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Subject: Montreal Backs Into Playoffs Author: Marauders Central [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 21:09:53 02/19/04 Thu Montreal - There was no popping of champagne nor any shouts of jubilation. Quietly, the word spread that with a tie, the Marauders had qualified for the playoffs. Going 4-5-1 down the stretch was not the exclamation point that the team had envisioned on an unpredicatable run to the second season, but it turned out to be just enough. "We were playing pretty well for a while there, but after Shanahan's injury, we've fought to find our way again," said GM Sean Gallagher, "we need to focus for these last two games and try to finish in the three spot." Making the playoffs at all is a big accomplishment for this team, which finished dead last just one season ago. After a decent first half, Montreal management changed directions on a slow rebuilding plan. "Our intent was to build slowly, but when we saw the chance to get into the playoffs, we thought we'd better make a good run at it," said Gallagher. The many trades that followed greatly bolstered the talent base, but cost the team plenty of good young prospects. In the end, however, the Marauders didn't trade any of the youngsters they consider to be core players. "We still have guys like Brad Richards and Patrick Marleau in our system. Evgeni Nabokov's best years are still ahead of him, as are Martin Biron's. Dan Boyle and Pavel Kubina are still developing. We didn't lose any of these guys and still managed to add players like Paul Kariya, Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Sullivan. I'm very optomistic that we merely fast-forwarded our building plan, rather than scrapping it," said Gallagher. "All that said, we still have a huge challenge ahead of us," continued Gallagher, "The teams in front of us [Ottawa and Halifax] finished WAY ahead of us in the standings and are both considerable opponents. It'll take everything we have just to avoid a four game sweep. Our guys need to finish strong and hope to carry over a strong work ethic, or our return to the playoffs will be very very shortlived." Montreal plays their second-to-last game tomorrow against Toronto, who won a wild 6-5 affair just days ago. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]