NHL Peachy: 2015 Stanley Cup Final Off-Day Transcripts - (TBL - Callahan, Stamkos, Carle, Boyle, Garrison, Coach Cooper) Our Coverage Sponsored by Vermont Harvest
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An interview with:
COACH JON COOPER
RYAN CALLAHAN
STEVEN STAMKOS
MATTHEW CARLE
BRIAN BOYLE
JASON GARRISON
Q. For any of you three, you guys have now lost the first game of the series three times out of four, but have been so resilient. Is that the mindset over the next couple of days to retain that resilient mindset?
STEVEN STAMKOS: Yeah, I don't think we planned on losing the first Game three out of the four times.
Definitely not something that we've had any issues with. We've bounced back after a tough game. Last game was tough in a way that we played really well and just couldn't get it done. We've had some tough ones where we didn't play well, didn't deserve it, bounced back.
This will be a different test for our group. I think we look at all the positives in that game. There were a lot. I know that was the first game for a lot of us in the Final, but I don't think that's an excuse for our group anymore. We got that out of the way. We played extremely well, especially the first two periods.
If we're in that position again, we'll make the necessary adjustments. But there's a lot of good things, and we're going to build on that.
Q. Was there a moment this season where something happened and you were able to bounce back, whether it was a bad stretch of play or injuries? Was there a moment where you said, I think there is something in this room that can propel us to where you are now?
STEVEN STAMKOS: I don't know if I can pinpoint a specific moment. I think we were very consistent for most of the year. When we didn't play well for stretches, the stretches were pretty minimal, to be honest. I think that's what made us successful. That's what's made us successful in the playoffs, is the ability we've had to realize when we don't play well.
Sometimes it's not pretty when we don't stick to the structure. But the next day we come in, we watch the video, the coaches do a great job of pinpointing the details of the game that we weren't very good at.
This group has bounced back all season. So I don't expect anything to change at this time of the year.
Q. Ryan, then Steve, did you feel like you were able to physically do what you wanted to do last night? Were you as physical as you wanted to be? And, Steve, you were 17 plus last night. I think you're averaging about 18 minutes in the playoffs. You were 19, 20 during the regular season. What's comfortable for you to play?
RYAN CALLAHAN: Yeah, I thought we executed the way we wanted to. They had very quick players, a lot of skill. It's hard to finish on them. When we had our chances, we were finishing our checks, we were physical.
The first two periods I thought we were really good on the forechecks, taking away their time and space, breaking up plays. I thought those first two periods we executed our physicality pretty well. Clearly got away from it a little bit, played a little bit more defensive hockey. But for the most part we played our style.
STEVEN STAMKOS: Well, obviously as a competitor, you want to be out there as much as possible. I think every player is going to have that same answer. I'm not worrying about that stuff right now. Our focus is winning, doing whatever it takes to win. I think everyone has that same attitude on our team.
Q. Ryan, this team got secondary scoring all season, all four lines. It's a little different here in the playoffs. How much do you need that secondary scoring?
RYAN CALLAHAN: It's very important. In order to have success this time of year, you have to have that. We've had guys step up throughout the lineup this whole playoffs.
Our first two lines I think have carried most of the weight in that. But guys have chipped in, defensemen have chipped in when need be.
I guess a team like Chicago, too, that has so much talent throughout their lineup, I think that secondary scoring is going to be important. Guys are going to have to come up with big goals at big times.
Q. Steve, can you describe about that fine line trying to protect the one-goal lead going into a third period, yet trying to maintain your aggressiveness. How would you describe that?
STEVEN STAMKOS: Well, it is a fine line. I think everyone was trying to do the right thing last night. I mean, it was pretty much a perfect game plan the first two periods. We come in with a one-goal lead into the third. The first thing on your mind is to defend that lead.
We've had different scenarios throughout the playoffs where we've done that. But we still continued to pressure. We were playing smart hockey, guys were above, but we were having some time in their end with the puck.
We just didn't do that last game. We gave a team that is very skilled and talented, knows what to do in those situations, we gave them the puck. They had it too much. The rest is history after that.
We learned our lesson pretty quick here. Like I said, we're not worried. We're excited about the fact that we did a lot of positive things. That's something to build on. This is the two best teams in the league for a reason. We believe in ourselves. We've done that all playoffs. We'll learn from the mistake that we made, maybe sitting back a little too much, letting the game come to us.
