JULIEN PRESS CONFERENCE: STANLEY CUP FINALS

COACH CLAUDE JULIEN

Q. Prognosis on Horton?

COACH JULIEN: Day to day.

Q. How much do you think the extra day off here will help your team?
COACH JULIEN: Well, it will help both teams. When you play two games in one night, it’s probably a blessing in disguise that we have two days between because, number one, it’s going to make for a better Game 2. I think if anybody who is a hockey fan watched last night’s game, they have to be happy with the showing. It was a hard fought game. Could have gone either way. That’s what Stanley Cup Final should be all about.

Q. When you have had difficult losses in the past, is there anything special about bouncing back?
COACH JULIEN: I don’t think so. Like I said, we’ve been through a lot. Again, when you go back to the year we won, we were down 2 0 to Montréal losing our first two games at home. We bounced back from that. We’re down 2 0 against Vancouver in the Final and we came back.
I don’t think much is going to rattle our team. We’re a pretty resilient group of guys. We live in the moment.
This is a game, we all know, hope we should all know, that could have gone either way. Both teams had great chances. We could be sitting here today up 1 0 as much as we are down 1 0.

Q. What have you liked about Tyler (Seguin)’s game?
COACH JULIEN: He’s been skating well. To me right now, the only thing he needs to do is to be able to finish. If he can finish, it will certainly help his confidence, help our hockey club.
But not criticizing his work ethic because he’s competing hard and he’s got some chances. Those things are certainly a positive thing. So there’s only one thing left to do, and you hope for his sake and our sake that it comes along.

Q. When young players struggle, like Torey (Krug) did last night, as a coach, how do you handle that situation, how do you address it with them?
COACH JULIEN: Well, when you look at games, there are a lot of mistakes that are made. Some end up in goals, some you’re able to recover from. Certainly, we shouldn’t look and judge this player on one game where he might have been average instead of real good, like he has been.
Those are part of a player getting better. Doesn’t mean we lose confidence because we still had the confidence to put him out there in that game, in overtime and everything else. He’s also the kind of guy that can produce that goal that you needed.
It is what it is. It’s easy to focus in on one thing. Yes, it was a mistake to throw that puck up the middle. If you look back at the play, I didn’t think we had a great line change and he didn’t have a ton of options. I think there could be some blame shared on that goal.

Q. What do you say or do with players to keep them focused during a long OT like that when they have had good chances to win the game but have not connected?
COACH JULIEN: I think you have to turn the page. That’s what I mean, our team’s resilient. Wasting our time thinking what could have, should have is a lot of waste of energy.
Our team turns a corner and we start focusing on the next game. What’s done is done. They could say the same thing on a few opportunities they had. But today, they got a win, so it may be a little easier for them to move on.
I don’t think it’s going to be an issue with our hockey club. It never has been.

Q. With the physical toll a game like last night takes on your players, is there anything special you do to help with the recovery?
COACH JULIEN: A day off today is certainly a good start. I think they certainly deserve that. For recovery tomorrow, a good practice that doesn’t necessarily have to be long, but will get our legs going again, our blood flowing, get ready for Saturday’s game.
Today’s technology, there’s all kinds of things that are out there. You hear about players in the cold tubs, the hot tubs, the mixture, so on and so forth. Everybody is capable of bouncing back from those situations, especially with two days in between.

Q. What did you like that you saw from Seguin, specifically?
COACH JULIEN: Yeah, I mean, he skated, had some chances. He’s got the speed to be up there with them, got the skill. For him, it’s an opportunity right now. He did a great job.
Like I said, we’ll see where everybody stands here by Saturday.

Q. When the tying and winning goals go in the way they did, off of a skate and a double tip, is there anything you attribute that to? Being in the wrong place? Awareness?
COACH JULIEN: None of those. It’s called hockey breaks, and you get those. We got those in the other round against Pittsburgh. We had some of those. Last night, Chicago got the breaks going their way.
That’s the game. You don’t complain about it or use it as an excuse. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t. That’s the way it is.
You have to give credit to the teams for making those breaks happen. They shouldn’t be looked upon as lucky more than they make their own breaks.

Q. When you went into the third overtime, you had three defensemen who logged major minutes. What concerns you about that going forward about distribution of minutes, that you’re not over reliant on them?
COACH JULIEN: Nothing more than their team. They had their guys log the same kind of minutes, too. When you look at that, I think it evens out. It’s just the way it is.
These athletes are in great shape. Obviously not in the shape where you would expect them to be at their best if we had to play back to back games, a quick turnaround. The fact that we have two days in between, we should be able to recover.

Q. What did you think of the job Tuukka (Rask) did last night?
COACH JULIEN: He’s been good. Nothing’s changed with him. I thought a lot of the chances they had, he got to the puck. Like we talked about, you have one that goes off of Ference’s skate. Can’t blame him. There was a point blank shot. The winning goal I think was tipped twice before it went in. How can you blame your goaltender for those kind of goals?
Certainly he’s good and continues to be good. Right now we have a battle of two goaltenders that are at the peak of their game.

Q. Last night Tuukka described the Krug turnover as a terrible turnover, do you attribute that to a heat-of-the-battle type of thing?
COACH JULIEN: Not sure what you mean by that.

Q. Tuukka, that’s how he described the turnover.
COACH JULIEN: I don’t think he was blaming Krug. He probably had the right to say the same thing. It wasn’t a good turnover. But, like I said, he didn’t have that many options either with a tough line change and everything else.
Mistakes are part of the game. Whether he made that turnover, he still scored four goals for us in the series where we need him to score. I think if you balance it out, there’s a lot more positives in Torey’s game than there is in that one mistake.

Q. Was there anything in particular that happened on the bench when you got whistled for the too-many-men penalty?
COACH JULIEN: Well, yeah. I don’t think you could blame anybody on that. They had to make that call. Our guy is coming off, they shoot the puck right at him, hits him in the foot. He’s not trying to play it, it hit him. Our other guy jumps off.
If that puck doesn’t hit him, there’s no too many men on the ice penalty.
We had a couple in the Pittsburgh game. It’s so touchy now with the line changes, the intensity, you see a lot of those penalties being called in the playoffs.

Q. What about his game makes Dan Paille so versatile?
COACH JULIEN: Well, because we need it. With his speed, his ability to score goals at some pretty important times has been good for our club, especially for a guy who most of the time will play on the fourth line. He’s been able to step up and help us out in different areas. He continues to be a good penalty killer for us.
I think his game is just as important as we talked about Campbell going down. You lose a guy like Campbell or Paille, whether they’re on the first line or fourth line, they still play a valuable role in our hockey club.

Q. People who don’t have as much invested in the outcome of the game as you do are already describing last night’s game as a Classic, can you look at it that way despite being so close to it?
COACH JULIEN: Absolutely. I even talked about it with our management and staff like that. I said, ‘You know, in reality, it was a great hockey game.’ When you watch the video afterwards, you see the excitement, the chances, everything else. The only thing I would be mad about is the fact we didn’t win. Other than that, this was a great hockey game for people to watch. It was a great hockey game. I thought both teams played well.
I don’t think there should be any disappointment in what happened last night except for us not getting the win that we wanted.

Q. Claude, can you explain why the recent Stanley Cup champions have won despite struggling so much on the power play?
COACH JULIEN: Yeah, I think if you look at teams sometimes that have great power play percentages in the playoffs, they get them early in the series, early in the playoffs. But as the playoffs move on, you do so much homework on the other team’s power play. Like for us, we could go back three rounds, looking at Chicago’s power play, and vice versa. So you do your homework. Plus, the more you play them, the more you make adjustments as you go on.
I think it’s a normal trend, has absolutely nothing to do with the team not being able to score more than the penalty kill doing a great job.
When you see guys like Campbell throwing himself in front of a shot like he did, you’re seeing guys go above and beyond what they do in the regular season to prevent a goal.
To me, it’s a normal thing. Even when we played Vancouver, they had such a good power play. By the time they got to the Final, they couldn’t score either.
Yeah, you give your team credit. But also the fact that you’ve been able to scout themand play them, and just as the game goes on is another thing. To me, I’ve always been one of those proponents, we can say what we want about special teams, yes, they can win you games, decide games once in a while, but more often your five on five play is what is going to decide a game.
When you play 50 minutes or so five on five, that should be more of a determining factor than six minutes on a power play.

Q. How ready are your three extra forwards if they are called on to play?
COACH JULIEN: We’ve worked everybody hard. Like I said, they’ve been pushed. They’ve done extra, forwards and D’s included. There’s nobody in that extra squad that isn’t ready to step in right now.

Q. You used the word ‘resiliency’ several times. Why is this team so resilient? Is it leadership? Chemistry?
COACH JULIEN: It’s because we’ve been through a lot. You can chalk that down to experience of having been through a lot, the ups and downs. So we don’t get rattled anymore. We know what we can do. I mentioned all the examples earlier.
We’re very capable of staying in the moment, not living in the past, which could be last night, or living in the future, which is unrealistic.

Q. Do you remind your players of that?
COACH JULIEN: Don’t necessarily have to bring all that stuff up. Those guys have been through enough, they talk about it to each other. You hear them saying it.
Like I said, we have a good group here that has been through a lot. Not much has to be said more than from my job just getting us ready for the next game. The rest of that stuff, they’re very aware of.

 

CLAUDE JULIEN PRE-GAME 1: STANLEY CUP FINALS

COACH CLAUDE JULIEN

Q. Just a thought on what was it like out there on the ice this morning?
COACH JULIEN: Well, I think I saw our guys focused. I thought we had a good morning skate, a short one.
At the same time, I think our guys were focused, but also loose in a way that you can tell most of them have been through this before. I know for a fact that a few years ago there was some nervousness in our group and everything else.
I feel good about our morning skate. So hopefully it shows tonight.

Q. A few days ago you mentioned it’s important not to kind of feel your way through the first game. What do you feel is the balance between establishing your game right off the bat and at the same time sort of reading and reacting to what the Blackhawks bring?
COACH JULIEN: Well, I think we know what they do. So it’s not necessarily about, you know, feeling, like you said. It’s just reacting to their strengths, hopefully exploiting some weaknesses in teams and everything else. That’s what you got to do.
I think at the drop of the puck, both teams are going to try to do that, they’re going to try to establish their game. I know they will and so will we.
I think that’s why everybody is excited to see this series start and see what happens here at the drop of the puck.

Q. What sort of message do you give the players prior to the game?
COACH JULIEN: Not much different than anything else. We’ve gotten here, which is great. But until you’ve accomplished the final stages of the playoffs, you haven’t reached your ultimate goal.
So getting here is one thing, but finishing it is another. We know this could be a tough series. I think you guys all feel the same way as we do. It’s pretty evenly matched. I think it will be fun to be part of, from my end of it. I think it will be fun for hockey fans to watch.

Q. Claude, given that you haven’t played the Blackhawks, do you go into the series with specific line matchups you have in mind or are you going to let it evolve?
COACH JULIEN: I don’t think there’s much, again, that we don’t know about each other. Although we haven’t played against each other, I don’t think our game plan is going to change. What you’ve seen us do in the other rounds, we’ll continue to do because it’s worked for us.

Q. The fact you haven’t seen these guys, the feeling?out process in the first five, ten minutes, what do you anticipate?
COACH JULIEN: Again, not to nitpick on the question, but we’ve seen these guys. We haven’t played against them, but we’ve seen enough to know what they’re capable of doing. They’ve seen enough about us to do the same thing.
So, like I said, I don’t think there’s going to be a feeling?through process. I think both teams are going to try to establish their game on the other. That’s what’s going to be interesting.
I know we don’t plan on being on our heels in the first 10 minutes, and I don’t think they do as well. That’s what’s going to be exciting.

Q. You haven’t played Chicago this year, but does Chicago remind you of anyone in the Eastern Conference that you did play this year?
COACH JULIEN: Well, I mean, they have their own identity. But there’s no doubt when you look at the offense, you can certainly compare them to Pittsburgh. Their goals?against is extremely good. So defensively they’re a hard team to score against. New York Rangers were one of those teams.
I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. As far as I’m concerned, they have their own identity. They do things that no other teams do, that we’re aware of. When you look at their back end, they have a lot of Kris Letangs, let’s put it that way, that can carry the puck up the ice and attack.
There’s a lot of things they have. Through our scouting reports, what we’ve watched, we see a lot of those kinds of things.

Q. Whether Kane and Toews play together or apart, can you tell us how that impacts your team?
COACH JULIEN: It doesn’t. We just have to react to it in a way whoever is on the ice. We’ve said that before, whoever is on the ice has to be aware of the other team’s players on the ice.
In our system, everybody knows our game without the puck is important. I think that’s what has gotten us this far, we’ve respected that, back?checked. Our numbers coming back have continued.
Whether I have my fourth line out, guys you can talk about like Kelly and Paille, I don’t think anybody is worried about their game defensively, and Shawn Thornton who has done a great job on that line as well. There’s a lot of trust in our coaching staff when those guys are out there, even when they put a top line on.
That’s why I talk about the matchups up front. Not the end of the world. You’ll probably see, as every other series, our back end matches up a little more aggressively than our front end. Joel already knows that, too, by the way (smiling).

Q. During the lockout, a lot of guys tried to find ways to stay sharp. In what ways do you think Tyler benefited from going to Switzerland?
COACH JULIEN: For him, he’s a young player. I think he wanted to play. It was important for him to go there. There was a lot of good things that came out of that trip to Switzerland, to play there.
Also, at the same time, there were some challenges coming back. Bigger ice surface, different type of play. As good as he was there, he probably had to adjust a little bit. He came back, maybe after a couple weeks or so, he kind of got himself back into the North American NHL type of game.

CHIARELLI PRESS CONFERENCE: STANLEY CUP FINALS

Gregory Campbell struggles with a broken leg during penalty kill

 

BOSTON BRUINS GENERAL MANAGER PETER CHIARELLI 

On how satisfying was it to see the team do what it did, especially with what happened at the trade deadline with Jarome Iginla…
Well, really, as I said at the time, those types of things happen once in a while, they just don’t become public. You know, in my profession you learn to turn the page and go to the next thing and move on. Other wise, if you dwell on things you’re not going to be able to focus. So, I mean, it’s satisfying that we won with the group that we had. I’m happy to see the contributions we got from Jaromir [Jagr] and the other players that we acquired. It wasn’t anything extra. To beat a team of that caliber the way that we beat them was very satisfying.

On how satisfied he is with the play of the team dating back to Game Seven against Toronto…
Well, I don’t have many complaints. From top to bottom, we’ve been rolling. Our breakout has been relatively seamless; I think our neutral zone forecheck – there’s been tweaks here and there – has been terrific; our forecheck has been terrific. So in all three zones we’ve been really good, defending we’ve been good, Tuukka’s [Rask] been terrific, we’re generating a lot of chances, we’re scoring when we have to, we’re shutting down when we have to. So, it’s hard to complain after the last two series. The challenge will be to keep it going in the next series, whoever we play. Both are good teams, both are different teams. It will be good to get the rest the next couple of days and regroup. I haven’t seen a stretch like this in a while, the way we’re playing.

On what made him so confident that Claude Julien could this team, after two teams had given up on Julien previously…
You know, in the coaching profession I believe that – I think you have to be given up on two or three times before you become really good. I think you learn from your previous tenures. So I think if you go through it – a number of coaches – I think that you’ll see they learned from working with previous organizations and then getting fired. Having said that, I’ve known Claude [Julien] for a while and I’ve seen his work ethic, I’ve seen his humble beginnings, I’ve seen how he pays attention to detail, I’ve seen how he treats everyone the same. And that goes a long way when you’re in a room and you’re in the trenches. After the Toronto series I quoted this stat; he had the second most playoff wins since he’s been here, amongst coaches since that point. I don’t know, he may have the most now, I’m not sure; I don’t know if he’s caught Mike Babcock yet. He did a real good job this series. You saw the matching, you saw the quick changing in Pittsburgh. You saw a real good PK [penalty kill]. It’s a testament to his assistants, too; they do a real good job under him. We’ve got a good coach here and he’s showing how good he is.

On Julien being happy not to take the credit for the success…
It’s not in the character of him, nor is it in the character of our team. I think our team likes to deflect credit. I think the humble roots of Claude [Julien] and the team, it’s kind of identity. I don’t think you see many people in this business really want the credit or expect to receive it. Our team is no different. It’s an important part of our makeup. It starts from the top and works its way down.

On what it says about the team that they have had so much success despite not having many goals from Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley, and Chris Kelly...
They’ve had their struggles. Collectively as a group they’ve come on as of late, individually they have, also. They’re able to contribute on a two-way basis, which helps our team in general. You have to look across the league to see some of the players with zero goals and one goal. Those things – look to Chicago, look to LA, the guys that zero goals or one goal. Those things happen. Look at Pittsburgh, some of their players. It happens. I think you’re going to see better contributions from these guys. Their stats aside, I’ve been happy with what they’ve been bringing; they’ve been bringing energy, they’ve been bringing checking, there’s been chances, they’ve been brining defense.

On what happened to the team during the third period against Toronto and if he thinks something ignited the team…
Well, I definitely think it was a driving force going forward. I think the fact that we did that certainly catapulted us into our level of play and performance, definitely. You could see the team pick itself up. Going back to when it happened, you could feel the momentum. Watching the team as often as I have, you could feel the momentum after we scored the second goal. I’ve never seen something like that happen, with two empty-net goals like that, but I could feel it coming, and I could see the Toronto team see that it was coming too. Whether it was going to happen our not, as the minutes progressed I thought, ‘This might happen.’ That’s a testament to the team. There wasn’t really a switch. We had some good games in that series, we had some not so good games, but I think it was more of a realization to these guys that, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get this thing done.’ They waited a little long, but certainly it was a boost to their play the rest of the way, without question.

