The Montreal Canadiens lost to the Washington Capitals in five games during the first round. (Geoff Burke-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/bc1602f3-8bcc-460c-af6e-e4d60fe836e0.jpeg] The Montreal Canadiens lost to the Washington Capitals in five games during the first round. (Geoff Burke-Imagn Images) Even though the Montreal Canadiens went down in five games to the best team in the Eastern Conference in the first round of the playoffs, there is every reason to frame the 2024-25 season as a tremendous success. The Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] pushed their rebuild ahead by a couple of years and exposed their young players to games down the stretch and in the playoffs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-season-of-progress-comes-to-an-end] that will make them more mature, more battle-tested and better. Ken Campbell's video column breaks down how the Montreal Canadiens can improve now. Coach Martin St-Louis basically said after the game that the disappointment they feel now will create even more joy [https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/st-louis-canadiens-effort-showed-signs-of-the-joy-thats-coming/] when this team becomes a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. He, like a lot of other people, are assuming that their great, young talent is going to become great, older talent. That might happen, but all the Canadiens need to do is to look to their Atlantic Division neighbor to the west [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs] to know that compiling terrific young players doesn't necessarily or instantly lead to playoff success. The Canadiens need to get bigger, tougher and better defensively. And the work on that begins now. Watch today's video column to learn how they can accomplish that. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
