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Being a goalie on a last-place team isn’t easy at any level of hockey, and Charlie Lindgren learned that this season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

The Rocket finished with the AHL’s worst record (24-42-10) and also allowed the most goals, an average of 3.69 per game. Lindgren had an 8-19-2 record, a 3.39 goals-against average and a .886 save percentage.

During his three years of university hockey at St. Cloud State, Lindgren’s team made the NCAA tournament every year and he posted a 30-9-1 record in his final season with a 2.13 GAA and a .925 save percentage before signing with the Canadiens as a free agent after never being selected at the NHL Draft.

“It was hard … I’m not going to lie,” Lindgren said Sunday morning about playing on a last-place team as the Rocket players packed up their lockers at Place Bell and held exit meetings with management.

“It wasn’t easy. I think in Laval here I ended up with eight wins. I mean, that in my mind is unacceptable. Coming into this year, I never would have thought … if you would have said in September I would have eight wins this year, I would have said you’re crazy. But that’s just the way it was. I can honestly say that standing here, I left it all on the ice. I gave it everything I had this year. That’s just the way it went.”