On the difference between going to the Final now and in 2011…
You just know what to expect more now, I think, as far as all the kind of away from the rink stuff. I was more confident in the last two series, just how we were playing. We were playing well a couple years ago, but it was tough, seven games. I don’t know, it’s a great feeling. I’m not as nervous, that’s probably to do with you know what to expect. Right now, I’ve kind of tuned out for a couple days because we’ve got a couple days to do that. Talk to me in a couple days and I’ll give you a better gauge of that.

On the defensemen giving the team so much offensive production…
I know the coaching staff has always stressed for those D, one D to take their ice and/or to join the rush. It’s been a constant theme this year and we’re starting to see it now. Our game, not on the rush, but in the offensive zone revolves around getting the puck to the point. Not that our offense is built around it, but we certainly have always stressed the D becoming involved. Not terribly surprised that they’re contributing the way that they have, they just didn’t do it as much in the regular season. So now you’ve got, well-chronicled, the younger D, all those D really can skate when they’re in the lineup. You’ve got Johnny [Boychuk] coming on too, in that sense. And then last night we got Adam [McQuaid]. I don’t how often we’re going to see that last night from Adam, but I’ll take it when he does it.

On if getting back to the Final reinforces his decision to keep the team together after 2011…
Yeah, absolutely. There’s a fine line between unfettered loyalty to the players and building a good team. That’s my job to find that line. I’ll continue to try and do it. This team has showed a lot of character through this playoff run, as they did – I don’t know what the returning number of players were; thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, something like that from the last time. We’ll try and do it again, if I can.

On what Nathan Horton has meant to the organization…
Yeah, he has. He really has. And you can see the energy; you can see the enthusiasm. Of course the size and the shot are the two things I like, and the skating. But Krecj [David Krecji] had a real good quote after Game 3, where we don’t have any high end starters. We have to play as a team and that’s the way that we play, and I really like that quote. But a consequence of having that type of team top to bottom is when you take a piece out there’s more of a tilt, because you rely on each guy not just one or two. So he’s the same way. When he’s not in, when he’s not firing, we do have our struggles. He’s playing real well right now.

On putting in the claim on Daugavins…
I’ve always liked the way he plays. He’s got that puck possession mentality, puck protection mentality. He’s got some skill on the puck. We had, as we do with all our player decisions, we had a discussion. And we just felt, I felt, that I didn’t know what we could do in the trade deadline. It was a really tight, tight market, and we had to get some depth. So I liked him, he was a great contractual status. He’s young still, and I like the way that he played. His game last night, I thought, was really good for the time he was on. Like he likes to take the puck to the net. That was a terrific move protecting the puck with his right hip. That was a terrific move and hit the post, and he had another couple of shots and good cycle, good defensive plays. So he played well.

On the way Tuukka is playing right now compared to Tim Thomas…
Well stylistically, they’re obviously different. But I think the common denominator is, relatively speaking, is their quietness. So in their own styles they can be quiet and be square and that’s what were seeing in Tuukka right now. And sometimes when Tim got into trouble he wouldn’t be quiet, he’d be all over the place. And Tuukka in his own way, same thing. They get turned around and stuff like that. He’s ben square. He’s been anticipating well. He hasn’t been too far out, but out enough. One of the things I thought he’s done terrifically in the last two series is handling the puck. And he’s been breaking the forecheck, especially in the New York series. So it’s something that I know Bob Essensa and him have been working on. I thought he was terrific. You know, the single save for me has been what the difference is. Like to maintain the heavy actions and when the actions at the other end, he can come down and make the single save when they’re on a breakaway or a one time or something like that. I think that’s been a real improvement on him. And he’s been terrific, he’s been really good. And he’s got a level head about him, which is important in the heat of the action. And he’s been- you need top end goaltending to win this thing- and he’s been giving us that.

On Krecji’s game and quiet character…
Yeah, I don’t know why it’s quiet with him. Maybe because he’s more of a passer than a shooter and he’s the one who’s making the plays rather than finishing them. With David, the visions, sense, skill, it’s all a great package. But the thing about him that’s not really well advertised is his two-way play and his defensive grit, and he’s got an edge to him. You’ve got to watch him closely when he’s defending. He’s got an edge to him. And when that’s there then you’ve got the complete player that you’re seeing right now. So I think he’s another one of those guys like a lot of guys on our team that they don’t have to have credit they want to win. And I don’t know what he’s like in the room and if he goes and hides when everyone comes in to talk to him. But he’s a quiet guy, you guys know he’s a quiet guy. He’s got some sharp quips and stuff like that, but he’s having a terrific playoff also.

On Krecji’s quote about being a team of guys that have roles…
Well it felt really good with that quote because its something that I, we, have stressed for the longest of times, and you all got to be pointing in the same direction. They’re cant be anyone that’s above anyone else and story old cliché, yes, but its true. And it’s been applicable to this team for a long time. It’s just nice to hear a player who’s like lights out this year too to say it, because it exists. It’s just nice to see him say it and have everyone else hear it, because it’s really applicable to this team. And you’ve got those role players that are such important parts and you go down into your history and see these unsung heroes and they’re all the kind of lower line, lower pair guys. And you have to have everyone pulling there and for those players to know that they’re on the same level and feels the same as what everybody else is very important.

On if Gregory Campbell will need surgery and what losing a role player like him is like…
Not sure yet on the surgery. I think they’re still deciding on whether or not to have it. I mean, Soupy [Gregory Campbell] is a perfect example. That play aside, which seems to be viral right now, he’s a blood, sweat, and tears player. Guys see the battles that he goes into. I can name six or seven other guys that are like that on our team, and they’re the role players and they just set such an important example and they’re selfless and you talk about the strong foundation. They’re part of that strong foundation, and they’re hard to find. Getting Soupy in that trade, he was an important acquisition because of the character and the way he plays.

On the team embracing an underdog role…
I guess it’s a little easier to be the underdog, just from the public perception. I think what happens is, is our guys respect the opponent. Sometimes that turns into an underdog scenario, you guys [media] make it that. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But we respect our opponent and that’s important because at any given night you can be beaten by any team. We’ve seen that before, I think the year we won [2011], we were playing the Belfast Giants, we lost that exhibition, or we almost lost that exhibition game, the Providence game this year. Any given night, so our guys have to respect the opponent. That’s what happens, that’s reflected in their comments. Sometimes it turns into an underdog scenario. I don’t think it’s anything more than that, I don’t think we’re trying to create that. I just it’s just respecting the opponent.

On there not being as much criticism of the power play this year…
I think you have to look, statistically the success, generally speaking, of power plays. As rounds progress I think it goes down significantly. I’m not trying to diminish its significance. I think it’s been better. We’ve had trouble the last couple games with entries and recoveries, but as a whole it’s been a lot better; statistically it’s been a lot better, regardless of the zero we put up. Pitt put up a zero, too. I think our looks have been a lot better, I think we’re snakebitten a little. You’ve seen more plays, we’re spreading it out more with Jags [Jaromir Jagr] on one side and a righty on the other side. I see progress. I feel confident in our power play. I know it hasn’t – there’s been some struggles on the entries and the recoveries lately. But I’m not diminishing its significance because it is important on a timely manner, when you have a power play. The PK, on the other hand, has been terrific. It’s just, I don’t know, ebbs and flows with the power play, for me. But we have had, for the most part in these playoffs, it’s been pretty good.

 

CROSBY..”TO COME UP THIS SHORT DEFINITELY DOESN’T SIT WELL WITH ANYONE..”

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS FORWARD SIDNEY CROSBY
On the blindside hit he took…
It didn’t feel good.

On if he was surprised a penalty wasn’t called…
It was kind of way out of the play. I think it’s a penalty, but it might have kind of been so far out of the play they just might not have seen it.

On if he was worried the feeling was concussion related…
It just knocked the wind out of me. When you get a big hit, it obviously doesn’t feel great. You lose your wind. But I didn’t have any problems.

On if he’s otherwise healthy…
Yes.

On if this was like facing Jaroslav Halak and Montreal a few years ago with their scoring problems…
I don’t know, for whatever reason we weren’t able to capitalize. We had chances tonight—open nets—their team blocked it, or one jumped over [Letang’s] stick there on a wide-open net. There weren’t times where we were worried to be honest with you. We felt like we were losing momentum, or there’s times where you get three, four shifts where they’re heavy in, and you feel like they’ve got a lot of pressure. There wasn’t really any point besides that second game where we felt like that. We felt like we were getting chances pretty consistently and they were few and far between for both teams, but they capitalized, and we didn’t.

On not scoring a point the entire series…
If you look back, the chances are there. You try to fight, you try to get through to the net and get rebounds, and sometimes they come to you, sometimes they don’t. But obviously, you score two goals as a team in four games and virtually we go without any points. That doesn’t sit very well.

On if that’s as good a defensive team as he’s seen in his career…
They’re solid. They make you earn your chances. That being said, I don’t feel like they totally shut us down. I feel like we got chances, but Rask made some big saves. They’re consistent; they don’t give you chances, you have to earn them. We earned them, but unfortunately we didn’t’ capitalize on them.

On this team being built to win a Cup, but not reaching it…
That’s the expectation, and to come up this short definitely doesn’t sit well with anyone. Three of the four games, I felt like we probably could have come out with wins, but we just missed those big plays where we could get a power play goal, or an OT goal last game. The timing in those big moments we need to come up with big plays, and we didn’t.

 

NEAL HAS NO ANSWERS

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS FORWARD JAMES NEAL
On what happened…
…find the back of the net and get a goal. We had some great looks, but at the end of the day you can only battle for every chance. We were right there and just couldn’t find it. I felt like we were in on the forecheck, getting chances, getting shots. But the last two games just couldn’t find a goal.

On what they need to do differently…
Well you’ve got to put it by the goalie. They goalie made some great saves. I don’t know if you’re asking if we had to do something differently, obviously if we wanted to do something different we had to put it in the back of the net. I don’t know if you watched the game or not, but the chances were right there to put it in the back of the net. So I don’t think we should have done anything different. Just when you run into a hot goalie in the playoffs, it will win you games.

On whether they were shocked to never have a leads in the series…
Yeah, you know when you’re playing from behind – not only a game but in the series there’s no room for error. When you’re battling from behind the whole series it wears on you. You just keep going back to we just couldn’t find that one goal or one spark to get us going. We had a hold of it tonight and were right there, but couldn’t come up with it.

 

IGINLA…”WE WENT COLD AT THE WRONG TIME…”

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS FORWARD JAROME IGINLA 

On why the Penguins were swept…
Well there were some close games. We tip our hat to the Bruins, they’re playing great hockey. They’re playing tight and they also are opportunistic, and they play hard. They played well. They had a very good series, and they won the close games. BesideCOLDs number two, that was totally their game, and the other games, they found a way, in the first one, to weather our shots, our chances, and they kept it out of their net and they found a way to win.

On where the Penguins fell short…
Obviously we’re a very good team, too, and we went cold at the wrong time, as far as going in. And I had a very tough series, there’s no question about that. I’m sure those close games, yeah, we believe we’re going to find a way to win those close games. We didn’t, and they did, and they’re moving on, and they played great hockey.

On what made this series tough for him…
Right now, I don’t know. I don’t know what the answer is, but I just didn’t get anything going for the group. As a team, we didn’t find ways to get that, you know, we had great goaltending, our PK was great, and our power play had moved it around but didn’t find ways to get it in. It was something that as a team, overtime games and a one-nothing game here, you’re just trying to find a way to get that extra goal, and they did it. They deserve to be moving on, but it does, it definitely hurts.

