Montreal head coach says his team is ‘built to win’ heading into playoff series against Penguins

The winner of the Penguins-Canadiens qualifying-round series will advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The loser of the series will have a 1-in-8 shot at the No. 1 overall pick and drafting Alexis Lafreniere.

Given the Canadiens’ .500 regular-season record, it would be fair to say that the Canadiens have less than 1-in-8 odds at winning the Stanley Cup this season. As a result, there are more than a few Canadiens fans who are hoping their team loses to the Penguins in the qualifying round so Lafreniere, who grew up less than an hour away from Montreal, ends up in a Canadiens sweater next season.

If you want to receive sports news alerts, please download our WPXI News App. You can also follow WPXI on Facebook and Twitter.

Canadiens coach Claude Julien said on a conference call Thursday that he doesn't see it that way, though.

"I think we have a great opportunity here, honestly, to grow as a team, and the only way to grow is go out there to try to win and move forward here," Julien said. "I know there are a lot of comments going around that say, my gosh, we should lose in the first round so we have a chance at the first pick overall and have a chance at a local boy, Lafreniere. Trust me, I'd love to have this player on my team. But there's no guarantee even if we go out in the first round that we would have that player.

“If we win (against the Penguins), we’re getting better as a team. If circumstances go the other way, then maybe we do get a shot at him. But at the end of the day we’re built to win. We’re professional athletes, we’re competitive. There’s no reason in the world to think otherwise. That’s the direction we’re going.”

Read this full article for FREE at our partners, DKPittsburghSports.com.

Bar, restaurant owners rally against Allegheny Co.‘s alcohol ban in front of City-County Building Bar, restaurant owners rally against Allegheny Co.‘s alcohol ban in front of City-County Building

© 2020 Cox Media Group