Transcripts and audio Courtesy of the NHL Communications Department

Comments included are from Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien, Duncan Keith, Jonathan Towes, and Joel Quenneville

Post-Game 3 Comments from Blackhawks Forward Patrick Sharp and Forward/Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien

Audio comments from Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien:

Q.  It’s one game away from the round that everybody always talks about.  At what point or are you already thinking, We’re almost there, get to the Stanley Cup final?
PATRICK SHARP:  Well, I think it definitely goes through everyone’s minds.  We’ve got a team that likes to think we’ve been in this position before, being in the Conference Finals, realize how hard it takes to get to that next step.  I know it’s one game away, but the old cliché, the fourth one is the hardest to win.
That’s true.  We look at the series against San Jose, each game could go either way.  We know we are fortunate to be up 3-0.  We know we have to play our best game to close them out.

Q.  Dustin, how are you enjoying being in the spotlight?
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN:  So far so good.  It’s nice (smiling).

Q.  You don’t want to expand on that at all?
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN:  No (laughter).

Q.  Patrick, early on in this playoff run you struggled with inconsistency.  When did it kind of click and what was the difference?
PATRICK SHARP:  It’s tough to say.  It’s tough to pinpoint one exact moment or game.  Seems like we’ve been getting better since the Nashville series.  Every series has been tough and difficult in its own right.
Different problems in every series.  It’s tough to say.  I think winning on the road in Vancouver was big for us.  That’s a tough building to play in.  It was a really intense series.  It just seems like in general our team’s getting better and better as we go along.  You can’t point to a weak link on our team.  Whoever hops the boards and goes out there is performing, pulling the rope, and that’s the difference right now.

Q.  One win away from the finals, if you’re not talking about it, why is it not a good thing to talk about at this stage to use that as the motivation for Sunday?
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN:  I guess you can’t get too far ahead.  You got to look at the moment.  We still got a game to go.  We got to play period by period, not get away from our game plan, not get too far ahead.
PATRICK SHARP:  I think it’s easy to get caught up in the hype and listen to people tell you how good you are, how good the team’s doing.  You look across the league, different playoff series, teams have battled back from 3-1 and three nothing even.
The series is far from over.  These are two teams that are pretty evenly matched.  Each game can go either way.  We know that.  I said earlier, we’re fortunate to be up 3-0.  We’re going to try and take a hold of this series and do what we can to close it out.

Q.  Can you talk about the difference between today’s team and last year’s team.  You did mention you were in the Western Conference final before.  How much does that help your preparation?
PATRICK SHARP:  There’s a lot of differences, a lot of similarities.  I think last year’s experience has helped us a great deal as far as this year.  I think you look at how excited we were to be in the playoffs last year for one.  Then seems like we didn’t have the expectations that we did this year.
Both playoff runs have been exciting.  They’ve both been fun.  I think this year there’s not as many highs and lows.  We’re staying pretty even-keeled in the room.  Everybody jumped out of their seats when Buff put that one home yesterday.  We’re already thinking Game 4, and moving on to the next one.

Q.  I don’t know how much attention you paid to this.  Has it dawned on you, next season some of the guys may not be around, there’s going to be some changes.  This could be the best this team will ever be under this era, the need to give it all you have this time around.
PATRICK SHARP:  Buff and I don’t even know what you’re talking about (laughter).
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN:  Not.
PATRICK SHARP:  That’s the first we’ve heard about the salary cap (laughter).
It’s been talked about.  But we can worry about that weeks from now.  You look at guys that have been in the league for a long time that have played for this opportunity and we realize that it’s right there for us.  So we don’t want to start thinking about where players will be next year.  We got to take advantage of what we have.

Q.  Could you talk, assess how you played overall as a team last night.  Was it as good as you wanted to play coming on home ice?
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN:  I think we could have played a little better.  Tightened up in little areas, and maybe move our feet a little bit more.  I think for the most part, we stuck with our game plan and that’s what you have to do.
PATRICK SHARP:  I think there’s room for improvement.  There’s a lot of questions about how we’ve been playing on home ice.  I thought we played better.
I don’t know if staying in the hotel had anything to do with that.  I think there is areas for improvement.  As long as we’re getting the win at the end of the day, we’re happy.

