One would have thought that the faces were going to be long in the Montreal Canadiens locker room at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard on Wednesday, especially after the 5-1 thaw suffered the day before against the New Jersey Devils.
But it was nothing.
Star forward Cole Caufield still wore his best smiles between drills, and Team Red celebrated after beating Team White in a puck-handling drill in offensive territory. All this while head coach Martin St-Louis was exchanging a few jokes with his assistants along the ramp.
A relaxed, good-natured demeanor that contrasted sharply with the team’s last year as it racked up losses and languished at the bottom of the NHL pack — at least, for someone who doesn’t rub shoulders with not the team on a daily basis.
“I don’t know if everyone is going to be in a good mood [après un revers de 5-1], but I know that I will be. Every day presents a new possibility — I’ve always lived my life this way. Yesterday’s result certainly disappointed me, but it was an experience for our team to face a team that had just won nine in a row. We have seen why they [les Devils] are in that position, and it was a good test for the rest of us,” St-Louis first said after practice.
“It’s not like we completely failed [ce test]. We just didn’t score high enough to win the game. But the guys worked hard. They [les Devils] gave us a hard time with their speed and execution… So we have to keep improving, and we will not improve by having a negative attitude,” he continued.
This message was also echoed in the comments of Habs captain Nick Suzuki, who preferred to look forward rather than feel sorry for himself.
“We have to move on and focus on tomorrow night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets,” Suzuki said. We just wanted to show up at the arena today and have fun. The best thing about this league is that you don’t have time to think about the last game and you have to prepare for the next one. And with a bit of luck, we’ll get the win. »
For his part, defenseman Jordan Harris admitted that he and his teammates “could have played better against the team of the hour in the NHL”. However, he recalled the parity that exists in this league and the difficulty of chaining victories.
“We have to be ready every night, because no one is going to slow down against us. We have to do the same,” he said.
The duel against the Blue Jackets, a team that is experiencing difficulties this season and which also ranks last in the Metropolitan section given its lackluster record of 5-9-12, will therefore be a good test for the Blue White Red. St-Louis recalled in the sense that his men had to avoid falling into a trap by taking them lightly.
“I want guys who show up every day. It is this mentality that I try to establish. Don’t mind who we play against, don’t mind how we feel, I want them [mes joueurs] give me their 100% every day. We must never let our guard down against a team that is experiencing difficulties, ”he summed up.
It now remains to be seen whether the Habs will keep their beautiful attitude when defeats follow one another — because it will come — or if they will fall back into their bad habits from last season. It is at this moment that the true identity of the Habs will be revealed.