We talked about not chasing it. We kind of chased it a little in the third. I think guys realized the mistake we made and we'll be better next time in that situation.
Q. Ryan, I'm wondering what the message or directive was to you and Cedric in particular with the matchup with the Toews line and how ultimately you thought you did? What is the biggest challenge in facing them?
RYAN CALLAHAN: It wasn't really a message. It's just kind of how the matchup worked out. I didn't know going into the game we were going to play against them more than any other line, but it worked out that way.
Listen, they're a very talented group, that line. They're going to get their chances. They're going to get opportunities. You got to try the best you can to limit that, limit their time and space as hard as it is.
I thought we were successful against that line when we started to get pucks deep. We tried to get the puck in their zone more, control some offensive zone time. You want those guys to defend, not be in your offensive zone.
I thought we did a good job of that. That job's going to get harder as the series goes on.
Q. Matt, you did a pretty good overall defensively holding them to 21 shots. What were the keys in the game plan of slowing them a bit?
MATTHEW CARLE: Yeah, I think we did a good job of keeping them to the outside, clogging the neutral zone. You know they're going to get probably three or four shifts a game where they're going to get a buzz in the offensive zone. I don't think we really panicked when they did that.
Like I said, we kept them to the outside, let them do their cycle game, force them into mistakes, tried to get the puck out of our zone as much as possible.
Q. Steve, anything about Corey Crawford surprise you? What made him so difficult to beat last night?
STEVEN STAMKOS: I don't think there was any surprises. He had a good game, made some big saves when he had to. Our goalie did the same.
I think when you get to this time of the year, goalies are going to be playing well. I know a lot of people have talked about all the offense, the firepower in this series, but I think you saw last night two teams willing to play well defensively, and that starts with your goaltenders. He was no different.
We're going to have to find a way to get some more pucks past him. Can't expect to win a lot, especially against a team of that caliber, scoring one goal. Power play has to generate a little more. We're going to have to find a way to beat them.
I don't think anything surprised us. He played well. We have to expect that he's going to continue to play well.
Q. For each of you. For those who might say Game 2 is a must win for you, you would say to that what?
MATTHEW CARLE: I don't think it is. We're pretty confident in our road game. We've shown that a lot throughout the playoffs where we need to have a must-win on the road, we've been able to pull that out. I don't really think that adds a whole lot of pressure to tomorrow. Obviously we want to even the series up, feeling good going into Chicago. By no means I don't think we put that kind of must-win pressure on us for tomorrow.
STEVEN STAMKOS: There's no real must-win until you've lost three games in a series. So like Matt said, we're confident in our ability to bounce back after a loss. I talked about it before. After tough games we responded well to not playing well and losing, and playing well and losing. We saw that in the Detroit series a little bit as well.
We're confident in our ability to come back and even this series up.
RYAN CALLAHAN: I don't think there's a must-win unless you're facing elimination. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to try to win every playoffs game. I think that's the way you approach it. You approach the game, you want to win it. You want to do everything you can to do it. That's the way we're going to approach tomorrow, the same way we approached Game 1.
Q. Matt, you talked about limiting the chances for them. Any kind of adjustments you have to make against this team that you're really not that familiar with?
MATTHEW CARLE: Maybe a little bit with how different their D are in the offensive zone. The Rangers D were active, but I don't think they're as active as guys like Keith and Seabrook. I think our guys have to be a little bit more aware. When they get their cycle game going, its five guys that are in their system that are trying to create offense.
As a group on the ice, we really have to be aware of that. That's pretty much the biggest adjustment.
Q. Matt, you may have been asked about the Blackhawks more than any other player, given your history with them. Are you tired of hearing about how good they are, how experienced, how deep?
MATTHEW CARLE: I don't know. I mean, we saw that in the last series playing against the Rangers, how good they were, how good Henrik Lundqvist was, elimination games, stuff like that.
Blackhawks have been around for five or six years now. You're going to hear about it with the success they've had. I don't know if you get tired of it. You want to try to beat them, try to create our own success here and talk about the Lightning.
Q. Steven, is there any level of concern about having too much respect for this Blackhawks team, whether they've earned it or not?
STEVEN STAMKOS: That is a fine line. I don't think this group is really focused too much on that. Obviously we respect every opponent that we play. We showed that every series that we've had. We've played some unbelievable players and some great teams. Had to talk a lot about those on different matters.