Q.  Patrick, are you guys doing the hotel route tonight?
PATRICK SHARP:  No, early start tomorrow.  We’re going to stay at home.  That’s good news for me.  I’m sure you have heard Burish is my roommate.  Any time you can get a few hours away from him, it’s a good thing for me (smiling).  Hopefully we get the same result.

Q.  Dustin, your nickname was Buff or Big Papa.  Which one do you prefer?
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN:  Either one sounds good.

Q.  According to the stat sheet, that was the only shot you took last night.  Why weren’t you getting some chances earlier?  Was it hard to stay patient?
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN:  Yes, some nights are like that.  You don’t get opportunities till late.  Just happened to make it count last night.  Sticking with it, not getting frustrated or anything, going with the game.

Q.  Were they doing anything special?
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN:  No.  Didn’t see the puck that much.  Wasn’t finding me.  Had to do my job, hit bodies and stuff.
PATRICK SHARP:  You got to remember, he’s playing with Toews and Kane.  He’s not going to see the puck unless they want to pass it to him.

Off Day Comments from Blackhawks Defenseman Duncan Keith

Audio comments from Duncan Keith:

Q.  Patrick Sharp talked about what an even series this has felt like, multiple games could have gone either way.  All that said, are you surprised to be in this position where you could be looking at a sweep come tomorrow afternoon?
DUNCAN KEITH:  Well, I think, yeah, heading into the series, I don’t think we would have looked at it that way.  But, you know, we’ve always kind of taken it one game at a time, tried to look at it that way.
I think all the games have been close.  I know we were able to get the two wins in San Jose and they were two big wins.  I thought Antti played great in those games and made a lot of huge saves.  Sometimes when your goaltender is making those big saves, making the kind of plays that he is at critical times in the game, it really changes the whole dynamic of the game.

Q.  Duncan, last night, it’s going to happen today, the Boston-Philadelphia series, fresh in everybody’s mind, is going to come up.  They’re taking motivation from what the Flyers did.  Can you flip it around, look at what happened to Boston, will that help you keep a sharper edge coming into Game 4?
DUNCAN KEITH:  Yeah, I think so.  I think everybody has talked about that series and analyzed it.  I think we can use it as motivation as well.  The Sharks are a great team.  They have a lot of great players and a lot of pride on their team.
You know, but we feel we have a pretty good team, too.  We have a lot of pride ourselves.  You know, we look at that series as well, use it as motivation in our way and say, you know, we want to close it out, we want to be a great team and do it the right way.

Q.  Duncan, why not use the prospect of being one win away from the finals as motivation for tomorrow?  Is that something you will or will not talk about?
DUNCAN KEITH:  I think you can use that as motivation.  That’s what we’re playing for.  We’re all playing here for the Stanley Cup.  You know, we’re one win away from getting a chance to play for it.  I think we should use that as part of motivation, as well.
I think we all find different ways to motivate ourselves.  As a team, I think we take it, you know, in baby steps, look at it one game at a time, not looking too far ahead.
There’s always motivation.  You’re always thinking about what you can, you know, do to be better and bring that into the next game.

Q.  Duncan, Patrick Sharp mentioned that trip to Vancouver for Game 3 and 4 was a turning point when things started to click.  What happened on the trip?  You have always been a confident group.  Is that where you kind of reached the next level?
DUNCAN KEITH:  I think we’ve always been a confident group and always believed in ourselves.  But I think, you know, really we started to bear down and started to play, you know, the right way for the most part.  I think, you know, you gain confidence as you go in playoffs with the more wins you get, the more success you have.
I think on the whole, we’ve been playing solid.  But I think talking in the room, we all feel that, you know, we can still be better and still bring our game to another level.  I think all good teams have that mentality.  That’s what we have.

Q.  Duncan, can you talk a little bit about maybe the difference between this year’s team and last year’s team.  Most of the players are the same.  How has last year’s playoff experience helped you get to the point you guys are at right now?
DUNCAN KEITH:  I think it’s helped a lot.  I think, you know, getting to the Western Conference finals last year was exciting.  Not to say it isn’t exciting this year.  But I think when you experience something for the first time, you really get excited.  And, you know, I think at that time last year we were happier to be in the Western Conference finals and be where we were.  Now being a year older, having played in the Western Conference finals as a team, you know, there’s definitely no satisfaction in being where we are right now.
We realized last year, going as far as we did, there was still a long way to go.  There’s still a long way to go now.  I think that experience just, you know, reinforces that attitude that, you know, we haven’t accomplished anything, we haven’t done anything yet.  There’s still a lot of hockey left to be played.

