You have to." said Brind'Amour.
The long layoff forced the Hurricanes to find a balance between physical conditioning and avoiding mental fatigue during practice sessions.
"It was a challenge because you (have to) stay sharp," said Brind'Amour.
"And yet, knowing we were going to have so much time, you don't want to give (the players) too much.
It's a mental drain, the playoffs as (journalists) know, covering it. It's just every night, like Holy Mackerel.
And so, to get away from that is good. But you also don't want to get too far away from it.
The Hurricanes coaching staff remains uncertain how the extended rest will impact the players when game action resumes.
"Hopefully, the mental rest will pay off for us. I don't know how it's going to be, physically.
Obviously, we've had some time to heal up … I'm not sure how that's going to translate, but we'll find out."
said Brind'Amour.
Canadiens' Defensive Resilience
Montreal coach Martin St. Louis highlighted the defensive resilience his squad developed during grueling seven-game series against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres.
"I think at this time of the season you have to be able to defend hard," said Martin St. Louis, Montreal Canadiens coach.
"We've learned that, yes, we're going to lose momentum, but we can't get hurt so much. We can't break.
We can bend, but we can't break and I think we've done a good job of that.
St. Louis noted that maintaining confidence and poise during shifts in momentum remains critical against elite opponents.
