Dahlin is using the summer to process and get better

Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – After the season, Rasmus Dahlin went back to Sweden having been nominated but not winning the Norris and Masterton Trophies. It was the first time Dahlin has been in the top three in either category and with the growth he showed during this extremely difficult season for the Sabres captain, I don't think it'll be the last.

This was the first time in his career that Dahlin played in the playoffs and he said he had mixed results.

“It took me a couple of games to realize it's not that big of a deal, everybody talks about playoffs that you need experience and this and that, but at the end of the day, it's just hockey and it's high compete hockey and once me and we realized that, we just went out here and played.

“We also realized we're a legit team that can do damage in this league, so I'm still processing it, but we've learned a lot from this.

“We definitely took a step in the right direction, we've really grown as an organization, as a team, as individuals and it's a sour taste in your mouth after that loss (Game 7 vs Montreal), but in the big picture, we've done some good things this year, so I'm excited for the future.”

The Sabres had every opportunity to win the series against the Canadiens and move on to the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, but three home losses in four game killed them. Dahlin said the Game 7 overtime loss should fueled their fire,

“It's definitely going to be a motivator. At the end of the day we didn't even come halfway during the playoffs and we know how hard it is to win.

“Game 7, it's one shot that decides the whole season and we could've scored a little earlier and the season would've been still going, so I'm sure everybody is going to back to their places and train really hard.”

While the Sabres were in Calgary, Lindy Ruff met with his leaders and then Rasmus Dahlin had those same players go out with him for some tough conversations. Buffalo was in last place in the Eastern Conference at the time and the captain was pretty blunt,

“The meetings and team building stuff we had and us coming together as a group and realizing OK, we can bitch about so many things, but it's us players that have to do it. We have to get better and when we really, really realized that on a deep level, things changed and we started being more accountable to each other.”

So what exactly did Dahlin mean by that? He said,

It's everything, you can only imagine that when you're doing great, everything else is the problem, not me, he is not doing the right thing or this or that, but when you look at yourself in the mirror, that's what it comes down to.”

This team had a 30-point turnaround from last season and Lindy Ruff gets his share of the credit. Dahlin said there a certain things Ruff does that he likes,

“He' so good at pushing us, there's no time for effing around, you gotta be uncomfortable every day and I think that's what really helped us as a group too and that brought a lot of success for sure.”

We all know what happened with Dahlin and fiancée Carolina Matovac. She almost died multiple times with heart failure and then received a heart transplant. None of us knows what that was like for them and now Dahlin can look back at the support he got.

“I can't be more thankful for everything with the stuff I went through , it seemed like the whole city had my back and the team and the organization, I felt a lot of love honestly, so I can't be more thankful and I do really appreciate it.”

All professional athletes work hard in their off season because they wouldn't be where the are today of they weren't trying to get better and Dahlin is no different,

“I'm excited to get back in the gym, get more explosive, get faster, have better condition be able to play higher quality in higher minutes, but I think my explosiveness has to get better.”

Dahlin came in third in the Norris voting behind Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and the winner Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets.