NHL Peachy: 2015 Stanley Cup Final Off-Day Transcript (Chicago - Toews, Crawford, Saad, van Riemsdyk, Timonen, Coach Quenneville) Our Coverage Sponsored by Vermont Harvest
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An interview with:
JONATHAN TOEWS
TREVOR van RIEMSDYK
KIMMO TIMONEN
COREY CRAWFORD
BRANDON SAAD
COACH JOEL QUENNEVILLE
Q. Kimmo, I didn't get to ask you this last night, but how fast was your heart beating when the shot hit the crossbar last night?
KIMMO TIMONEN: I wished that went in. I guess in life you can't get everything.
Just living the dream here (laughter).
Q. Jonathan, according to the National Hockey League, this is the closest Final since 1968, after a very tight playoff. What ultimately is going to decide it, do you think?
JONATHAN TOEWS: That's a good question. I mean, I think it's kind of funny to think it's been a really tight series, considering there's not been one game that's gone to overtime yet. I think in a way that's how we view a tough, equally balanced series when you have some long games, some overtime games, what we've seen in these playoffs so far.
It's really tough for either team to separate themselves from the other in any of these games, which makes for entertaining hockey game. I think both teams are equally deserving so far. I think it's just going to come down to, as they say, who wants it more, who is going to fight and work for those bounces.
I think both teams are feeling pretty confident it's going to go their way right now.
Q. Jonathan, to win this series, you're going to have to win another game on the road. That hasn't been very difficult. Why hasn't home ice meant as much as it used to in the past?
JONATHAN TOEWS: I don't know. I still think, speaking for ourselves, we feel more inclined or more excited to play in our building, like anyone would. There's no doubt we have confidence, especially in these big games late in the series, that we can raise our play and find ways to take that energy away, make things difficult on a team in their own building.
I think that's a good feeling to have, especially given the fact we are where we are right now. We view it as a great opportunity more than a challenge, I guess. So we're looking forward to it.
Q. Do matchups not mean as much anymore because teams are so deep once you get to this point?
JONATHAN TOEWS: Could be. I think a lot of it has to do with the way these two teams play. I think you see, especially their team, even the way we've kind of changed our lines up front the last few games, all four lines are contributing offensively and defensively.
At the end of the day if it's not the perfect matchup one way or the other, I think both teams are confident that the players on the ice can find ways to try and find ways to get the edge for their team. Regardless of who we have out there against their top couple lines, we have to be smart against those guys. Same type of thing we said in the Anaheim series.
Q. It seems like the penalty kill has gone through streaks this year, whether it's been good or bad. What have you noticed in this series? How have you handled the rotation with the three guys in the power play?
JONATHAN TOEWS: I think it goes with what was being said about our defensemen the last series. Everyone thought they were playing a lot of minutes, they were taking away too much of the responsibility and the pressure on the blue line.
But we have guys, you know, when they get the opportunity, like the two guys I'm sitting next to right now, when they have the chance, but probably one of the toughest things to do in sports, especially at this point in the season, to be thrown into a really tough spot, you know, not having played a lot, not having played a ton of minutes throughout the night, just going out there and trying to find a way to make the difference.
We got guys that can do that. I think that's a huge reason why we've had that success. I think when it comes down to the penalty kill, I think we've really always understood how big of a deal it is, especially to try and take away energy from a team like this.
The last couple games, it's been big for us. I think first and foremost, you want to stay out of the box. If you happen to take a couple like we did last night, we're confident we can find a way to get the job done, feed off of the energy it gives us at the end.
Q. Trevor and Kimmo, you guys, being with this team for a little bit this season, here again at the end, your thoughts on the resolve of this team to pull out games even when you don't have your best game.
KIMMO TIMONEN: I've been here three months now. I seen a lot of teams, a lot of hockey players, a lot of different systems. I got to give a lot of credit to these guys. I would say the top eight guys who have been here for six, seven years, these guys are so dedicated for this sport, hockey, just taking care of themselves.
It surprised me. I never seen that before. It is not surprise these guys have won it couple times and been in Conference Finals every year.
You know, just happy to be here. Happy to enjoy this journey. Hopefully we got two more wins for us, you know.
TREVOR van RIEMSDYK: Like Kimmo said, just being here right from the start, that little stint I had, just seeing how a 24-hour commitment that everyone puts in, takes care of themselves. They're some of the most competitive, hard-working people I've ever met.
Yeah, you can see that on the ice with no matter what the situation, you feel confident we're going to work our way back, get those chances at the end to have a chance.
Q. Jonathan, you get to see Brandon Saad play every day. Now everyone is clueing in to how good of a power forward he is in this league.
JONATHAN TOEWS: He showed it this time of year last year. He's showing up to play right now. I'm not saying that he didn't all year, but he's definitely raising his game and showing that he's not only a talented player, but he has all those other characteristics that you look for when you want to build a championship team.
There's not much more you can ask for. He's the type of guy that wants to make a difference. He wants to be out on the ice in those crucial moments. There's no doubt he was thinking late in that game that he was going to find a way to score a big goal. He went out there, drove to the net. I think when you play that way, you create your own chances and bounces. Another big one from him last night.
Q. And are you still mad about the Crosby and Malkin comment thing….
JONATHAN TOEWS: No, no. It's just funny to think. We all call him the Man Child. We're under the assumption he's in his mid 30s now. It's funny to hear him talk about growing up watching Crosby and Malkin. That catches you off guard a little bit.
Q. Kimmo, at this stage of your career, you're two wins away from the Cup. Do you let your mind drift and think about what it would be like?
KIMMO TIMONEN: Not really. You know, I been in different Finals throughout my career. It's easy to look the end of the results, easy to dream about it. You can dream about it, but you can't let your mind wander too far.
We got big game coming up Saturday. You can only focus on Saturday.
But in the big picture for me obviously when I made this comeback early in the year, this was the dream. I can't lie to you that I'm not dreaming about it. But you still have to focus on daily basis and make sure you practice hard, just focus on task in hand.
Q. Trevor, you had one difficult shift yesterday, and a goal was scored. Pretty impressive how you bounced back. How as a rookie did you mentally process that and get past that?
TREVOR van RIEMSDYK: Yeah, I think it's important, especially during the game, to have a short-term memory. Some shifts just aren't going to go your way. The puck's not going to bounce the right way. You got to learn from what you did there, what mistakes you made, just kind of try to bounce back from it.
Having guys like the guys sitting next to me here in the locker room to keep your confidence up, just telling you to move on, keep it going, that definitely helps to hear that from them.
Yeah, you can't let the one mistake compound and lead to another that leads to another. As tough as it can be sometimes, just shake it off, come out the next shift, make a good play, get right back into it.
Q. Jonathan, prior to this series, what did your scouting and preparation tell you about the Tampa defense as a whole? Four games into the series, what have you seen from them in relation to what you were anticipating?
JONATHAN TOEWS: There's no doubt they have a strong D corps, some great puck movers, great skaters.
I don't think it's as much the focus on their D men as it is their five-man units, the way they come out of their zone, all of them supporting each other, the way they have D men jumping in the rush. We always need to focus on staying together and making sure we got forwards coming back, as well.
It's not always just about finding ways to try and poke holes in their defensive game, but it's also making sure that we're ready to hold back and make sure we're picking up guys, because they love to activate on their rush, as well. Yeah, I don't think there's anything specific like that. They all play pretty well put together, complete game.
Q. Jonathan, if you win this next one, then Game 6, the Cup is in this building with a chance for you to win it here this time. Do you use that as motivation or do you completely block that out?
JONATHAN TOEWS: I'm going to go ahead and echo everything Kimmo just said. There are moments where you let yourself daydream. All of a sudden you catch yourself getting ahead of yourself. You need to snap back to right here, right now.
As he said, that is focusing on Saturday, nothing more than that. The only way you get to that point is if you just focus on the next shift, the next period. That's as far ahead as you want to look.
I think coming into the series, coming into Game 1, maybe sometimes you were a little too excited knowing that you're near the end of the finish line. But I think going through this series we've done a good job of just focusing on the next task, especially last night. We'll do the same thing in the next one.
Q. Jonathan, Brad Richards said last night that Tampa Bay is way better than anybody imagined in terms of how well they check. What adjustments do you need to make to combat that the rest of the series?
JONATHAN TOEWS: Well, it's all about our work ethic. I think when we're out there, winning the battles, the puck races, getting body position, I think the more we can have the puck, the better off we'll be.
At the end of the day it's just about being hard on them, too, not letting them do the things they want to do. We've seen it in spurts in some games where we let them get into their rush game, their wide-open puck-moving game. That's when we start to get ourselves into trouble. It's focusing on little details like that, again raising our speed, our play, tenacity, working for the bounces we've been getting.
Q. Last night Richards talked about it being one of your worst games of the year. How important do you think it is for a championship team to have the kind of mentality that even after a win, you're still disappointed after a win?
KIMMO TIMONEN: You always have to, after the game, realize and evaluate your own game. We didn't play our best last night. Corey was unbelievable yesterday. He pretty much won the game for us.
But at the end of the day, it's 2-2 now. The only thing which matters is a win. We have to realize we have to get better for Saturday.
Good thing is it's a 2-2 series, but we need to get better for the Saturday.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys.
COREY CRAWFORD
BRANDON SAAD
We'll continue with questions for Corey, Brandon and Brent.