On if this loss is tough since he came to Pittsburgh to win a Cup…
It doesn’t make it easier, but I’m very fortunate to get the chance to come to Pitt, and you want this opportunity. You want an opportunity to be in the Conference Finals, and have a chance to win, and we had that chance. The Bruins, they played very well, they’re a very good team. I was fortunate to have that choice, and when you make it you definitely believe in the guys here, and we played some great hockey up until this last series. It also stings not playing well in this last series. These four games, I just didn’t play very well, and that’s when you want to play your best for the team, and you want to find ways to contribute and be a part of these close games, and help it go the other way.

 

BRUINS = COACH KILLERS ?

BY KEVIN HARRIMAN

BOSTON SPORTS DESK PUBLISHER 

BOSTON – Following the Boston Bruins‘ 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals clinching game, NBC’s Mike Milbury and Keith Jones both agreed that Pens Head Coach Dan Bylsma will be fired for his team’s collapse against Boston.

Pittsburgh came into the Eastern Conference Finals as a prohibited favorite. Ranked #1 in the East, most experts thought Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin would walk through the competition all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. That didn’t happen. Crosby and Malkin were held point-less.

“Changes will be made” said Milbury during the post game wrap-up.

Bylsma signed a three-year contract extension in March, 2011. He has 1-year left on the contract that runs through 2013-14.

If Bylsma is shown the door in Pittsburgh, he would be the second coach fired after losing  to the Bruins. In the semi-finals, New York Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella was relieved of his duties after losing in 5-games to Boston.

JULIEN TALKS CAMPBELL AND PENS GAME 4 ….

BOSTON BRUINS COACH CLAUDE JULIEN

On what Greg brings to the table and being out for the rest of the season…
Yeah, absolutely. You CAMPBELLget that from him every game. That’s the kind of player he is. He’s a real dedicated individual to his work and to his game, from off ice, to on ice, to taking care of himself, demeanor, everything else. What he did yesterday surprised a lot of people but it didn’t surprise us because that’s just who he is, stay in there and make sure he finishes his shift. As a coach you probably wish he would have stayed down, but that’s not his job.

On a comparison between Campbell and a couple years back in the Finals when Nathan Horton went down…
I think our team wants to do it for all the right reasons, and that’s one of them. When you see a guy go down like that and the way he went down and what he did — what he’s done for the team and what he did last night to block that shot, the guys are going to want to rally around that. But it’s also got to be more than that, but he’s certainly part of that equation.

On everyone buying in being part of the culture here…
I think so. You don’t have to look any further than Jags. He’s played a certain way his whole career, and now he sees a team that plays a certain way and he’s bought into it and gets rewarded the last couple of games with some pretty important shifts. But our guys believe in what we’re trying to do here as a group. We’ve won that way, and it doesn’t matter who comes in, eventually those guys realize how strong a belief we have in that dressing room and they just jump in. It’s a credit to the players for believing in what we do and what we preach, and going out there and executing it.

On options now Greg is out…
Well, we’ve got lots of options.

On expanding the statement…
No, just lots of options and we’ll look at it closer today and make a decision tomorrow.

On still being able to get production from fourth line with Campbell out…
Well, we’ve just got to make sure we get something out of all of our lines right now. I think that’s the most important thing for us, and that’s where decisions are going to have to be made and how do we make it work so that we continue to have four lines

On Tuukka last night, the whole playoffs and definition of him being normal…
Well, he’s just been very focused and very confident and seems to be building all the time. It’s nice to see that yesterday. Like I said, first period wasn’t a bad period. It was pretty even. But the second and third is where he really came up big for us and continues to do that, and that’s how we continue to win games

On what is told to the guys going in to tomorrow’s game…
Well, we’ve been through it with the Rangers, we were up 3-0 and we know how hard that last game was to win. That has to continue to be our belief, and the one thing we do know is we’ve got to play a better game than we did last night. We might have won the game, but we’re certainly not pleased with the way we played. We know they played better but I don’t think we did, and we’ve got to make sure we’re at the top of our game tomorrow.

On the Boston Marathon bombing and how winning is making the people in the city happy…
Well, anything we can do to try and ease that pain a little bit, like I said, it affected all of us, and that includes us as a team, as individuals, and we try to get over that and it takes time, but at the same time we also know as a team that the better we do, the better it is for this city, and it deserves it

On if what the Bruins’ team is all about is being overlooked…
Not really. We’re not a group that needs the limelight, let’s put it that way. We’re a group that wants results, and you just have to look back at how we are handling this. It doesn’t matter to us. What matters to us is what we accomplish as a group, and we’ll go about our business and gain respect from winning games, winning series and ultimately winning Cups, and that’s our goal, to continue to play well and give ourselves a chance.

On speaking with Campbell and how he’s doing…
I spoke to him after the game and again this morning, and it’s tough, it’s really tough to say anything to a player who’s put so much into the game and commitment and everything else and what he means to our team. To me he’s been as fierce as he could be despite what’s happened to him, and he’s one of those guys that really wants our team to do well, and he’s certainly not going to let guys down by feeling sorry for himself. He’s been really good. I’ve loved his demeanor so far, and there’s no doubt, you never have to question Soupy about what he wants. He wants to play and he wants to play bad. You wish he could be there, but at the same time I think he overlooks that to know what’s best for him and his team.

On emotional and physical recovery for tomorrow…
You do the best you can as far as psychologically. We have a talk with those guys and make sure they get their rest. We address things from yesterday. That’s why we have a training staff, to take care of the bodies and of their recovery part of it, as well. I mean, there’s two teams that have to feel the same way. When you look at Pittsburgh, they worked just as hard as we did last night and maybe even harder. But it’s one of those things that this is a tough sport, and when you look at a game like last night, you really learn to appreciate the athletes. We finished today, and to come back right the next day and be ready and willing to do it all over again tomorrow is pretty impressive. I think hockey players deserve a lot of credit for their conditioning, their commitment and everything else that goes with it.

