NHL Peachy: 2015 Western Conference Finals Off-Day Transcripts - (ANA - Coach Boudreau, Kesler, Getzlaf, Beauchemin) Our Coverage Sponsored by Maine Woolens
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An interview with:
COACH BRUCE BOUDREAU
RYAN KESLER
RYAN GETZLAF
FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN
Q: Ryan, what did you say to the guys, staying positive and focused on the prize?
RYAN GETZLAF: I didn't say anything. There's not a whole lot to be said. We got a good group in our locker room that knows our situation. We're coming home. We still have our home ice. We went there to get back.
When you lose in overtime, you lose in overtime. That's the way it goes sometimes. One bounce here or there, it's a different story.
So we are where we are.
Q. Ryan Kesler, I was asking Matt Beleskey yesterday, are you sick of the Blackhawks? He said, Yeah, we are. Are we at that point in the series where both teams are starting to get under each other's skin? I can't think of the right word, but are you getting to the point where they're at each other?
RYAN KELSER: I think you have tension out there when you have two really good teams competing, going back and forth, trying to string wins together to win this thing.
You're going to get tension there, yeah, for sure.
Q. Ryan and Francois, you mentioned earlier about you lose in overtime, you lose in overtime. I know you have had success in sudden death. However, when you lose two games the way you have, is there a little mental block or do you worry about the future with this team?
FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN: I don't personally worry. We haven't lost yet in regulation in the playoffs. We're doing some good things. Last night was one of those nights where we had some breaks defensively. We need to correct those.
But overall our game has been pretty solid for the start of the playoffs. It's just the way we wanted to play. Like I said, I don't think anybody expected to come back from Chicago up 3-1.
We could have won last night, but at the same time we could have lost Game 3 and win Game 4.
We got to stay positive, stick to our game plan.
RYAN GETZLAF: Our record in one-goal games is next to none basically this season. Going into overtime, same thing, same strategy. We got to keep playing, doing the things we do well.
We got to find ways to win some of those games. We're still in a pretty good situation here, in the Conference Finals. If we get there again, we'll keep doing what we're doing.
FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN: We were up 8-0 in shots. Not like we weren't doing good things. We couldn't find that one to get in.
Q. Ryan Kesler, you and Toews matching up head-to-head. Four games in, are you appreciating it going head-to-head?
RYAN KELSER: Very good skilled player. Very passionate. Very hard-working. You know, for me just kind of matches intensity. I'll work him out there and try to do what I do.
Q. Ryan Getzlaf, last night you guys gave up three goals in the third period. Also the penalty killing hasn't been as effective in the last couple games. Does that worry you at all? Is it a matter of adjustment?
RYAN GETZLAF: Yeah, it doesn't worry me. I'm pretty well aware of the team that we're playing. We're not playing a 30th-ranked power play in the league by any means.
Some games we've been able to shut them down, some games we haven't. Last game we gave up a few power play goals that we're going to look at and see what we can do differently.
The response we had after the goals was what we were focused on and what we're going to focus on tomorrow.
Q. This morning in Chicago, some of the players were talking about the confidence they took in penetrating on Freddie five times in a game. Should they take great confidence in that? Do you feel like you guys will be fine?
FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN: I feel we'll be fine. We had four on their goalies. The series is 2-2. It's going to come down to tomorrow's game. Whoever will win that battle will feel confident going into Game 6.
I don't really care how they feel. It's all about how we feel and how we going to approach tomorrow's game and come out.
Q. Ryan Kesler, a lot of talk about physical fatigue. What about how mentally taxing a series like this is when every shift is so hotly contested, the games are every other day? What do you do to try to turn that off between games, the few off moments that you have?
RYAN KELSER: I go sit on the beach and relax, try not to think about hockey, spend time with my kids. When it's game time, I'll reenergize there and get ready for the game.
Q. In terms of when this team has lost in the post-season, you guys have bounced back and allowed less than 30 shots. What is it that you do to regenerate and come back and bounce back following a loss in the post-season?
RYAN GETZLAF: I think our intensity in the game goes up. It's about responding. Everything that we designed this team around this year I think was our ability to put things past us and move on and keep playing and not let things affect us outside the game or from game to game.
So I think we come back, get right back at it again. Anxious to get back on the ice after a disappointing loss. We've been able to do that so far.
FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN: Yeah, that was the key all year. We always talked about as a hockey team never lose two in a row, never lose two in a row. You talk about that all season. Now, especially that we're in the playoffs, this is not what we want to have happen. We found a way to respond all year long.
We've had some tough losses during the season and found a way to bounce back the next game to win that game. I think that shows all the guys in the room care, all have a lot of character to come back out of those games.
Q. Ryan Getzlaf, the discrepancy in power plays has been tilted in Chicago's favor. Do you look at them forcing you into those or is that mental errors on your part?
RYAN GETZLAF: I have to be careful how I answer this (laughter).
It is what it is. I think the last two rounds the power plays were a little lopsided, too. We just got to go out there, work, try to get our special teams to where they need to be. If we're able to win that special teams battle, we can do a lot of things.
We'll focus on that for tomorrow, making sure. Obviously we don't want to take penalties. We want to play the game at a high level and with intensity. We'll just continue trying to win the special teams battle.
Q. Ryan Getzlaf, I know it was yesterday, and it's gone now. That 37-second time period where the three goals happened. Have you ever been involved in anything quite like that? What was the level of excitement and adrenaline on ice level when that was going on?
RYAN GETZLAF: It was weird. I don't think I've ever been involved in anything like that. That was a great, great response to the way things were going. At that point in the game I didn't think we were playing that great. We had some up-and-down shifts here and there. We weren't really creating a lot.
Some guys made some big plays. That's what you need to see out of your team. It gives you that belief that no matter what is going on, you can still respond. All it takes is a couple good shifts together, and it gives us great belief in here.
Q. Ryan Kesler, there's been a lot of attention about you guys physically imposing your will with all the hits and rough stuff. Do you feel now that we're at the back end of this series that that is going to start paying dividends in these games or are you concerned that Chicago can handle this for the long haul?
RYAN KELSER: No. We're just going to keep with our game plan. I think it will wear them down. It's going to wear them down. No human can withstand that many hits. We're going to keep banging out there and going after them.
Q. For either Ryan, is it tough for either of you guys on the ice or off the ice to bite your tongue when maybe you're not getting as many calls that you think you should?
RYAN GETZLAF: It's both. It's a culmination of doing what's right in the game and by the team. You know, I made a point in this playoffs to not say anything, stay away from referees, try my best. There's been a few times where I've had to go talk, but that's only when Beauch gets too wound up to go (laughter).
It is what it is. I can stand up here and say anything I want, it's not going to make any difference. We just got to go out and play, do our thing, and deal with the consequences of it. It's a matter of bearing down, winning special teams. When you have those kills, you have to get them. When we have power play opportunities, we have to take advantage of them.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys.
Questions for coach.
COACH BRUCE BOUDREAU
Q. You said your thought was to keep your foot on the gas. Do you think you did that as much as you wanted to?
COACH BOUDREAU: I think two minutes later we got a penalty. It's pretty hard to keep your foot on the gas, then they scored 10 seconds into the power play.
Things changed a little bit. Now you're playing 4-4. A little almost conservative than when you have the lead and you're trying to not allow them to play in your zone.
Q. Bruce, they scored three in the third last night. That's as many goals as you've given up in all of your games. The penalty killing wasn't as good as the previous games. Do those things concern you?
COACH BOUDREAU: Not really. I think they were 1-4 last night in the power play. To me, they made a great job. Brad Richards did a great fake, hit Kaner with a one-timer. I think the puck was going wide. It hit Freddie on the pad and went in.
Other than that, we killed it in overtime. We killed it early. I thought we did a good job of that. Changed momentum a little bit.
But, I mean, when you're playing a good team, you give them four, five chances every night, you're going to get burnt eventually. You're not going to go 0-30, 0-20, whatever it is.
We just got to stay out of the box, find ways to get out of the box.
Q. Are you concerned about the three goals in the third?
COACH BOUDREAU: They're big. You'd like to think it's going to go on forever, that you're not going to get scored on. But sometimes, yeah, you make mistakes. The puck bounces. I mean, they made a good play, a great play there from Hossa to Toews. We blocked a shot that goes right on the tape. Then they score the power play goal. The third one, we made a mistake on.
Usually we've been pretty good in the playoffs defensively. We had a blip yesterday. I mean, the fortunate part for us is we also played very good offensively in the third period and in the first overtime. We just couldn't score a goal.
