Habs' St. Louis: Pain of 1st-round exit 'not even close' to joy yet to come
The Montreal Canadiens' surprising season may have been cut short with Wednesday's Game 5 loss to the Washington Capitals, but head coach Martin St. Louis knows even better days are on the horizon.
"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," the bench boss 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 battled their way into the playoffs during what was supposed to be another rebuilding year for the young club.
Montreal was in last place of the Eastern Conference with an 8-13-3 record on Dec. 1, but it went 32-18-8 the rest of the way to claim 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 was Suzuki's third career postseason appearance and first since the Canadiens made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.
What followed that stunning run were three trying seasons that saw Montreal finish in last place of the Atlantic Division with a sub-.500 record each time. Having been on both sides of the coin, Suzuki is doing his best to focus on the here and now.
"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."
One person who definitely won't be in the mix is defenseman David Savard, who announced he would retire after Montreal's playoff run.
"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.
Canadiens netminder Jakub Dobes, meanwhile, is eager to get another shot at the postseason with his teammates.
"Obviously, not the result we wanted, but I believe we have a lot of playoff hockey in front of us," he said. "We'll be back eventually. ... It sucks right now, but tomorrow will be a better day."