MONTREAL -- Ask Jeff Gorton now what impresses him the most about the Montreal Canadiens, and the team's executive vice president of hockey operations cites one thing.
"The growth," Gorton told NHL.com in a phone conversation Saturday.
There's no way Gorton could have said that back on Dec. 14, following a 4-2 loss at the Winnipeg Jets that dropped the Canadiens to 11-16-3 on the season, a .417 points percentage that was 29th in a 32-team league.
Christmas was approaching, the 4 Nations Face-Off not far behind it, and it looked as if Montreal's season was already cooked.
"When you start off, you're rebuilding, the season starts, you hope you're moving forward, the team is getting better and better and you can compete for a playoff spot," Gorton said. "We had such a tough start you just don't know where it's going to go."
Where it has come to for the Canadiens is a seat at the table for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Washington Capitals at Bell Centre on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TBS, truTV, MNMT, MAX).
"The mentality of the team to just find a way back into it somewhere in December and play so well down the stretch, play all these meaningful games, it's been a lot of fun just to watch the group get better and better and better and embrace it," Gorton said.
"At some point during the season it felt like the guys got sick of losing and sort of rallied the troops. It's just been a lot of fun watching. (Coach) Marty (St. Louis) has done a hell of a job of giving everyone on the team a role. Guys have really bought into it and you can see now how it's coming together. It's just been a fun year."
Montreal is coming off a 6-3 win in Game 3 on Friday that cut Washington's lead in the best-of-7 series to 2-1. The Canadiens have not lost in regulation at home since Feb. 9, finishing the regular season 9-0-2 on home ice and adding another win in Game 3.
But Montreal didn't just win Game 3; it dominated, outshooting Washington 40-21 with an 81-45 advantage in total shot attempts.
Each member of the Canadiens top line of Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield scored a goal. The line accounted for 19 shots on goal, led by Caufield's 11.
The building rocked. The Canadiens hit, a 45-26 advantage in that statistical category, and the 21,105 inside Bell Centre chanted and roared and backed the home team to another win on home ice.
Gorton, along with general manger Kent Hughes, watched it all unfold with obvious joy, wondering what's next for this team they've built and how far it can go this season.
Gorton spoke about all that and more during a Q&A with NHL.com.
I think back to when you hired Martin St. Louis to be the coach on Feb. 9, 2022. It was looked at as something that could go one of two ways, that it was a risk because he hadn't coached in the NHL or anywhere. Yes, he had a long career and he was known as essentially a coach on the ice as a player, but what gave you the belief then that he was the right guy and what are you seeing now?
"I think it's unique that both Kent and I had history with him and we knew him. We had him as a player in New York, obviously, and got to know him and got to understand the feel for the game, the passion. You could see in a real small window of time how his teammates rallied around him and the respect he got and what he did for us in New York in that run, getting to know him and the passion he has for the game. Kent had a unique experience of being around him too. Their kids played together and they spent a lot of time together talking hockey. So we had a background with him, knowing the guy.
"But it doesn't surprise me. This is just a guy that everything he does, he's all in. The way he thought the game, it just seemed like a good fit for what we were going to do. We needed to rebuild the team. We needed to create this different environment of developing players, of being young, knowing we might not be great off the hop, and his energy level was going to help us. He's been in every situation.
"We tell the story all the time, when he first spoke to the team after we hired him he talked a lot about how 'There's no one in this room that I can't identify with. I was a healthy scratch. I was in the minors. Then I was a good player. I was a fourth-line player. I was a third-line player. Then I became a really good player. And then I became an MVP. I won the Stanley Cup.' He just has that ability to identify with everybody. It's unique to see a coach that is able to relate to his players on so many different levels."
When you start a rebuild, you never know how long it's going to take. Has this graduation to the next step, being a playoff team, happened on your original timeline or does it seem fast tracked from what you initially thought when you entered into it three years ago?
"I think it's faster. When you go into this kind of thing and you call it whatever you want, rebuild or retool, you're going to expect that it's going to take a lot of time, but you're hoping that it won't. Publicly, you're out there and you're saying we need patience, but inside all the meetings and everything we're going through we're hoping that we're going to be further advanced than most people think. It really is a credit to Marty to be able to get them all to play so well in this environment so soon, bringing them together, just the belief. He's been unbelievable leading these guys and them following him every day. It's been fun to watch."