Like I said before, these are the two best teams in the league. We have to believe in ourselves, and we do. We've shown that all along. It doesn't have to come out in the media. It stays in the room.
I think that's been a big key to why we've had a lot of success, is each guy believes in each other, our coaching staff believes in the structure and system they put in place, and we as players go out and do it.
It's not going to change now because we lost Game 1. Again, I can't reiterate it anymore. I think we played a solid game. The last couple minutes, especially, some tough bounces. We'll learn how to win in those situations next time we're in them.
But we played a good game and we have to keep looking at the positives.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys.
BRIAN BOYLE
JASON GARRISON
Questions, please.
Q. Brian, you've been so good all year long. Looking back at last night, what were some things that maybe surprised you, what things you didn't do well in the third?
BRIAN BOYLE: I don't think we gave up too many grade A’s. It wasn't necessarily like an onslaught of chances against. Certainly wasn't the way we wanted to play, though. It wasn't the possession game, the forechecking we wanted. I think it was a little too cautious.
We're here for a reason. I think we're a really good team. We need to be able to understand that we can lock it down by playing our game, skating forward, forechecking, taking the puck out of their hands.
They're a really good team, too, if you give them too much time and space. They can hurt you.
That being said, we didn't give up necessarily too, too much. Kind of a seeing-eye shot and one off a forecheck where they made a pretty good play.
We want to try to get to our strengths, using our speed and skating, create opportunities for ourselves. I think that's a good way to play D, when we have the puck in their end, it's hard to score.
Q. Brian, you're no stranger to playing well in a Stanley Cup Final situation and getting the result you want. Anything that comes from your experience last year, last night? Anything you take from it, trying to put games like that behind you?
BRIAN BOYLE: It's definitely disappointing. You wake up in the morning today, you should be a little angry, a little pissed off that we had a chance to take Game 1. Again, it's just Game 1, but it was a good opportunity for us to start the series the way we wanted to.
Obviously, you can't change it. But understanding we shouldn't have any regrets in the morning when you wake up. We might today because there are things we could have done a little bit better that were in our control that we didn't do.
However the series plays out, you don't want to look back saying, We were a little bit passive there. If you want to make a mistake, do it being aggressive, have that confidence that got us here.
We're a really good team. We have a number of guys that have had great years throughout, starts with Bish, our D core, right on through. We have guys all year long, even now, tough to get in the lineup with some of them.
We’ve got depth, a great team. We need to understand we’ve got to play our system and play it aggressively, knowing that you can't wake up in the morning having some regrets that we were a little too passive.
Q. Strong start for the penalty kill in Game 1. Talk about some of the unique challenges the Blackhawks present on their power play.
JASON GARRISON: Yeah, I mean, obviously they have some players out there, guys that can put the puck in the net. For us, we just wanted to make sure that we kept them to the outside and pressured them when we could.
I thought our penalty kill did a really good job of that, not letting them set up too much in zone. It paid off, I think, not allowing them too much on the power plays. That's pretty good for us.
Q. Jason, Brian touched on this, just the thought you guys were a little too passive in the third period. Do you agree with that assessment?
JASON GARRISON: Yeah, I mean, it's not the third period we wanted to have with the lead going in. Like he said, we have to stay aggressive, we have to stick to our game plan, probably spent a little bit too much time in the defensive zone.
Just have to make better plays with the puck at certain times, still establish a strong forechecking game. That's when we're at our best, when we're cycling the puck, making the D men turn. Forwards do a good job of putting pressure on them, then we can come in waves.
Q. Brian, this team got scoring from all its lines during the season. Top-heavy during the playoffs. How important is secondary scoring at this point?
BRIAN BOYLE: You take goals when you can get them. I don't care who puts it in. Going into a game, you want to contribute however you can, whatever situation you're put in.
Taking a lot of D-zone draws, killing a penalty, you have to do a good job with that. If you're put in an offensive situation, even if it's one offensive zone draw the second period, you want to try to create some offense, create at least some momentum.
Yeah, I mean, I know I got one goal, and I'd certainly like a lot more than that. But you got to kind of play the game as it plays out in front of you. It's something that we want to get more production, but we're in the Cup Final right now. We're getting enough production so far from everybody, I think.