Q.  Duncan, a lot has been said about you guys will be doing this for several years to come.  For salary cap reasons, you will lose a few faces from that locker room next year.  What’s the awareness like of making sure this is the window in terms of how deep this team is this year?
DUNCAN KEITH:  Yeah, I think, you know, that sort of thing where you’re thinking about who’s going to be back next year, all that sort of thing, a lot of teams deal with that.  Every team has to face that.  I think as players, for us, the best thing to do is not to get caught up in that sort of thing and worry about it.
Obviously we like our teammates and we love playing together.  There will be changes next year, as there will be with every team.  But, you know, I think the focus right now is just understanding we have what we have right now, the opportunity that’s there, giving it everything we have with the team we have right now.  Then worrying about what happens next year, worrying about that next year.

Q.  Duncan, I know you’re a team and you have confidence and the support of each other.  When did you guys buy into Antti?  He had to be an unknown quantity for a while.  All of a sudden, here he is.  When did you all of a sudden realize, We got ourselves a helluva goalie here?
DUNCAN KEITH:  Yeah, I think as time went along here during the season, he kept getting the odd game in.  Every time he played, it seemed like, you know, he was getting a shutout, or if he didn’t get a shutout, he’d have about 40 saves and let in two goals.
I think just as time went along, he gradually, you know, was gaining pretty good trust in the whole team now.  Obviously, everybody has a ton of confidence in him.
I remember watching an exhibition game two years ago, and I think that was his first time playing in a game.  We were in Dallas.  I wasn’t playing.  But I remember watching him play.  You know, he stopped about two or three five-on-threes in that exhibition game.  I remember thinking back then, This guy is a pretty good goaltender.  I don’t know where we found him.  There’s no hype about him.
But you’ve seen that before in a lot of European players and goalies, you know, where they don’t have a whole lot of hype, whether they’re a late-round pick or free agent signing, and they seem to do pretty good.

Q.  You are one win away from getting a chance to play for the Stanley Cup.  Can you wrap your head around that?  What is that like?
DUNCAN KEITH:  Well, it’s exciting.  It obviously is a nice spot to be in right now.  Like we talked about earlier, how that experience we had last year really I think helped us grow as a team and become a lot more mature in the sense that, yeah, we can wrap our head around that.  We’re in a good spot.
You know, we’re not there yet and we’re not where we want to be.  We haven’t done what we want to do yet.

Q.  A follow-up to the Antti question.  Talking about the experience of the team last year, that’s one player that doesn’t have that playoff experience.  So does that make it that much more amazing what he’s doing?  How important is it for the team to be as efficient as possible and finish it off as soon as possible?
DUNCAN KEITH:  Well, yeah, to the Antti question.  Right, he wasn’t here in playoffs last year.  But I think the thing you have to remember about Antti sometimes, even though it’s his first year in the league, he’s not 20 or 21 years old like most of the young rookies you see coming up.  I think he’s about 26 years old, pretty mature.
I think the thing that really helps Antti out is the way he is off the ice.  Just his personality, his demeanor, he’s very mature, very kind of laid-back guy.  You know, maybe all the cheering and all the loud noises don’t really, you know, get him worked up like it would somebody else.  Something like that, I think that probably helps him, just the way he is, his demeanor.
Second question, I forget that one.

Q.  Trying to get it done as soon as possible.
DUNCAN KEITH:  Yeah, I mean, you know, there’s no other way to put it.  We’re in a great position.  We’re one win away from a chance to play for the Cup.  I think just using that as motivation and understanding our position and the opportunity we have should be enough to play the way we should and play a smart game.  Hopefully we can do that on Sunday.  That’s our goal.
I don’t think we want to give these guys any life right now.  They haven’t had it yet.  So there’s no point on giving it to them now.

Off Day Comments from Blackhawks Forward Jonathan Toews

Audio comments from Jonathan Toews:

Q.  What has it meant to you personally and the team to have the likes of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito around?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  It’s been special to have them around for regular-season games, for them to be here when it matters most, it’s pretty cool, great to have that support.  I think it means just as much to them as if they were still lacing ‘em up in the locker room and playing and stuff.
I think they’re behind us every step of the way.  You know, we’re trying to do our best to not let them down.