Q. I know you have a couple of overtime wins in this post-season. With the way the last two have turned out, is that a place your team would want to avoid?
COACH BOUDREAU: I'm a pretty positive thinker. My thoughts are the law of averages are going to catch up and it's our turn next. All these games have been so close, you have to believe that eventually there might be another overtime.
If you go in there thinking, Uh-oh, we're in trouble, it's an overtime situation, they're real good at it, then you're probably going to lose the game.
I think both overtimes that we've had against them, they've had some great chances, we've had some great chances. It's what makes for a great series.
I don't think anybody by any stretch that has seen any of the four games wouldn't say that it was a great series so far.
Q. Are you at all concerned or bothered by the disparity in penalties?
COACH BOUDREAU: Well, yeah.
Q. Do you want to elaborate?
COACH BOUDREAU: No, no.
Q. What did you tell the guys? When you're having to deal with that on the ice, it's stress time.
COACH BOUDREAU: Just play hard. I don't want them to change the way they're playing. It's important they watch their sticks. Those are flagrant fouls that are easy to call. We have to check with our legs and not with our sticks. We've had too many stick infractions that we're not happy as a group with.
We can't do anything about calls the other way, but we can do something about us playing the right way.
Q. Belief, you've mentioned that several times, this team always believes in themselves. Did you believe when that three-goal spurt came, did you believe you were going to win the game?
COACH BOUDREAU: I thought, Okay, we've done that. We'll hold on, because we have in the past. But, I mean, they made a great play on the power play, then it was anybody's game for the next, what, 31, 32 minutes.
Q. Are we at the point in the series where both teams are getting to be pretty irritated with each other?
COACH BOUDREAU: I think we said the same thing in Calgary at about Game 4, there's starting to become a hate for each other. You can see it on the ice.
There's not scrums because both teams know exactly what's at stake all the time. Between whistles, you can see there's guys starting to get irritated with each other, especially because the matchups have been pretty well the same for the first four games.
Q. Did you see the Crawford slash on Beleskey?
COACH BOUDREAU: I think I've seen everything that you can see.
Q. Any thoughts?
COACH BOUDREAU: No.
Q. Thinking about any lineup changes for tomorrow?
COACH BOUDREAU: I mean, again, we're mulling it over. I mean, Wagner is an energy guy that would do good in a series like this. Fleischmann is a good veteran that we've had a great record when he's in the lineup.
I mean, these things, even on defense, we're thinking, Okay, is this the time? But we don't want to make anything rash. We'll meet again tomorrow morning. I told the guys to all sleep on it.
I mean, except for three goals in the third period, defensively our team has been pretty darn good in the playoffs. So, I mean, it's not a time to panic, it's a time to believe.
Q. Quotes from the Blackhawks indicate one of the things that's irritating them is this supposition that they're going to be worn down by all the contact. Is that something that the players say during this point of the series?
COACH BOUDREAU: I have no idea if it's a fact or isn't a fact. We just know we play the same way every day. If they wear down, great. If they don't, great.
You know, I'm not really worried about the Blackhawks. I'm worried about our team.
Q. In terms of the resiliency both teams have shown, talk about that.
COACH BOUDREAU: I mean, we've done it all year. I mean, there's not a lot of times we've put games together that haven't been good. Our resolve is really good, as is I'm sure Chicago's.
That's what makes great series. In the end, two great teams going at it, battling for every inch of ice. That makes it exciting.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH BOUDREAU: I think in the end when you look at it, it would really help. But, I mean, we played basically four games in four nights right now. Both teams are going to have to have great resolve going forward.
Q. Obviously the Blackhawks are feeling pretty good about themselves this morning. How do you get back to instilling doubt in them?
COACH BOUDREAU: I think they feel pretty good. I think they know they're in a series. I mean, I don't think they think they've had it very easy. It's our job to continue to make them feel that way.
Q. We were asking the players about the physical fatigue, but when you have a series like this where every shift means so much, the battle for the ice is so intense, how do you deal with mental fatigue?
COACH BOUDREAU: I told them to get away from it today. I said, Go home. Don't sit on the couch or anything. Get some movement and exercise in. But have a good day with your families, not think about the game, then come back tomorrow refreshed, all excited to play Game 5 in front of our home fans.
Thank you.
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