2015 ECF Off-Day Transcripts - (TBL - Hedman, Palat, Killorn, Coach Cooper) Our Coverage Sponsored by Martin's Tavern of Georgetown Est. 1933
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An interview with:
VICTOR HEDMAN
Q. Talk about what in your game has been working for you?
VICTOR HEDMAN: Well, it sounds great. Like I said, even before the playoffs, I got hurt early in the year, but hopefully I can have a jump in my legs and feel fresh. And that's how I feel. I feel fresh, and I feel like I can play my game and play a lot of minutes. So the game feels good. It's obviously way easier to play when we play like we did last night.
Q. Has your game evolved in the last couple of years? Have you felt it evolve?
VICTOR HEDMAN: Yeah, absolutely. It feels like stepping on to the ice, I feel confident in my game, I feel confident on both ends of the ice, and that's kind of the way I want to play, like I said earlier. Last year was a big step in the right direction, and I'm trying to build on that this year. It's obviously a lot easier when we play with such great players and guys we have on this team right now. It's easier to take my game to the next level.
Q. Can you talk about that save you had last night?
VICTOR HEDMAN: Well, you know, things happen in a game, and we played behind the net there, and Bishop got stuck. He's bailed me out so many times through the season, he's bailed me out a few times, so it was my turn to return the favor.
Q. Is there a big difference in you between now and 2011?
VICTOR HEDMAN: A huge difference. That was only my second year in the league and, you know, 20 years old. I really didn't know what to expect, and now I feel like I've been here for a long time. I've been able to learn from that year, and I feel like I want to take responsibility. I want to be a leader. I want to be a difference maker on the ice.
Coming into these playoffs that's kind of the way I approach it and approach the game. You know, play at a high level throughout the playoffs, and even though it's going to be a lot of ups and downs, you have to stay focused and prepare for the next game. Same goes right now. It was a big win for us yesterday, but we had to turn around and refocus, and it was obviously a better feeling waking up this morning and getting on this flight. But we've got to refocus. It's a big turn around and big game tomorrow.
Q. You guys learned from being able to kind of carry it over?
VICTOR HEDMAN: Yeah, absolutely. I think especially there are four teams left. There are a lot of good teams, and we don't have time for that. We've got to stay focused and play the same way like we did yesterday, especially at the start of the game. Even though it took a lot of penalties to gain some momentum off those kills and being able to score that big goal by Johnny (Johnson) there. That is kind of the way we need to approach tomorrow. We're all excited about going back home and playing in front of our fans. We can tell they're excited too.
ONDREJ PALAT
Q. Victor Hedman, what have you seen since you've been here with him and how has game his kind of grown and evolved over the last few years?
ONDREJ PALAT: Oh, he's just a leader. He's the kind of defenseman that every team needs and wants. His big body, he can skate. He's just an overall great player, and it's good to have him on the team. He's a true leader.
Q. Your power play, did you get surprised how streaky it can be and then you guys shoot for 30 against Detroit for 25 chances and you get 15 goals in the last (No Microphone) games or whatever it is?
ONDREJ PALAT: Yeah, I don't know. Against Detroit we had some good looks, but it just didn't go in. Sometimes it's like that. Sometimes you have a good chance and you don't score, and sometimes those bounces like we had against Montreal and against New York, and it's good.
Q. Talk about his speed and his skill, but talk about his smarts too and his savvy on the ice?
ONDREJ PALAT: Who?
Q. Johnny (Johnson)?
ONDREJ PALAT: Oh, Johnny, oh, I don't know. Yeah, I played with him, this is my fourth year, he's just a great player. Like I said about Hedy (Hedman), he's a leader too. It's unbelievable how he has a small size, but his big heart and plays with a big heart. He's just awesome to watch.
Q. You guys come back here with a momentum shift on your side, and obviously the two games at home. Could you sense anything watching the Rangers and see it in their eyes that they're a little nervous after a game like that?
ONDREJ PALAT: Yeah, it's nice to go back to Tampa with 1-1 in the series. We just need to improve and not play like we did in the first game. It wasn't good for us, and we've proven we can play like we did in the second.
Q. There have been games where you had a really big win on the road in the playoffs and maybe you had a letdown the next game where you didn't play to your level? Is that something you have to learn at this point in your career?
ONDREJ PALAT: Yeah, for sure. We struggled a little bit. We need to play every game like it's a Game 7. Hopefully we're going to do that tomorrow and for the rest of the series.
Q. How much has your coach changed, if at all, since you played for him in the AHL? Is he pretty much the same?
ONDREJ PALAT: I think so. Coop is- I don't know, Coop is always the same. He's calm, and he's a great coach. I just like to play under him.
ALEX KILLORN
Q. You will have home ice advantage at least but how do you expect the Rangers to respond?
ALEX KILLORN: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, we were happy with a win. We knew it was going to be tough going in to play and going in to win. We're happy coming home 1-1, but we realize they're going to play tough here in our home building.
Q. Were they a little shellshocked at all knowing you had an edge and you guys kind of opened it up out there on them?
ALEX KILLORN: I don't know that. But when the game was 5-2 without much time left, we sat back a little bit. But I think throughout the whole game we played well. That first goal in the PK shifted the momentum a little bit. I think our PK did a good job killing the first penalty to try to get the team in the game.
Q. What has Victor Hedman meant to your team especially this year?
ALEX KILLORN: He's an unbelievable defensemen. Not just on our team, but throughout the league, he's one of the best defensemen in the league. He brings a ton to us defensively, which might not get him noticed as much as his offensive ability because he scores a ton and gets a lot of assists, but defensively he's been very sound for us.
Q. Have you noticed any difference in Stamkos’ play the last few games? He's starting to pick it up scoring-wise.
ALEX KILLORN: Yeah, that's just the way it comes sometimes. Sometimes you're scoring, sometimes you're not. His work ethic has always been there, and that's why he's been such a good scorer in this league for a long time. I think you'll continue to see that as he continues to score.
Q. To see the way Tyler did that with the five-on-five PK and then shorthanded, how impressive was that to you guys?
ALEX KILLORN: It was a huge goal. For us it was a huge goal momentum-wise, but it seems like he always scores goals in big moments for us. I don't want to say we rely on him, but we look to him for that kind of leadership, and he's been there for us all year, and we expect that in the playoffs.
Q. How surprising is it relying on a guy (Tyler Johnson) that three straight years was missing out in the draft and no one wanted him?
ALEX KILLORN: It's just one of those things. Guys develop later on. For him he was a small guy that kind of got looked over, and I think he kind of holds that attitude still, and that's why he's such a good player now.
COACH COOPER
Q. What has Victor Hedman meant to you guys and what do you think of his play so far in this postseason?
COACH COOPER: Well, Victor, I don't think you get to this part of the season without having a top, elite-tier defenseman. And he is that for us, I think.
You look at the two of them, when he and Stralman are paired together, I think it's as good as you're going to get in this league. He plays the whole 200 feet. He's blessed with the size, the skill, the speed. He can make plays like he did last night to Killorn. Just can't say enough.
If I look at our year, obviously Bishop is the guy that anchors us back there. But when Hedman is going, our team's going. Sometimes when he's not, our team isn't, and that says a lot about a player that he has that much effect on our team.
Q. You're talking about him being an elite defenseman. Has he been all season, or did it happen during - when did it happen?
COACH COOPER: Well, I think with any player there are some ups and downs to the season. It started phenomenally, and then he broke his finger. That was a setback for him. He came back and he was clawing his way back into being the same status he was.
I think part of it is so many people judge things on points. If you have points, all of a sudden it's he must be a really good player. Well, that's not the case. You have to look at how is he playing deep for us? What kind of minutes is he giving us back there? And they're strong. When his point production went down a little bit, people thought oh, well, what happened to Victor Hedman? But that's not the case. He's just been getting better and better as the season went on. He's played in all different situations, been on the power play, the penalty kill. And it's hard to do, but he pulls it off really good for us.
Q. You talked all year about how the team has been able to bounce back. Is there a button you have to push to get them to respond? Even though the game was 2-1, you said you didn't like the way they played in Game 1?
COACH COOPER: Well, as a coach you've got to make adjustments in some areas and you've got to push the buttons. For these guys to keep such a high intensity rate for the whole playoffs, that goes for every team, that's a hard thing to do.
But it's nothing magical that I'm doing. Usually in these situations our goalie is bailing us out and our best players become our best players. There is no secret. It's those guys fighting together and willing us to victory. So I think when we've had a hiccup, that's probably been the reason why it's stopped whatever little streak we had.
