kent Hughes stepped up to the mic and said, "We planned it that way," before announcing the pick, defenseman David Reinbacher, which Price promptly repeated back.
David Reinbacher walks to the stage after being selected fifth overall by the Montreal Canadiens during the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft - Round One at Bridgestone Arena on June 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
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"Boy that was embarrassing," Price said in a tweet. "Sorry David….. Reinbacher."
But Reinbacher didn’t seem to mind.
"I was a little bit confused, but when Kent Hughes came and was like 'Reinbacher,' it was incredible," the Austrian hockey player later recalled in an interview.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman shakes the hand of David Reinbacher onstage after Reinbacher was selected fifth overall by the Montreal Canadiens during the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft - Round One at Bridgestone Arena on June 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
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"I fell into the arms [of] my dad and then I went on the stage and Carey Price came to me [and] was like, 'I’m so sorry.' I was like, 'Yeah, no problem, I guess.' You got to look up to such a great guy. It was stunning to shake his hand. I’m very thankful for that."
Reinbacher, 18, had 22 points in 46 games last season while playing Switzerland’s top professional league.