You named Nick Suzuki captain on Sept. 12, 2022. He was 23 years old. What did you see in Nick then and what have you seen from him now?
"The best thing for me about Nick is that you can just see him getting better every day. Since I've been here, it's been about 3 1/2 years, he's better every season, and not just marginally better. He's getting so much better in all areas of the game. You see it with the points, but now when we needed to get in and we needed to win all those games coming out of 4 Nations, he was a huge part of that. He was one of the best players in the League and he was carrying us that way.
"But now you've seen the growth off the ice. You can see it with his relationship with his teammates. You see him speaking out more and doing all those kinds of things. It's very hard in this league to get better every year, and he's doing it in an environment that, it's pressure packed, as you can see."
Coming out of the 4 Nations break, was there any challenge presented from management to the players to go win games and we'll re-assess if we want to be sellers before the trade deadline? Was that a prove-it moment?
"I think so. We had a lot of conversations going into the break saying, 'What are we going to do? What are our expectations to trade these guys? What is the value of our players?' And our players basically stood up to us and said, 'We think we have a good team, we don't want to have to sell every year. Do we have to be in this situation? Give us a chance to go with it.'
"Obviously, Marty felt the same way. So, when we came out of 4 Nations and we started to put a win streak together and the guys started rallying and you could see where it might be heading, it made it an easier decision for us. For us to be in this environment, to be not only in the mix, which was terrific, but to now play playoff games and the value of that is pretty important to where we have to go."
Is this experience the icing on the cake or are expectations for this team higher now?
"I think the players are raising the bar every day for this team, so I would never want to put any limits on what they're capable of doing. In the situation we're in, we're going one day at a time. We're trying to get better. We're seeing that and we're just kind of watching and having fun, seeing what's next, really."
What do you think this experience will do for the team in the long run whether it ends in a few days, a few weeks, or possibly after two long months of playoff hockey?
"I think the value of playing in this environment right now is huge for our team. It's only going to help us as we move forward to get the taste of this. And who knows what else is behind every door they keep knocking down? We're going to take it as it comes and think about the next game, but at the end of the season, whenever that comes, we'll appreciate and I think we'll look back for a long time and say this experience itself was a big part of where we need to go."
Does the success of this season change the outlook you have for your offseason plans?
"I think it does in some ways. I do think a lot of players have basically shown us with their performance they want to be here, they want to be a part of it, and we have to understand that. Our young players' growth to show how high they can play on an NHL playoff team, we have to understand that. Ultimately, what we're trying to do is build a team that can sustain itself and win, try to compete for the Cup year after year. Nothing changes there. That's the plan. But this is helping the cause as we move forward."
Did you think defenseman Lane Hutson would be this good?
"I give all the credit in the world to our scouting staff because not only did they think he was good, but also they calculated the draft in a situation where they really did believe we could get him where we got him (second round, No. 62 in the 2022 NHL Draft) and I respect that, having a scouting background. Looking back on it maybe we were crazy we didn't take him earlier because we had some other picks, but it really worked out and he's been fun since the day he came here to Montreal. It's been fun to watch him develop and grow. He's a really humble kid, a very good player and he's fit in really well with the guys. It's been fun to watch."
Since you arrived in Montreal, you've answered a lot of questions about drafting and developing and the future. With the exception of a couple of top prospects, is the core here? Has it arrived? Is this the group the Canadiens will ride with?
"Well, yes, I think that that's true. I think that we can see a core that's going to be here a long time together. Just look (Friday) night at our first power play, they're all under 25 years old and running the first power play. So that's exciting. I think it's all exciting. Is this going to be our team? We'll see. I mean, it's certainly encouraging how we're playing and our core group and how long they're going to be together, but in this league, the thing about it is you've got to do it again.
"It's hard to sit back and celebrate at any moment when you know you've got to keep doing it. That's the thing about the National Hockey League, you really can't sit back and take a bow because tomorrow's another day."
