Hearing the players and staff talk to the media this morning, you could sense how proud everyone is of the team’s progress.
And rightly so.
The Montreal organization has a plan in mind, and to see that the club has improved every year for the past two years is as encouraging for the organization as it is for the team’s fans.
The season might have been even better for the Habs if Kirby Dach hadn’t been injured in Game 2, and if Jake Allen hadn’t had a two-game winning streak.
It’s not all Allen’s fault, and we all agree on that… But the NHL is a results league, and goalies have to find a way to get the job done even when things go wrong.
Anyways.
The Montreal club was still a few points away from a playoff spot with one game to play, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.
This leads Nick Suzuki to believe that the rebuild is further along than most people think, and that the playoffs aren’t far off… A bit like David Savard, who believes in the playoffs as early as next year:
Management and players didn’t necessarily want to talk about the playoffs in recent years, but it feels different.
Suzuki also said this morning that the main objective next year will be to make the playoffs… Whereas this year, we wanted to see the team’s overall progress and the individual progress of the young players.
The Habs are on the right track, and if they keep doing things the right way, the results will come at some point.
It’s mainly the club’s “way of doing things” that’s good right now, because Martin St-Louis is a good coach who listens to his players.
Jeff Gorton believes that the Habs head coach, who signed a contract extension earlier this morning, could play a role in bringing in free agents because the players will want to work with him:
Last night we saw just how exciting the next few years should be for Habs fans.
Lane Hutson dancing at the blue line…
The first line still having fun…
Logan Mailloux having a strong game in his NHL debut…
The youngsters will continue to improve, and that will only make the team better over time.
And if it continues like this, Suzuki may be – and I do mean may be – right in believing that the playoffs are within reach…
In brief
– Big reinforcements in Laval.
– Jake Allen thanks Devils fans.
– Nice .
– Next season will be Marc-Andre Fleury’s last in the NHL.
– Let’s see whose!
– Huh!
More must-reads: