With a regulation loss on Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens were officially knocked out of contention for the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While the Canadiens missing the postseason for the fifth time in a seven-year span would usually be cause for concern, there is a different feeling this time around—one of hope.
That’s mainly due to the presence of head coach Martin St. Louis, who has managed to get the best out of a large chunk of Montreal’s rebuilding roster. Still, there is always disappointment when a hockey season ends in April.
“We’ll continue on, [but] it’s a bummer to not make the playoffs,” St. Louis told reporters after his team’s 7-4 loss on Thursday. The coach then brought out one of his newly coined metaphors to get another point across.
“You get a feeling. How can I say this? Sometimes you go to a funeral, and sometimes you’re going to a celebration of life, you know?” the Habs bench boss added, switching between French and English.
Comparing Montreal’s third consecutive finish towards the bottom of the NHL’s standings to a funeral seems justified at first glance. But St. Louis’ optimism is not baseless when you consider all the growth the team has experienced over the past year alone.
Examples of that include Juraj Slafkovsky hitting his stride on the top line and breaking a few franchise records, Nick Suzuki netting more than 70 points, the emergence of a solid goalie tandem in Cayden Primeau and Sam Montembeault, and Joel Armia returning from an AHL stint to become one of the team’s top scorers.
The list goes on.
“You have to have the attitude that this is not a funeral. This is a celebration of life,” St. Louis reiterated. “Mentally, it’s a downer, which is normal. But there are so many positives (…), so we’ll finish with that vibe.”
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