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Suzuki talking about the playoffs won’t be taboo this year

 David Miller
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Suzuki talking about the playoffs won’t be taboo this year
Credit: Getty Images

Last year, Jeff Gorton attracted a lot of attention at the Canadiens’ golf tournament. He said the club didn’t want to talk about the playoffs using the P-word.

It caused quite a stir. After all, not even saying the word in question made it a bit taboo.

The goal of the executive, who wasn’t at his first barbecue with a rebuilding team, was clearly to lower fan expectations for the 2023-2024 season.

Because at this time of year, it’s easy to pull out the rose-colored glasses. Every team is in the playoff hunt, every player is “in the best shape of his life” and every team is “two or three things working” that everything is right.

In my opinion, there are too many rose-colored glasses in Montreal right now… but that’s another issue.

But this year, I’m willing to bet a rusty old $2 that the Canadiens’ VP, when he speaks to the media in the next few days, isn’t going to go all the way on his P-word from last year.

Why not? Because the buzzword in recent weeks has been that the Habs will have to be in the mix for the 2025 playoffs. These words come up a lot.

And on that note, captain Nick Suzuki definitely looks like a guy who wants to get back to the playoffs. He’s tasted the bubble of 2020 and the madness of 2021… and it’s obviously made him hungry.

Seeing the captain, who was in Vegas to meet the media this week, tell Félix Séguin that “goals have changed” and that it’s hard to remain patient is proof enough. After all, last year, he wasn’t quite so incisive.

However, keep in mind that a player like him won’t say otherwise. The captain can’t say he doesn’t care, and every year there are players who say they believe in the playoffs.

Even two years ago, Joel Edmundson was opening the door. And the club had just finished last!

I’m looking forward to training camp and the start of the season. After all, it’s all talk and no action on the ice. And when we see the guys in their natural environment, we’ll know a little more where we stand.

Note that to make the playoffs, we’ll need at least fifteen more points than last year.


Overtime

– Reminder: rookie camp is underway.

– Good morning, Ivan.

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