Q.  Jonathan, being one game away from the finals, Patrick Sharp said it’s not something you’re going to talk about.  Duncan said you can use it as motivation.  Which is it or is it a balance of both?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Maybe a little bit of both.  Coming to the playoffs, I think it’s the same idea.  Coming into the first round, the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, but you’re so far away at that point that you can’t let yourself think about it too much.
A little bit of the same thing right now.  It’s very hard not to and very tough to not get excited about having that chance.
But still got a lot of work ahead of us.  You know, that’s what we’re going to do our best to focus on.

Q.  As captain, in the hours leading up to tomorrow’s game, do you go through a series of checks and balances around the room, getting a gauge on guys, seeing their focus level?  If so, how comfortable have you gotten doing that?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  I mean, it’s not always up to me.  I think as a team, we’ve just done a great job of holding ourselves in check like that.  You know, before every single game, there’s always just a few things we want to say, some of the leaders want to bring to our team’s attention.  That’s always just getting back to realizing what makes us successful.
I think the number one example is, you know, the two games we lost in the series against Vancouver.  Those were two games that definitely stood out as games where we didn’t bring everything we had.  You saw what happened.
So we’ve been much more consistent with that effort this series.  Of course, we’ve had a lot of breaks, a lot of bounces go our way, but that’s also because of how hard we worked as well.  We’ll remind ourselves that we’re not going anywhere if we don’t work hard and we don’t come and show up to play.

Q.  You mentioned the consistency you seemed to have found.  Where do you see the biggest growth from the start of the playoffs to right now?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Well, you know, even more than in the regular season, we’ve all seemed to identify our own roles quite a bit more.  We’ve really seen what each guy can do to help the team work and be successful against other teams, whether it’s certain guys keying on some of their best players, certain guys being very physical, or other guys scoring big goals.  It doesn’t really matter.
We all understand those little things we can do as individuals.  We’ve all kind of embraced that and really gotten better and better at it.
Again, we know we’re going to need, you know, different heroes, different guys to step up if we want to keep winning big games like we did last night.  You know, that’s what every single guy can be excited about.  Whether you play 5 minutes or 25, you can go out there and make a play that’s going to end up in a game-winning goal like last night.

Q.  Because of all the young stars on these three teams, you have been compared a lot to Washington and Pittsburgh.  The Penguins lost their first time in the playoffs in the first round.  Washington continues to have their issues.  You’re eight game away from the Cup finals.  Why is it you think you have figured this out faster than those two teams?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Well, we just got a great group.  You look at Washington, Pittsburgh, you know, I don’t really know that locker room.  I can’t tell you exactly what’s different.  But obviously they got the big names, the superstars on those teams.  I think in our locker room, there are some guys game to game that get more credit.
But at the same time top to bottom, we’re a complete team, and we have so many guys, if they’re not on the third or fourth line checking, they could be on the second line and power-play and whatnot.  So we got guys that really want to win so bad, they’re willing to do anything that it takes.
It was the same thing last year.  Unfortunately we weren’t experienced enough.  It just wasn’t meant to be for us.  This year we’re back.  We’re definitely learning from that, using the experience we had last year.

Q.  Going off the last point you made, can you talk a little bit about the fact, or is it easier to prepare for a stage this big since you’ve been there before?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Yeah.  I mean, when you get to the Conference Finals like last year, you get that close, even though we were only about halfway to winning a Stanley Cup last year, you still feel pretty close.  It’s kind of a teaser.  Really, you know, makes you want to win that much more.  You feel like you got so much to lose when you’re in a position like we are this year.
Every game is so stressful, it’s tough to go to sleep at night thinking about it.  You get so excited.  But, yeah, you know, we’re enjoying the moment and we’re taking it one game at a time.  It’s been a heck of a ride so far.  We want to keep going.  So we’re going to battle for each other.

Q.  Three big kills in the third period last night, generally the penalty kills have been so consistent, why?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  I guess it’s just our work ethic.  You know, pressure was on them last night, you know, to try and keep it a closer series.  I don’t know.  Penalty kills have been great for us.  Still stick with working hard, what’s working for us, try to make it as tough as we can on them.  Obviously, we don’t want to be having to kill as many penalties as we have in Game 1, as well as last night.
I think that’s a good thing about Game 4, is that, you know, there’s still a lot of things that we did last night that we could be better at.  We’ll just look at it that way and hopefully improve going into tomorrow night’s game.

