BROSSARD, QUE. -- Dominique Ducharme clearly didn't like what he saw from his team during the preseason.
The Montreal Canadiens' head coach insisted after the team's 5-4 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday that his team has a lot of work to do before the season begins.
On Saturday, he reiterated that his players will have to be much better when the season begins on Wednesday against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
"Will we be perfect every night? No. But we can play a lot better than we have so far. We can be much more committed to our game," said Ducharme.
The Habs coach admitted that coming back to work only two months after the Stanley Cup Final loss may have been difficult for the veterans in the group.
"To go from the Stanley Cup Final in the preseason is to start from scratch," said Ducharme. "There aren't two points at stake. It's different. Our guys understand what they have to do, but it's time to get the ball rolling."
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 10, 2021.
