The Montreal Canadiens' 2026 NHL campaign ended with a 6-1 defeat against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. But HC Martin St. Louis recently highlighted a few positive aspects of the side despite the disheartening loss.

The Canadiens' head coach didn't waste time lamenting the loss and shifted his focus to what lesson he and the team could learn from the loss to make themselves better. St. Louis also highlighted that they did a lot of things right in the season despite failing to win it all.

During the post-match press conference, St. Louis said, "We keep growing, we learn, we're gonna learn a lot from this process of failing and advancing. We're not gonna win the championship, but there's a lot of wins in what we did this year. This whole experience is part of our learning. There's always learning in failure."

He also lauded the Hurricanes for their incredible performance, saying, "That team over there is good. Very mature. And we are gonna have to, you know, I don't know if we can match that maturity. But we are gonna have to elevate that."

Ever since arriving, St. Louis has been credited with the fast development of several young players who are now at the core of this roster. Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson scored several goals for the Canadiens this season, which can certainly be taken as a positive.

Goalie Jakub Dobes made 35 saves, which made the Canadiens a major contender before they got eliminated.

But here's a deeper look at why the Canadiens can be happy about a few factors this season.

Why the Canadiens Still View the Season Positively?

Montreal entered this season as one of the NHL's youngest rosters and secured a spot in the playoffs. They then became the youngest team in NHL history to do so, with an average age of 25.95.

From there onwards, they won two series on their journey to the conference final; they defeated Tampa Bay and Buffalo in seven games each.

Lane Hutson, the 21-year-old defenseman, became the fourth blueliner in franchise history to reach 15 points in a one postseason. 

Captain Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Mike Matheson, and goaltender Jakub Dobes all contributed as much as they could to this deep playoff campaign.

The Canadiens held on to their momentum, being consistent in every game. The only problem they had was producing enough offense to consistently finish. 

In Games 2 and 3, they were outshot with 39-13 and 39-12, but were still tough to defeat. That very effort is something that St. Louis clearly recognizes and appreciates.

For a team as young as them, reaching the Eastern Conference Final is a notable achievement. The experience of competing at this elite level, against such competition, is definitely huge.

How do you think the Canadiens will do in the upcoming season?

Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Souvik Roy