Q. The result wasn't what you guys wanted last night. For either one of you, how much confidence was gained in the way you skated with them the first and second period?
JASON GARRISON: Yeah, I mean, obviously it was a good test for us. Don't see them too much during the year. They're a team that's proven to win in the past. I thought we did a really good job of playing our game, and our game seemed to work. It was only unfortunately that a couple shifts in the third period, the puck found the back of our net.
We can learn from a couple things, but for the most part we're going to stick to the same game plan we had from Game 1.
Q. Brian, from your perspective, as a guy who is often put in that role, what were your impressions of watching Cedric go head-to-head with that Toews line?
BRIAN BOYLE: Did a great job. We got a number of guys, our whole team really, if you can't defend, you're not going to play really. So it's been preached throughout. There's obviously guys that can put up some points. Fil 's line, Johnny's line, they've produced offensively for us. But they have been put into huge spots, huge situations offensively as well. Ceddy, Cally, Brown any last night, you know, that's a tall ask against some good players. They've done a great job. I think our D have done a great job, too. That's important, as well. Everybody needs to kind of be on the same page.
I think you limit them to as few chances and opportunities as they had, it was a great effort out of them, frees up the top two lines to go out and play, try and create. We're going to need that going forward, for sure.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
COACH JON COOPER
Questions for coach.
Q. Jon, sometimes when you watch the video you have a different impression. How did you feel when looked at the video? Was it different than your impression last night?
COACH COOPER: We've had these discussions before where I've watched the video, thought we were okay, then watched it and we weren't very good. A little bit of the opposite on this one.
Video was pretty much the way we saw it. I thought we did a really good job. I can't sit up here and say, Oh, Chicago outplayed us. Did they deserve to win? I think it was a pretty even game.
I think we had the chance to take that game in the first couple periods. We get that second one, we had chances. Everyone was pointing to, well, if Callahan had scored that breakaway. We had other chances before that to score.
I know Cally had that breakaway, but I don't think anybody realizes they were closing on him fast. He didn't have many options. He tries to make a move, he's probably getting checked. Crawford made a really good save.
We just couldn't get that second one. I felt if we got that second one, it would have put them away. We didn't. We let them hang around. It burned us.
Watching the video didn't change it. If we continue to play the way we did, we're going to be okay.
Q. Your guys have been unfailingly polite in discussing the Blackhawks.
COACH COOPER: Do you think it's going to change right now (laughter)?
Q. No. Is there any level of concern with having too much respect and concern, whether it's earned or not? Is that an issue for you at all?
COACH COOPER: Not at all. We just played Mike Babcock and the storied Detroit Red Wings. We just played the Montréal Canadiens. Enough said. We just played the New York Rangers and beat them in their building.
As you said, we respect everybody, but there's no fear in the room. Especially after playing last night's game, when you're feeling out your opponent a little bit, I don't know, we didn't come here to come second. We came here to win this. We got a taste of who we were playing against. It's probably in our style. This is four series. Third one where we've lost Game 1. We've never made it easy on ourselves.
But we came here to win this thing, and that's what we're going to try to do.
Q. The way Steven was playing last night, really involved offensively, creating a lot of chances. Do you need to find a way to get him more than 17 minutes when he's feeling it that way?
COACH COOPER: I don't know. I think some of the best games he's played, he's played 14, he's played 19, he's played 17. It's about winning the game and what we need to do to win the game.
Stammer is one of our leaders. He plays top-line minutes. He plays on the power play. When we're down a goal, when we're up a goal, he's on the ice.
We don't sit here and say, Gosh, if we would have had Stammer on the ice that extra minute, the game would have changed.
He's done a hell of a job for us. He's led us to where we are. We wouldn't be here without him. I don't think that extra minute, give or take, makes any difference.
Q. Jon, could you explain the thinking behind putting Cedric in the middle, giving him the assignment you did last night, which seemed like a pretty important job for a kid.
COACH COOPER: Well, I think his name is Cedric Paquette, so it doesn't roll off the tongue of the popularity in the hockey market because he's a rookie.
Notice this last year when we brought him up in the playoffs against Montréal, had a really good feeling. We had to get him in minutes because this kid's a really responsible, hard to play against centerman. It's been a weird year because we played him on the wing a few times and then brought him into center. As time has gone on, I've got so much confidence in that kid's ability.
