Taking a hard look at themselves

BROSSARD - There's no denying it. The 2017-18 season was disappointing in every sense of the word.

Claude Julien's troops made that abundantly clear on Monday as they cleaned out their lockers at the Bell Sports Complex before going their separate ways.
But, there's also a sense amongst the group that lessons learned over the last seven-plus months will ultimately go a long way towards helping to right the ship come the fall.
After missing the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons, Brendan Gallagher didn't shy away from sharing his dissatisfaction with the Canadiens finishing the year 28th overall.
That being said, the six-year NHL veteran is adamant that some good can - and will - come from a situation like this in the long run.
"It's never easy going through seasons like this or this type of adversity, but I think you can use it and learn from it. I think the last time we went through this we got better from it, because you learn not to make the same mistakes," explained Gallagher, who led Julien's contingent with 31 goals and 54 points in 82 games. "Sometimes you have to go through trial and error and you have to go through pain. That's what this year was.

"It's frustrating and it's never easy losing that many hockey games, but you learn really what it takes," added the 25-year-old Edmonton native. "The margin between winning and losing is so thin that you can't be making that many mistakes. If you do, you've got to learn from them. It's just something for us to learn from and hopefully we can be better for it."
Phillip Danault believes that will most definitely be the case when training camp opens next September. The feeling of being on the outside of the postseason looking in really is a bitter pill to swallow right now for everyone involved.
"The fact that we had a season like that, I think the guys will come back hungry. I can guarantee that they don't want to experience that again. We'll come to camp ready to work," insisted Danault, who played just 52 games this season as a result of concussion issues. "Nobody is happy with the season we had, but I think we learned a lot of things from the adversity we dealt with. We can't come in next season and take anything for granted."
Case in point was the Canadiens' less-than-stellar 2-6 record in the pre-season, which captain Max Pacioretty confirmed really was cause for concern. That carried over into a poor October, and things just seemed to go downhill from there.
"There were definitely some warning signs as early as in the pre-season where we struggled heavily to score and struggled to produce and struggled to win, and it seemed like that kind of stayed with us throughout the year," said Pacioretty, who was sidelined with a sprained MCL since March 2, and missed the final 18 games of the year. "At the moment, you're not getting too caught up in it, but I think as early as training camp, I think things were starting to look negative and never got positive from there.
"I think if everyone looks at themselves in the mirror, and honestly judges their performance and is honest with themselves, then that's the only way you get better from it," added Pacioretty. "If everybody gets that same mindset, that's how you move forward and get better from it."
Needless to say, though, there's still plenty of optimism amongst Julien's charges as the long offseason begins. Just ask Andrew Shaw.
"The only direction we can go is up. We'll be better next year," said Shaw, who will undergo knee surgery next Tuesday and spend the summer recovering in order to be good to go for his eighth NHL season. "We know we have a long summer to heal up from injuries and a tough season, and we'll come back with a positive outlook and ready for a good and long year."

No doubt Pacioretty will be one of the players chomping at the bit to return to form after scoring just 17 goals in 2017-18 - and putting up just 37 points in 64 games along the way.
"I know that it was a very tough year for the team and for myself, and I take full responsibility for that," admitted Pacioretty, who'd reached the 30-goal plateau in each of the previous four seasons. "I'll never make an excuse for myself or try and make myself look better. I know where I stood this year, and I had a down year, I had a very down year, and it's never happened to me before statistically. I'll own that and I'll live with it."
For his part, Gallagher fully expects his long-time teammate to rebound in a big way production-wise.
"When you go through tough times, you learn a lot about yourself and you learn a lot about your character. With Max, I'm sure he's going to be just fine," said Gallagher. "When you're able to go through struggles and come through it, and you're able to battle through that stuff, I think it's that much more rewarding. Hopefully, that will be the case."