By ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI

MONTREAL -- It wasn't a long time, but Sergei Samsonov remembers his stay in Edmonton as a good one.

One of the best, as a matter of fact.

Though his stay in Edmonton was over before it really started, 101 days from the trade deadline to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, it'll be the highlight of his career until such time as he can actually win a championship.

"When you go through something like that you're going to have some friends there," said the 28-year-old winger, who signed a free agent deal with the Canadiens July 12.

"I had a great time there. Even though I was only there for three months the guys made me feel totally comfortable.

"It's a bittersweet memory, a great experience going that far, getting that close to a Stanley Cup.

"I think everybody felt disappointed coming up one game short."

He came to Edmonton as a rent-a-player, never intending to stay, but says the playoff run really made him stop and consider it.

"It was definitely a tough decision. You go through something like that and you definitely have second thoughts about staying in Edmonton.

"It was obviously a possibility, but once the playoffs were over everything was moving so fast. Free agency started a week after our last game."

His first month in Montreal didn't go exactly as planned, with a scoring slump resulting in his being bumped down the depth chart, resulting in his griping about it in the papers.

But everything seems to have been smoothed out.

"Since the incident, he's been really good for us," said head coach Guy Carbonneau. "Not that he was bad before, but we were trying some different line combinations and it just didn't click.

"I understood why he said things, but I have a team to coach and I have to make decisions.

"Since then he's been really good.

"It was just a bump in the road and now it's behind us."