On what allows Jagr to be able to keep up…
Well, you’ve got to give a lot of credit to his commitment to conditioning, and we all know at that age if you’re not a well-conditioned athlete you’re not going to survive. He really does a lot of extra work, and I remember hearing that from the time he was in Philadelphia a year ago where he was doing that kind of stuff and doing the extra work. I know a lot of people laugh at all the different things he does after a game and going out late and shooting pucks in weight belts and everything else, but he’s committed and dedicated to the conditioning part of his game, and that’s what’s allowed him to stay on top of his game as much as he can for a guy that age.
On using everyone who dresses during games…
Well, that’s going to be the question here. Okay, when I say the question, we’re going to put our minds together here and make a final decision by tomorrow. We want to have guys that we can utilize and hopefully continue to have that four-line type of team. That’s a decision that we’re going to end up making.

On doing a better job on Crosby or Malkin…
Oh, I don’t know if we’ve done a better job on one or the other. I think it’s pretty obvious to everybody that Malkin was at his best last night. He was outstanding. He’s a big body. He’s strong in the puck and everything else, but it’s not about doing a better job on one or the other, we’re trying to do a great job on all of them, but at the same time, like I said, you can only hold that team back so much, try and minimize the opportunities because they’re a potent team offensively, and when it’s not our guys up front it’s our goaltender, are we doing a good job. Our whole team has committed itself to respecting the strength of that team and doing the best job we can.

On what was going through his mind during the second overtime…
Just a lot of it is mostly about making decisions. You want to make sure you make all the right decisions, and as you know, we had a shortened bench yesterday, so the fatigue factor, and you’re looking at the clock and then knowing when that only time out is going to come at you around the 10-minute mark and you try to get the right lines out there against their lines. It’s just staying focused, and that’s why after a game as a coach you’re trained mentally, just thinking for all those hours, and it certainly doesn’t come close to what the players go through, but at the same time we’re not as young as they are, either.

On balancing the desire to block shots and the potential for injury…
There’s always the potential for injury in the game of hockey. If it’s not blocked shots it’s something else, it’s taking a hit, it’s giving a hit, it’s a fast-paced game. I think all the players understand that there’s a risk and reward part to the game, and that’s why they’re great athletes. They’re willing to take that risk in order to get their reward

On if expectations were similar in Montreal…
That’s a while ago. I think expectations are high in a lot of cities. I still remember the expectations in Vancouver, what happened there afterwards, and just what it is. That’s part of our job. I say that all the time. The opportunity you get to coach in cities that really care about your team is great, you just have to be willing to live with the ups and downs and the criticizing and the rewards from it. It all depends on the time of year, it all depends on the situation, and go about doing your job. But I’ve said all along that you can’t ask for better than being in a place that is excited about the game, and Boston is one of those cities that’s really excited about their hockey.

RASK COMES UP BIG FOR BOSTON…B’s GO UP 3-0 IN SERIES

BOSTON BRUINS GOALTENDER TUUKKA RASK
On the long night paying off in the end…
Yeah, it was definitely a grind. Both teams played pretty good. That second period was the worst one for us, but we battled and going into double overtime it’s anybody’s game.

On whether he’s wiped out…
Yeah, a little bit. I mean, it’s I don’t know 12:30 or something, five periods of hockey. Not the freshest feeling, but I think the win makes it a little easier.

On how he stays mentally sharp while he’s physically fatigued…
You know I don’t think you feel that physical fatigue-ness at that point. It’s just trying to keep your head, and not thinking that you’re tired. It’s just a nice little challenge – you know if you think you’re tired you’re tired, and if you don’t you don’t.

On whether he was fighting that at all…
Not too bad, not too bad. I mean, I was just enjoying watching our power play.

On how it feels to only allow two goals in three games…
I feel good. I mean, I don’t feel any better than I’ve felt throughout the playoffs. I think our team is helping me out a lot. Although obviously you let in two goals in three games you’re making some good saves too. But we’re blocking shots and taking care of those rebounds pretty well. So they’re helping my job a lot.

On whether there was any point he felt like, ‘That was a big save’…
I’m sure there’s a couple. It’s tough to say right now. But they had over 50 shots, so I’m sure there were a couple good chances.

On Jaromir Jagr winning battles along the boards…
Well he’s a pretty strong individual. You know, it probably looked like he was going to lose it for a second, but he never played it off and stayed strong, and won it and we scored. So it was a huge battle.

On Gregory Campbell blocking that shot…
I saw it, yeah. A guy had a lane and he sacrificed his body. It was a great thing, just bad thing he got hurt. He blocks a lot of shots, he took one for the team there, and we really wanted to win this for him.

On how tired he gets during a game like this…
Well I mean, it’s five periods. So I imagine everybody gets tired. It’s more of a mental challenge I think. I wasn’t cramping up today or anything. So that was positive.

On Pittsburgh playing better defensively tonight…
Yeah, yeah, they were. 100 percent. We didn’t get clear chances, that many as we got the past two games. They tied it up a lot and came at the offense pretty hard too, especially in that second period. And we took some penalties that got us going a little bit in the wrong direction. But Pittsburgh played a great game today.

On whether this was the best game of his career…
I don’t rank them. It’s playoffs – every game is important, every win is important. That was probably the longest one.

On whether he will remember this game for a long time…
Yeah for sure, I don’t think you get these double overtime games too many times in your career.

On whether he ever watched long games like this and wondered if he would play in one…
I don’t watch hockey that much.

On Claude Julien saying the puck looks big to Tuukka right now…
It’s the same size… I try to be patient, I try to wait for the shot and follow the pass. And sometimes when you do that it makes it look easier than it is.

