![\"\u201cExcited](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Mike-Matheson.jpg\" "\\"<p><em>Mike")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Mike Matheson (via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
While there was optimism in the air during the Montreal Canadiens’ end-of-year media availability, veteran defenseman Mike Matheson presented a tempered view. The 31-year-old blue liner, who had a crucial role to play all season long, accepted the progress made by the team but made it clear that the actual work only recently began. <\/p>\n
Mike Matheson highlights leadership role, commits to offseason push at World Championship <\/p>\n
In spite of logging big minutes during the 2024\u201325 NHL campaign, Mike Matheson was nowhere near slowing down and continuing to test his limits.
Referencing the Montreal Canadiens\u2019 first playoff appearance since beginning their rebuild, Mike Matheson admitted they didn’t achieve the ultimate goal, as Stanley Cup champions, according to him, is the true NHL success. He thinks that if the Montreal Canadiens want to repeat this year’s success without evolving, they’re going to get a wake-up call. <\/p>\n
The \u201cSAD ENDING\u201d To The Montreal Canadiens Season<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun for me to have that responsibility; I know it\u2019s important to our team that I take those minutes and do as much as I can with them. I wouldn\u2019t say it was more tiring; my body is feeling as good as it has ever felt in my career and that\u2019s why I\u2019m going to the World Championship. I want to keep playing important games for next year. I\u2019m excited to keep doing as much as I can to help the team reach new highs that we know we can reach,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Emily Matheson’s legacy boosts Mike Matheson\u2019s World Championship adventure <\/p>\n
Mike Matheson was grateful for the support from his wife, Emily Matheson, a former U.S. women’s national team member who competed in several World Championships and Olympics. Her appreciation for the importance of serving one’s country has enabled Mike to embrace the national team invitation, despite having two children at home.
Also read: \u201cThe pain now is not even close to the joy that\u2019s coming\u201d: Coach Martin St. Louis on Montreal Canadiens’ playoff loss<\/a>
Matheson is steadfast in his conviction that steady growth and responsibility are the true keys to long-term success as he hopes to instill the same in the Montreal Canadiens’ new core. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Matheson (via Getty Images) While there was optimism in the air during the Montreal Canadiens’ end-of-year media…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5103],"tags":[265,5466,5,1230,1704,1192,264,21,5465,5147,4,60,14,3037,3353],"class_list":{"0":"post-16223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal-canadiens","8":"tag-canadiens","9":"tag-emily-matheson","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-hockey-defenseman","12":"tag-iihf-world-championship","13":"tag-mike-matheson","14":"tag-montreal","15":"tag-montreal-canadiens","16":"tag-montreal-canadiens-rebuild","17":"tag-montrealcanadiens","18":"tag-nhl","19":"tag-nhl-playoffs","20":"tag-stanley-cup","21":"tag-team-canada","22":"tag-world-championship"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114465437527873479","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}