The Montreal Canadiens suffered through a horrible season. They started with five consecutive losses, and just couldn’t snap out of that early season funk.
It extended throughout the first half of the season, and they fired head coach Dominique Ducharme after a 8-30-7 start to the season. It was the worst start in franchise history, and it was more than enough to end Ducharme’s stint as the head coach.
He was replaced by Martin St. Louis and there was a bit of a resurgence as the team went on a 9-3-3 run shortly after the Hall of Fame player stepped behind the bench. But it wasn’t long after that the team suffered a nine game losing streak just before the end of the season.
It was a long, season that started poorly and continued to get worse for months. Fans stuck it out and watched their favourite team because that is what fans do, but it was difficult at times knowing the team was likely to be losing 1-0 within the first five minutes and were sure to allow four or five goals that night.
But, the silver lining on an awful NHL season is a chance at a great draft pick. The Canadiens cemented the best odds at the first overall pick late in the season, shortly after that nine game losing streak, and they entered tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery with a better chance than anyone else at drafting first overall in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Still, it was just a 25.5% chance of getting that first pick, and a greater than 50% chance of dropping to third overall.
But, when Bill Daly flipped the cards, it was the famous Canadiens logo that came up with the first overall pick.
Finally, the lost season was worth all the pain. Gritting through a brutal season has resulted in the Canadiens selecting first overall in the draft that will be held in Montreal on July 7th.
It was not an exciting season for the Canadiens and their fans. But it just became an extremely exciting offseason.
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