On why he need to be patient…
Well I mean, I think every team plays a different style of hockey, and these guys like to look for those backdoor plays and that extra play all the time. So for a goalie it’s really important to stay patient. And some teams look to take shots through screens, and you have to be patient too not to go down to early. So I think patience is the biggest thing to be successful.

On being tired…
Tired but not awful. It’s past my bedtime. But I wasn’t cramping up today, which was good. And I’ll regroup tomorrow and get some rest.

On getting through the third period and into overtime…
Yeah you know, in that third period we talked about not playing in our heals. Because we’re up 2-0 and we didn’t want to sit back. But it definitely didn’t look like it – we were playing on our toes, and they kind of took it took us a little bit. But we survived and then afterwards we just wanted to go out there and get that opportunity to score.

On whether Pittsburgh looked more patient…
Yeah they tightened up their game.

On how he feels about being up 3-0 and having seen his best game of the series…
Not really, you know, you can’t fall into that trap when you’re up 3-0. As I said every game means more and more than the one before. So we just have to focus on what we have to do to win the hockey games and not look too far ahead in the future. We just have to play a solid game and see where that takes us.

 

PATRICE BERGERON TALKS ABOUT HIS GAME-WINNER…

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD PATRICE BERGERON

On a rough night in the face-off circle for you. Was it difficult to envision a win the way the regulation time went?
We found a way, I guess. That’s the only way you’ve got to look at it. It wasn’t necessarily our best effort in the first 60. But I thought we re-grouped well in overtime and we had some really good chances in the first overtime, and we kept battling and we said that we have to find a way somehow, and we did in the second overtime.

Almost 32 minutes of ice time for you. Are you tired?
Yeah, pretty tired, but it’s rewarding when you get the result. We have tomorrow to rest, and we’ve just got to think about Game 4 after that. But we’ve got to rest tonight and tomorrow. But I thought it was a big effort by both teams. It was really a hard-fought game, and we found a way.

Just if you could take us through the overtime goal. It seems almost natural Marchand to Bergeron?
Yeah, it was first of all a great play by Jags to take that puck on the wall there and just fighting and getting the loose puck to Marsh, and we do that chemistry where we know where we’re going on the ice. I knew he was going to try to find me there if I was driving the net, and I just went to the net and tried to have my stick on the ice, and he found me.

Just to go back to the first part of that goal and like you were talking about with Jagr, how impressive is it to see a 41-year-old guy come up in a 95-minute game and make a play like that? He seemed to have a lot of energy and playing his best in that second overtime.
Yeah, I think he’s got that experience, I guess, to always be at the right place on the ice, and on that play it’s just a perfect example that he’s buying in and he wants to help in any way he can, and that play right there, we don’t get a goal if he doesn’t make that play.

Tuukka’s performance? He was fantastic in net.
Yeah, he was great. Again, we should say he’s been great all Playoffs, and he’s really given us the saves that we need and the energy, the momentum that we need in order to do the job in front of him. They had some really good looks that we should have done a better job defensively, and he bailed us out.

You’ve obviously played overtime times before. Can you put into words how it feels physically at this point? Is it the legs? Is it the back? Is it the dehydration? Is it all of the above? Can you put that into words for us?
Yeah, I think it’s a little bit of everything. It’s also mental. You’ve got to stay sharp and find a way, but I think it’s all in your head. As long as you don’t feel tired in your head, your legs are fine. But you’re right, your body is cramping up and you’ve just got to find a way, just keep battling, because I think everyone is in the same situation. But obviously as it goes on, the more cramps you get, I guess.

Is this the most weathered your face has looked in a while?
Yeah, I guess, but it’s all good. We go in there, we’re all buying in for a team, that’s fine.

How big was the penalty kill tonight and you guys go 6 for 6 and you got a lot of momentum?
Yeah, it was huge. We know the offense they have and the firepower and the plays they make, and you’ve really got to — it’s a five-man unit I should say with Tuukka in net on the ice, on the PK and we were really good to make sure we had our heads on a swivel and we were talking a lot, but definitely the penalty kill was huge tonight.

We’ve seen this team rally around guys that are injured. Campbell tonight. How did that play out?
Yeah, it was a huge play by him. Again, we’re talking about details, we’re talking about little things that goes a long way, and that block was super. That’s the way he is. He sacrifices the body always for the team, for the better of the team. Obviously we tried to rally behind that and do it for him because he’s a big part of our team on and off the ice. It was great, but at the same time we — it was a tough game, we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for game 4.

Jaromir Jagr set up your goal with some good work among the boards. He’s been known forever as a skill guy. Does that kind of illustrate what his time here has been like and what you guys have come to expect from him?
Yeah, I think it just explains that everyone is buying in, everyone is doing everything in order to get the success and to get the wins, and it doesn’t matter what it is and who it is, and Jags is a perfect example. He’s pretty much a legend, he’s a guy that’s going to be in the Hall of Fame at some point, and he’s doing the little thing right there just to fight for the puck, and you notice that as a teammate, and it goes a long way, as I said, and we all need to do that.

Do you have the impression at all that you took the Penguins‘ kind of best punch tonight and still came out on top? To what extent do you think this can give you some kind of mental advantage going forward?
Well, I really believe that Pittsburgh has been through it before. They have the experience, so we know it’s not over. We’ve really got to make sure we’re even better in Game 4 and we know they will. They’re a great team, and we respect them, and we’ve just got to be in the moment. We can’t get over-excited both having three wins because you need four.

Sticking with the Penguins a little bit, it seems like in three games, guys like Crosby and Malkin would have something on the scoreboard and they haven’t. Does that surprise you that they haven’t gotten on the board yet?
Well, I think they’re amazing players but we’re trying obviously not to just go one guy to defend these guys. They’re really good obviously. We both have five guys on the ice. We’ve got to obviously tie it up in our zone a little bit more, but Tuukka has made some huge saves, also, but it’s about everyone buying in. But like I said, it’s three games. There’s a huge one. It’s all about Game 4 now. That’s the way we’ve approached it all Playoffs and now it’s all about that next game.