The Montreal Canadiens’ season ended with Wednesday’s Game 5 loss to the Washington Capitals, but head coach Martin St. Louis sees a bright future ahead for his team.
“The pain that you feel right now is normal, but I think it’s not even close to what’s coming, the joy that’s coming,” St. Louis said after Montreal’s season-ending 4-1 defeat, according to Sportsnet. “Obviously, there’s nothing guaranteed. You gotta keep putting your (best) foot forward and work on it, but it’s very encouraging.
“Not just the talent that we have, but to me, what’s more at the front of that is the individuals that we have. We have great humans. It’s a fun group to lead.”
The Habs made the playoffs despite being in what many considered a rebuilding year.
Montreal sat in last place in the Eastern Conference with an 8-13-3 record on Dec. 1 before going 32-18-8 the rest of the way to secure the second wild-card spot.
“Extremely proud of everyone,” captain Nick Suzuki said. “From where we started the season to where we are now, we’ve grown so much. It really felt like we could keep going and win. It felt like we could have won any of these games.”
This marked Suzuki’s third playoff appearance and first since the Canadiens reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.
After that run, Montreal finished last in the Atlantic Division for three straight seasons with sub-.500 records each time. Suzuki is focusing on the present rather than dwelling on the past.
“Just trying to stay in the moment right now,” he said. “Just the feeling of going off the ice like that and coming in here (to speak to the media), it’s a tough feeling. You need to go through it every year unless you win the trophy at the end. … Who knows what our group is gonna look like next year, so just trying to spend time with the guys we have now.”
Defenseman David Savard, who previously announced he would retire after Montreal’s playoff run, won’t return next season.
“His fingerprints are all over everyone in the room. … I wish we could have extended his season a bit longer, his career a bit longer,” Suzuki said.
Goaltender Jakub Dobes remains optimistic about the team’s future playoff prospects.
“Obviously, not the result we wanted, but I believe we have a lot of playoff hockey in front of us,” Dobes said. “We’ll be back eventually. … It sucks right now, but tomorrow will be a better day.”