Q. Corey, if you do win this next game, that means Game 6 will be in the building this time with a chance for you to win it here. Do you use that as motivation?
COREY CRAWFORD: It's definitely motivation. But right now I think our thought process is on Game 5. But really, yeah, giving ourselves a chance.
But this last game was really big for us, going back 2-2. To even this series, it's a big difference. Get some big momentum in this series.
Q. This is the closest Final in 50 years, something like that. Is the pressure already so high that it can't get higher? Do you feel every shot, every save is going to be massive throughout the game?
COREY CRAWFORD: I mean, we've gone through these situations before, this team. I think maybe the experience helps a little bit with pressure. I think we were able to deal with it a little bit better than maybe if it's your first year, first time going through something like this.
Q. Brandon, with the penalty kill, it seems like it works in spurts. Is there anything right now you can pinpoint why it's been a factor in this series?
BRANDON SAAD: I think Kitch does a great job on penalty kill. The more you play a team throughout a series, the more you get to learn their habits, obviously watching video before the series. But being a part of it, seeing how they react, their tendencies, things like that, we've done a good job all playoffs. I think we feel pretty strong about our special teams.
Q. Brandon, the legendary hockey coach Bob Johnson used to lecture us about once a year about luck. He said luck is an element of the game of hockey, but you can't quantify it, analyze it or predict it the nobody wants to talk about it. How much does luck factor in in a series where the margins seem to be so fine?
BRANDON SAAD: Yeah, you could call it luck. I know guys talk about getting bounces. Usually you work for your bounces, though.
Throughout a series, it can go either way. You could see in Game 3 there when we missed a couple open nets, bounces didn't go in for us. That kind of happened to them, too, last night.
It's a game of bounces. You just try to work hard and try to get those bounces and keep the momentum.
But luck's definitely a part of it. It's a tough trophy to win and a tough series to be a part of.
Q. Brandon, a lot of guys still talk about you being a young guy. You've been in for three years. At what point did you stop feeling like a young guy and start feeling like a veteran or have you?
BRANDON SAAD: I think every year I feel more comfortable and confident. Obviously starting off the first year with a bang, able to win the Cup, surrounded by a bunch of talented guys and veterans that know what they're doing, it helps. Having success always helps.
Last year the same way. We went pretty deep. Personally had some success myself, so that helps with confidence. Every year just trying to grow as a player, to do the best I can. Still learning every day. There's still guys that have been around that have more success, better players that work hard. You can always keep learning.
Q. Corey, how important do you think it is for a championship team to talk the way Brad did last night, that maybe you didn't play your best game? Some teams will say, We'll take any win any way we can get it. Do you think a championship team has to look in the mirror and say, We didn't play our best even though we won that game?
COREY CRAWFORD: I mean, sometimes you have to give credit to the other team, too. They're a good team. They're fast. They're skilled. Sometimes they're going to get momentum and make plays.
But for us, you know, we have to keep our confidence which we have done, know that we got to stick to our game. Not everything's going to go your way all the time. You have to be able to adjust and just keep playing hard.
Q. Brandon, last night Brad Richards was talking about the Lightning and the way they defend and forecheck. Basically said that people have underestimated how good they are. Give us a sense of how frustrating it is for you guys offensively to try to get things going.
BRANDON SAAD: Yeah, that's something we talked about going into the game, is how good they are really at playing a good, tight checking game, being patient. That's something we have to do as a team, not getting frustrated, taking it one shift at a time, one period at a time.
Chances are going to come. We need to execute when they do. At the same time we can't push for offense because that's when we make mistakes. They're a good team on the rush and when we turn over the puck.
We don't want to feed into their rush game. We want to stay patient, believe in our process and our system.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys.
COACH JOEL QUENNEVILLE
We'll continue with questions for coach.
Q. Coach, I just asked Kimmo and TVR this, them not being here that long, as far as the resilience they noticed with this team. They pointed to the core players. Do you see guys new to this group latch on to what this core has started and believed in for so long?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think there's an appreciation for the way, watching these guys from afar. Coming into a new team, you see the way they compete on a game-to-game basis. They see how important winning is around here. Probably very noticeable.
Then these guys don't really say a whole lot. I think they let the way they play and the way they carry themselves do a lot of their speaking for them.
Kimmo has been around in a lot of situations. He's been everywhere. He's played at every level. He's been a leader everywhere he's been.
I think coming into our team, he's been real good. I think he's been a good pro in a tight tough situation. Commend him on how he's handled it.
TVR is a different file, knowing he hasn't played in such a long time. He's come in with two important games for us.
Q. The League tells us this is the most closely contested Final since 1968. What do you think decides this series?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: I don't know. You look at the first four games, it's been that close. Maybe the other team is supposed to win that game. But the fact that nobody's had a two-goal lead after four games speaks volumes about what we're talking about here.