Q.  If you make it to the finals, what do you have to improve and how much better do you have to play?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Well, we’ll just take it the same way we have throughout the entire playoffs.  We keep getting better every single game.  I think you compare our team to last series, I think there’s a world of difference.  We know that, you know, we’re not talking about the final series yet, I just caught myself there (smiling).
We’ll keep getting better.  Tomorrow night we want to improve.  Like I just said, we want to improve on some of the things we didn’t do last night.  We’ll go from there.
We want to keep playing hockey as long as we can.  If we get there, then, you know, hopefully we save the best for last.

Q.  You blocked a key shot yesterday.  You had 27 in the game.  Can you talk about the importance of shot blocking, especially in this series against the Sharks.
JONATHAN TOEWS:  It’s good, yeah.  I wanted to mix one in there one of the these days, not just leave it up to guys like Hammer and Sopes to block the shots all the time.
Yeah, I don’t think they were expecting me to stand in front of that one there.  Might have caught them by surprise when Bolland went in there.  It was a big goal for us.  Unfortunately we couldn’t hold it off till the end.  But we’re still confident as a team that we could.
You know, a lot of guys have been stepping up and doing little things like that.  It’s just part of our job, I guess.

Q.  You mentioned the team over the course of the season has identified their roles within the group, that is a way you have improved.  Is that something that Joel and his staff, since he’s been here, in your mind, is something they really focused on, communicated to guys, This is what your role is?  Do you think it’s really important in the teams you’ve been on, guys having those roles to succeed?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Yeah.  I mean, over the regular season, I would say it probably didn’t matter as much.  Not taking anything away from how hard we worked over the regular season.  But I think we had a very talented team.  We found ways to win games even if we weren’t playing our best hockey.
But this time of year, it’s entirely different.  You got to be on top of things.  I think guys are hopping over the boards with, you know, specific jobs and things they need to do in their mind.  So you’ve seen guys like Bolland, Ladder and Versteeg do great things against some of the star players we’ve been up against.  Duncan and Seabrook, you can go down the list of guys that have been doing great things out there.
Of course, it’s something we all understand.  But we all want to kind of play outside that, as well.

Q.  I remember you mentioning when you became captain, you got a text from Sidney Crosby.  At the Olympics, during downtime, maybe you picked his brain, talked about the journey in these playoffs, given what he’s accomplished in the last couple years?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  It’s never been something that I’ve directly spoken to anybody about.  But I think you kind of get a sense, when you’re on a team, like Team Canada, I can’t remember how many captains were in that room, but you definitely kind of get a sense of what kind of leader a guy like Sidney is or Jarome Iginla, just by talking to them, getting to know them, how they affect their teammates in the locker room.  You don’t really have to talk to them directly to find that out.
That was definitely a learning experience for me.

Q.  Before the playoffs started you talked about the confidence you had in both goalies, especially in Niemi.  Is there anything you’ve learned in these playoffs about Niemi that you didn’t already know?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Well, I wouldn’t say he’s proving me wrong.  He’s proved a lot of people wrong.  But he’s exceeding even our expectations.  You know, he just seems so cool and collected.  All the praise and everything that’s being thrown his way, it just seems like it doesn’t matter to him.  He doesn’t even seem that excited about it.  He just wants to play hockey.  He just seems like he’s having fun.
Such a relaxed guy, none of this stuff is affecting him.  He knows he’s got a job to do.  He’s brought it every single night.  So he’s been a huge part of our team, obviously.

Off Day Comments from Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville

Audio comments from Coach Joel Quenneville:

Q.  What do you think it’s meant to your team to have the likes of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Tony Esposito walking around?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  It’s nice.  These guys really make you feel the tradition here is genuine, it’s an amazing history, and it goes back to the glory days here.  It kind of representing what goes on here in a city when things are going good.
We’ve been all fortunate to be a part of the last couple years here and how much fun it’s been around the city.  But these guys really are the face of the franchise.  I think growing up personally, you know, those guys, Bobby was always my idol, I grew up being a Blackhawks fan, seeing these guys around the rink, I’m sure it means a lot to the young guys as well.

