SAY WHAT: 'GOTTA TAKE THAT NEXT STEP'

MATTHEW TKACHUK ON BUILDING ON THIS SEASON

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ON BEING INTERESTED ON AN EXTENSION?

"Absolutely. I've loved it here. I've grown up here. The more I think about It, I came here and didn't really know anything about Calgary. I didn't know anything about Western Canada. My mom's from Winnipeg. So I guess that's as far west as I knew and kind of just fell in love with it here. I think ever since the COVID shut down, I was talking about this the other day with family, the more you realize with people being locked up forever and now basically everybody you're seeing out more than normal and how appreciative people are here of our team and how much passion they have for it. And that's something that we were lacking for those few years when we're pretty much shut down. Just kind of love the people here. And you know, it's cool. Not only cool to, you know, go places and have people come up and talk about the sport and talk about what you mean to them and everything. But I don't know just how happy that the team makes them feel and how great they've made my life here. Just the people in general and I'm not just talking people with a team. Whether it's, you know, trainers or coaches, management, players, just people in the city, people that live in my apartment or that I see on any given day. So yeah, to answer your question, I would be very open (to a long term deal)."

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ELIAS LINDHOLM ON WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED THIS SEASON

"I think we had a good foundation, I think we got respect around the league, I feel like, and all the teams that are playing us know it's going to be a tough game. I feel we can play pretty much every style: Physical, fast, with a lot of skill, play good defensively, unreal goaltender, stuff like that .There's a lot of things you can build on, for sure."

ON GOALS FOR NEXT SEASON

"Next step is to be playing right now and not sitting here. We had a good chance this year, we had a good team but just didn't play our best hockey when we needed it. The next step is to be playing right now."

JACOB MARKSTROM ON LESSONS OF THE YEAR

"No, I think everybody that's having an exit meeting like this and not in the locker room cheering and drinks and celebrating, they're not thinking of it as a success. It's a step in the right direction if you look from the previous year, if you look at the group and myself, I think we took some steps in the right direction but I think it's a sour taste and people are going to be hungry to come back next year. We're sitting here now, so that, I think is very fresh and there's still a lot of emotions involved. I felt like we had a good chance, I think everyone felt we had a good chance and to have it cut short like this it's a new feeling, for sure."

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JOHNNY GAUDREAU ON THE POSITIVES OF THE YEAR

"We have a great team here. You never know who's going to be back and what not, but I was really happy with the way our team made those strides this year, coming back from last season and having a great year. I was really proud of this group. It's kind of a building block for us."

ON WHAT MADE THE GROUP SPECIAL

"I think the people in the locker-room. Off the ice, just great people to be around. It's fun to come to work, starting with Darryl all the way down through all of the guys, the training staff, equipment staff. Everyone was good people, and that's how you win in this game. It's not the skill on the ice always. It's building a team that loves coming to work every day and getting better, and I think we did that this year."

BLAKE COLEMAN ON TAKEAWAYS FROM THE SERIES VS. OILERS

"Things could have gone differently, obviously, and we wish that we were still playing, but I think we kept our focus the right way and we understood that you don't want to waste opportunities like this. You just can't win them all. As you have more of these tough losses, I think it really hardens you and you remember that feeling. It sucks. I hope that this is just a steppingstone for us to future success."

CHRIS TANEV ON OUTLOOK FOR NEXT CAMPAIGN

"We had a very good regular season, which didn't translate. Compared to last year we've definitely got a lot better - just our fundamentals, our work ethic, our structure. The guys in the room I think everyone would say that got leaps and bounds form last season. It's our job to work extremely hard this summer so we don't feel like we do now."

MIKAEL BACKLUND ON HOW HE ASSESSES THE SEASON

"With the regular season we had we felt like we underachieved. But looking back at last season we took a big step. In the regular season big steps, but when you lose to your worst rivals in the second round and you're hoping to go further than that it's tough to be satisfied.The last two normal season we finished with 50 wins. I think that's pretty impressive. This group has taken some big steps but also our big offensive stars have been young players for a while and they're maturing and they're the big reason we finished first in our division and conference the last two normal years. The next step of this group is to keep pushing in the playoffs. It was a step forward but still hard to be satisfied."

BRAD TRELIVING ON HIS ASSESSMENT OF THE YEAR

"I know when you're sitting here, in the business we're in - and I'm talking to you guys and there are still hockey games to be played - we haven't reached the ultimate success. There are things, certainly, to be proud of. But as I said, it's probably a long-winded answer. I think there was still more in the tank here. That's why I said there's an empty feeling here today, because there's times you feel and you know what, 'We weren't good enough.' You know? 'We just weren't good enough.' I don't feel like that with our group. We didn't play well enough, but I think our team was good enough. But we didn't get to the game that had made us successful all year. And again, there are two teams on the ice every night, so you have to tip your hat to the opponent. But I just feel there was more there. I didn't think... I thought there was more there to give."