Was that a big best for him? Sure, it was. But he also got to play against Stepan's line, Brassard's line, Pacioretty's line. Snippets all the way through here and he's done a really good job for us.
Our thinking was if we can neutralize that line with Ceddy, Cally, and whether it be Brown or Killorn, whoever is out there, that's going to give our other guys hopefully a little bit better chance to score.
I thought he did an unreal job. Those guys are great players. To keep them off the score sheet the way they did... He won draws against them. It was something we needed.
People sit here and saying, Your top two lines are doing all your scoring for you. That's true, but if your other guys can keep the big boys off the score sheets, that means just as much for us. I can't say enough about what those guys did.
Q. The players were talking about being a bit overcautious in the third period. Was that a tactical decision or them maybe not executing the same game plan they had in the first two periods?
COACH COOPER: To be honest, a little bit of human nature might have taken over. Our goal was to keep playing the way we were playing, had played the first two periods. What had worked for us a little bit in the past, maybe we sat back and thought, Maybe this is going to work for us again.
As I look back on the tape, we didn't give up a whole ton to them, we gave up a lot of time of possession. Unfortunately it was the turnovers. Regardless if we didn't have the puck or not, if you're going to turn the puck over in that area, there's a good chance it's going to end up in the net. That was our big issue.
Did we play a little bit in our end too much? There's no question we did. As these playoffs have gone on, it's just another learning experience after another learning experience. We found out if we're going to play passive in the third period against Chicago it may not work out too well for us.
We're confident in our defensive abilities. We've shown it in the playoffs. This team got the better of us last night. We just got to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Q. When you see what Teravainen did last night as a 20-year-old, does that make you think in any way of what Jonathan Drouin might be capable of?
COACH COOPER: I saw Teravainen play for the first time at a world junior camp a few years ago. I watched him play. Pretty remarkable skill player.
The other similarities in their skill level, there's no question. Jo is a phenomenal skill player. Situations like this, do we think it's going to happen eventually? There's no question.
With Teravainen, I mean, it was a nice play. He threw a puck at the net that probably nine times out of ten doesn't go in, but it went in for him. I think that's what happens to players of his skill level. Pucks have eyes for those guys.
Is that going to hopefully happen to Jo? For sure. We hope that. As the series goes on, who knows how things are going to go. But it's good to have those guys in your arsenal. Who knows, maybe we'll see Jo here in the future. We don't know. We're going to put the 20 guys in that we feel are going to win us the games that night. They've done that so far for us.
But it's easy to put similarities to the two because of the elite skill level.
Q. Are those your parents?
COACH COOPER: There's my dad and there's my mom. I've lived with them so long (laughter). Yes, those are my parents. And, no, you can't speak with them (laughter).
Q. The triplets have owned so many moments, games, series in the playoffs. They were decidedly quiet. Any concerns, wear and tear, how much you count on these guys.
COACH COOPER: Well, you look at the middle of the Rangers' series, they were pretty quiet point-wise in the Rangers' series. I don't think we can sit here and judge the lines on how quiet they were.
I don't know if questions got asked that Toews and Kane didn't score, so is there concern about them? There's not concern about those guys. There's not concern about the triplets.
For me, I'm not standing here right now if it wasn't for their play throughout the series. They've proven time and time again they may be kept off the score sheet a game here, a game there, but you're not going to keep them off for long. Those kids will find a way.
I think it's a massive compliment when they get asked that question because that means they've scored so often and done so many good things. The fact they don't do it once, it's alarming. To me that's the ultimate compliment. So I have no worries.
Q. Callahan said you didn't speak to them or he didn't know before the game that that was going to be the matchup. Did you spring that on them at the last minute?
COACH COOPER: Well, he's a young kid. If I said there was going to be a million dollar check, would you run out and buy a Porsche right away because you knew you were getting a million dollar check? I don't know if that makes any sense at all (laughter). You can make fun of me later.
In any of these situations, I don't want him thinking that. I don't want him thinking, Oh, my gosh, I'm going to have to check Captain Everything.
If he's been in the league a few years, it may be different. I might have a different approach if I'm talking to Filppula. For Ceddy, it's, Go out there and do your job. For me, the way it is with certain players, I didn't want him thinking about it. I want him to go out and play. He finds himself against No. 19, so be it. I thought he did a great job.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.
COACH COOPER: Thank you.
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