Habs players clean out lockers, look back on a season that defied expectations

The Montreal Canadiens met with the media for the final time and looked back on a season that defied exprectations.

The Montreal Canadiens met with the media for the final time on Friday, as the team’s head coach was nominated as best among his peers in the NHL.

Martin St. Louis is up for the Jack Adams trophy, along with Winnipeg Jets coach Scott Arniel and Spencer Carbery of the Washington Capitals.

“I know I’m nominated for this trophy but for me its a team recognition, and then the buy in from the players,” said St. Louis. “To me, that’s where it all starts.”

It was a year that defied expectations, with the Habs making the playoffs.

However, the first-round exit does not mean the rebuild is over.

Lane Hutson defenceman is a strong favourite to take home the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie-of-the-year.

“Honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better situation to step into. It was it was great,” said the American d-man.

Hutson racked up 66 points during the regular season and five more in the playoffs, a record for Habs rookies.

“Hopefully it’s a glimpse into what could be much more, and, yeah, that was just, it was insane,” said Hutson about playing playoff hockey at the Bell Centre.

For defenceman David Savard, Wednesday’s game five marked the end of a career for the Stanley Cup winner.

The end of the game brought tears to his eyes.

“Coming back home and playing in Montreal in front of friends and family was special and just to be able to finish here is something very special for me,” he said.

Fan favourite Arber Xhekaj is hoping to fill some of Savard’s minutes on the blue line next season.

“Obviously, there’s room for someone to step up and yeah, I’d obviously like that to be me,” he said.

The Canadiens were the youngest team in the post season, with an average age of 26.4 years old.

One young star is 25-year-old captain Nick Suzuki.

“We’ve shown that we are the youngest team ever to make the playoffs,” he said. “That’s something about what we have in here and how we play.”

At one point in the season, the Habs had a two per cent chance of making the postseason and waited until the last game of the year to seal it with a win over the Caroline Hurricanes.

“I went through a lot of ups and downs, kind of trying to figure out my game,” said forward Juraj Slafkovsky. “I think towards the end of the season, it was it was a little better, so maybe it would be nice if, next season I start in October, not February.”

The rebuild isn’t over yet, and the players say the next goal is being the team that makes the playoffs year after year.