The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup on Wednesday night, delivering a crushing blow to the Montreal Canadiens and their fans.
While dismayed Habs players held back tears at their post-game press conference, Lightning player Nikita Kucherov shared his thoughts about the season — including Canadiens fans — in his own emotional (and shirtless) audience with the media.
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What did Kucherov say about Montreal Canadiens fans?
"The fans in Montreal — c'mon — they acted like they won the Stanley Cup last game," the right-winger said.
"Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? [...] Their final was last series."
Kucherov seemed to be referring to the celebrations following the Canadiens Game 4 win, which reignited hope that the Montreal team could pull off a long-shot upset to claim the Cup.
But, alas.
What did Montreal Canadiens players say post-game?
The Canadiens' post-game conferences, by contrast, were a heart-wrenching display of regret and sadness.Â
Players held back tears as they shared both their disappointment in the results and pride in their teammates.
"I've played on a lot of really good teams, with a lot of really good guys, it's hard right now," Gallagher said to the press.
"We've got so many players that worked their entire careers to get to this point and it's a tough pill to swallow."
Shea Weber reflected on the Canadiens' run as the league's underdogs.
"This group has a lot of character and we put up with a lot of adversity this year, we proved a lot of people wrong, in a tough year to boot."
When asked what he thought about the season, meanwhile, Price attempted to blame himself for the Habs' performance in the Stanley Cup Final, saying he didn't think he "played well enough at the start of the series."
Weber cut in to shoot him down. "I don't think that's the case at all. To be honest, I think we weren't good enough in front of Carey."
