The Boston Bruins are already midway through the preseason ahead of the 2023-2024 season, but the players are reflecting on last year's heartbreaking playoff exit.

The Bruins stormed through the regular season during the 2022-2023 season, breaking the NHL record for the most regular season wins with a win-loss record of 65-12. They accumulated over ten more wins than the second-best team. However, all their efforts went down the drain after the team was eliminated during the first round of the playoffs to the Florida Panthers. The loss crushed both players and fans, who had high expectations for a Stanley Cup after such a strong season.

Bruins captain Brad Marchand spoke on the loss hurting, but not as much as when he lost two Stanley Cup Finals in 2013 and 2019.

“Nothing that ever hurts as much as going the distance and losing,” Marchand said. “You're right there and you can taste it. It feels like it's stolen out from under you. It sucks,” via Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.

“Last year, obviously, it was tough because of the year we had and there were much higher expectations,” Marchand said. “But we've been to two Finals that we've lost and nothing hurts as much as those. When you're that close you can see it. Those are things that you look back on and you always wonder, ‘What if you change this or that?' And it always hurts every time it's brought up.”

Defenseman Charlie McAvoy said, “We made history – regular season history. Which obviously wasn't our biggest goal. It was weird. It felt like everything in the regular season had gone so perfect, and then for two weeks, it just … didn't.”

Coach Jim Montgomery added, “Someone goes to see a great movie and they tell you, ‘It's the best movie I've ever seen.' You're going in and usually it falls short. There's not that many ‘Shawshank Redemptions' or ‘Usual Suspects' or ‘Bravehearts' out there.”

The Bruins start the 2023-2024 season on October 11th with a matchup versus the Chicago Blackhawks.