Playing on

MONTREAL – Alexei Emelin didn’t have much time to reflect on the 2015-16 campaign once it came to a close. That suited him just fine.

Less than a month after the Canadiens downed the Tampa Bay Lightning in their final regular season game of the year on April 9, Emelin was competing for his native Russia in the World Hockey Championship on home soil.

It marked the fifth time that he’d sported his country’s colors at the annual event, and the fourth time he’d managed to secure a medal. This time around, Emelin helped head coach Oleg Znarok’s squad come out on top in the bronze medal game with a 7-2 victory over the United States in Moscow.

“It was good to just play again and focus on other things. It was a very exciting tournament for me because we were playing in Russia. Every tournament is more and more experience and a new challenge. We wanted to play against Canada and we wanted that gold medal, but it wasn’t a bad result,” said the 30-year-old defenseman, who was fortunate enough to have his parents in attendance for the duration of the tournament in the nation’s capital. “I was happy to see them because I usually only get to spend time there once a year. I know everyone had a good time.”

Since then, Emelin has spent the better part of his summer in Montreal with his wife, Valentina, and two daughters, Lesya and Mila. He recently returned from a four-week stay in South Florida, though, where he trained alongside Alex Galchenyuk, who typically spends his offseason in the Sunshine State.

“We were doing a lot of work there together in Fort Lauderdale at a gym [Chamber Fitness] that’s pretty …

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