Hey, it's fast, it's quick, it can be unpredictable. It's two good hockey teams going at it. I think whether it's going to be a great save or a great play, you know, a fluky goal, I know both teams leave it out there. I know our team loves a challenge, and we expect to get better as we go along here.
Q. Trevor van Riemsdyk had a pretty rough shift on the Lightning goal. When that happens, does anyone say anything to him?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: We watch him play. I think he's played very well. I think it was one shift he got stuck out there. It's happened to us in second periods against a lot of teams this year. You can't get off. You're dead tired. Hopefully you can get a whistle or a save or a clear. Sometimes it goes in.
But positionally we like the way he thinks the game. He's got a good stick. Offensively makes a lot of nice, simple plays. Got a good gap. He's everything you look for in a defenseman.
In two games, in a different situation, a tough situation, he's been very good.
Q. Joel, if you do get a win in this next game, you come back here, the Cup will be in the building here I think for the first time ever with a chance for you guys to clinch it. Would you like your team to use that as motivation in this next game?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: We know the Cup's going to be in the building here for Game 6. Doesn't matter how that approach goes. We don't want to look past anything that's going to happen in the next game. That's our mindset.
Q. With the penalty kills, a couple times with Oduya or Seabrook in the box, you had to rotate three defensemen. What is the challenge of that?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think our penalty killers did a good job. I think in situations like that, that's happened over the course of the season, sometimes you got three that can kill, or use killing. Sometimes you only got two on the bench. You might get a chance to find out about another guy pressed in that situation.
Some guys probably can stay out there and stay the two minutes in the kill situation on a very needed basis.
These guys have been through it. Whether they're staggering their changes, going 30 or 40 seconds each, one- guy change at a time, it's done a lot of times over the course of the season. It's not new to what's happening now.
Q. Even thought the series is tied 2-2, what still have you not seen from your team that you need to see in the final games?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think that's what a lot of people might be thinking about. I think we're playing against a good team. I don't think they probably got the respect around here that maybe was deserved. Not seeing them as much as we have in Western opponents. They're fast, they're quick. I think we need to be quicker. We need to be more predictable. We got to want the puck.
But, you know, they don't give a lot of time, there’s not a lot of space. That's the one thing we have to be aware of.
Q. When it's tight like this, do you believe in the randomness of luck or do you believe that luck is something you can make yourself?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Absolutely, you earn it. You earn it over time by doing right things, being predictable. We know the will is there. Finding a way is what we like about our team.
Q. Obviously hockey is a little bit different than other sports in that you have the one timeout. What is your strategy on how and when to use it. Has it evolved over the years?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, I think it's almost like a safety in your back pocket sometimes. Sometimes you use it for the momentum change in the game, you don't like the way things are going.
Now the handy part of it is on an icing play, a shift where you're stuck out there, you can't get off, you got to get a breath. I think that's probably when it's applied most. Then at the end of the game when you're down a goal, you want to get those guys rested to go back out there to try to get an equalizer. Probably the second most used timeout. I think the third one is changing momentum.
A lot of teams save it for that icing. I don't think it was intended for that purpose, but it's been applied that way. I think on a need basis, it's useful.
Q. Back to the penalty kill. In the first round, there were some struggles. Was there ever a concern or a thought that it had to get better if you were going to advance further?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: You know what, we didn't mind our penalty killing in that series. I know some pucks went in. I thought we did some good things, and were doing things the right way. Then we felt you're going to have stretches over the course of seasons where the puck is going to go in there. If you keep doing the right things, you'll find a way to be successful.
Tough stretch at the end of the season that went against us. Each team we've played in the playoffs has got some different things you got to be worried about. We played some real good power plays. We got a real good power play on the other side. We got to make sure. That's a work in progress. No satisfaction with being where we're at. Constantly has to be looked at, do whatever we can to keep it out of our net.
Q. Joel, you've been around a long time. There's some teams that will say, We'll take any win any way we can get it. There's other teams that look back and are critical after a win. How important do you think a championship-caliber team has to be that way?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, I mean, we're in the winning business. I don't think you should ever be satisfied with the way things go. I think you want to find ways where you can better yourselves, better the situation.
I think after four games there's been some progress, some areas where we need to improve. We know we have to be better. We're looking to get better as we go into Game 5.
Q. Joel, going into yesterday's game, Johnny Oduya, there was a question about the injury. He plays 25-plus minutes, five blocks. How important was he to the victory last night?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Yeah, he's a warrior. Kind of reminds me of Hammer. The two of them, from Sweden. They like to play with one another, hang out with one another. Got a lot of the same attributes as far as how they prepare and produce. Low maintenance. Nice bounce-back by him.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Thank you.
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