Q. When was it back in the minors when you realized what you had with Tyler? Was there a moment?
COACH COOPER: Yeah, Super Bowl Sunday. I'm not going to go into the whole story, but it's well-documented. Super Bowl Sunday, 2012. Then we proceeded to win 43 of our next 44. Tyler Johnson was minus-9 on the season on that day. You can ask Johnny about the story. But he proceeded to be our leading scorer after that. I think he went plus-40 the rest of the way, and he was a key piece to us winning the Calder Cup.
Q. In your perspective, what changed that day? What was different?
COACH COOPER: Johnny (Johnson) learned how to be a pro hockey player. He learned that there were two nets on the ice. All these players, regardless who you are, you just don't- the one thing about the American League is nobody is really watching, and it's a clear development league. In the NHL, everybody's watching, and this is a win-now league.
So these guys, when they had their ups and downs, they did it in the minors. But my experience down there, you watch guys come in and you see guys that come in highly touted and don't really make it, and you come in and see guys that grind their way out and understand pro hockey and make it. Then you see guys like Johnny that come in with no fanfare at all and become superstars.
What he's doing in the NHL started in the American League. You even look when he first came to the NHL, he didn't make the league when he first came in. He had to navigate himself around and understand how much time and space he has and that he's got to play "D" and different things he has to do on the ice to succeed. Well, that happened to him in the American League, it's just nobody was really there to see it.
Q. This is obviously rare in the playoffs, but to see the way he got it with the shorthanded goal power play and then the five-on-five, is it storybook?
COACH COOPER: I don't know. It will be really storybook if he's lifting a 35-pound trophy over his head.
Q. Do you have a power play story? What's been the difference there?
COACH COOPER: With scoring? Here's the thing: When our power play is not going, don't come in and say oh, my God, your power play sucks. It's never as bad as you think it is. And when it's on fire, it's really never as good as you think it is. When you're scoring, you're getting bounces. There are times when you're not scoring, and the puck is hopping over somebody's stick or for whatever reason the goalie makes a big-time save.
What I like about the power play, though, we are getting zone time. We are making plays. We are putting teams on their heels.
Over the last few weeks here, the puck has been going in the net for us. But these are not the questions we're being asked in the Detroit series. So, anyway, it's okay.
Q. At what point yesterday did you know Brian Boyle was going to play? Have you talked to him?
COACH COOPER: Truthfully, yes, he was game time decision.
Q. When you went with seven "D", you must have been pretty confident he (Boyle) could make it through the game?
COACH COOPER: There is no way. I wouldn't put a player in if I was going to sit here and say, let's see if he gets through the game. If he's playing, he's healthy, or he's going to get into the game and give us everything he has.
Q. Johnny has a lot of skill and speed there and a lot of guys talks about how smart of a hockey player and how savvy he is. In what ways on the ice do you see that manifest itself in the way he plays the game?
COACH COOPER: Well, I think all the big-time players in the league, and Johnny is starting to make a name for himself in the league. You have to have hockey sense, and what hockey sense is to people probably means different things.
But look at all the situations he plays in. You've got to be somewhat of a smart player to be a penalty killer and play on the power play. It's not like he sits there and stands on the net front and gets pounded the whole time. He's got to make plays, and he plays when we're up a goal, down a goal. You look at guys like that and they know how to play the game. It's topped off with his determination and his will that makes him what he is.
Q. Is this team built that you almost don't have to rely on one superstar or one guy to contribute every night, game in and game out?
COACH COOPER: Well, I'm sure we're probably built a little bit more than other teams are. When I look though, I look at we've been - the lion's share of our goals have been by one line. But you look in there and you see, well, Killorn's quietly having himself a pretty darn good playoff while everybody's kind of looking at the triplets.
You know, Stammer's - what does he have, five goals? And I don't know how many points he's up. He's probably right behind Johnny in points in our team. He's quietly having- his game has taken off since the first round.
But all the attention is put on some guys, and we know we have other guys in the bank. Everybody is contributing. For Johnny to obviously score the first three goals and do what he did, it's pretty remarkable. But our group, we kind of lean on other guys, and it's really fortunate to me as a coach.
Q. What did the tape show you today or last night?
COACH COOPER: You know, I didn't watch it so I wouldn't have to answer.
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