Q.  One more win and you guys are in the finals.  Do you want your guys thinking about that?  Can that make them more urgent tomorrow or something you rather them not thinking about?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Well, our focus is in the right place.  I think going into Game 1, 2, and 3, we all had the excitement of knowing we were going to win that game.  I don’t think we’re looking beyond anything but tomorrow’s game.  Our guys should be commended how diligent they’ve been in their approach.  I think our concentration is strictly tomorrow and we’re not thinking about anything but tomorrow’s game.

Q.  Jonathan Toews said during the regular season there’s enough talent on this team to go out, make mistakes, still win.  It took a little bit in the playoffs to realize their roles, embrace their roles.  When did you see this team identifying what it took to win in the playoffs?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Well, I think throughout the season, we got a nice team in a lot of ways.  We can win different ways, different styles.  We had some different stretches, tough stretches.  After the Olympic break, going through that period, we were having a tough time winning, no consistency in our game.  Maybe all of a sudden some doubt crept in our mind of, you know, how good can we be.
I think that kind of got on track at the end of the year.  I think, you know, we faced a lot of adversity in the Nashville series.  It was very competitive in the Vancouver series.  I think as a team, I think over the course, you learn some things about our team.  But I find that when we play better, thinking we have to check to be effective, not just going out there thinking we can outscore the opposition, because when we do that, we become leaky in a lot of ways.
I think we certainly do like our forwards, the combinations we have.  We like the activity that our D presents offensively.  Then we’re solid in net.
But I just think, you know, as a group, I think we’re looking at just basically keeping it simple and thinking that we don’t have to be pretty how we go about things.

Q.  Could you talk about what Niklas Hjalmarsson brings to this team?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Hammer, as we call him, is very dependable, predictable young defenseman.  I’ve been around some young players in the league.  He’s one of those guys, his steadiness is very noticeable, the consistency is something that you appreciate in a defenseman.  He fills a lot of things that you like in a defenseman.  Game in, game out, his positioning is excellent, something that you don’t see in a young defenseman.  So he’s been very effective in a lot of ways for us and useful, not just penalty killing, but you’re comfortable with him against anybody out there.

Q.  Last night’s game, Hossa has Nabokov down and out, look like he’s going to take, Rob Blake slides in and takes over.  Did you think from your perspective on the bench that he was finally going to get one?  Is it a luxury to be able to be winning as consistently as you have been without getting goals from Marian?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Yeah, Blakey made a nice toe save on him (smiling).  And then he hit the post in the game prior to that.  I think when you’re that close, you’re that close, eventually you’re going to get one.
Hopefully it’s a breakout.  Certainly I think his overall game is solid as you could ever want in a forward, in a player.  But right now he’s a little snakebitten around the net.  I thought that was in, too (smiling).

Q.  You were a Blackhawks fan growing up in Windsor?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Yup.  I was one of the oddballs in the city.  Everybody was either a Canadiens fan or a Red Wing fan or Leaf fan.  I was probably the only Blackhawks fan.  I guess I had to be representative of the street hockey, Chicago got some representation.

Q.  I wanted to ask about Buff a little bit.  People keep saying the difference between his regular season and the playoffs, can he be a 30-goal-scorer in this league?  What does he have to do to get there?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  I think consistency is probably the best way for him to get to that level where his production is going to be in place game in, game out, be an impact player, physically engaged, be an annoyance at the net.  I think that’s the next challenge.
He certainly does that in the playoffs.  Has the last couple playoffs.  I think he puts the whole package together.  It’s quite an asset to have.  And the versatility of him being an option to be put on the back end of something in today’s game is quite useful.

Q.  They’re going to draw for any motivation they can on what the Flyers did.  Do you then flip it around and say, Look what happened to Boston, and maybe that will keep the sharper edge?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  We’re going to look at the same motivation as Philadelphia, what they did.  That’s something we talked about.  That’s all part of our concentration, knowing our focus is winning tomorrow’s game.

Q.  I don’t mean this as a frivolous question.  When Mikita and Hull started coming around, did you have to explain to any young guys who they were?  What have they said to the group that had an effect?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Well, they’re around.  They come in the locker room.  They come around at the convention.  They’re around before at training camps.  They’re here almost all the games.  So I think there’s a lot of interaction between the players and these guys.
I don’t think they need an introduction.  I think they’re very well aware of these guys.  I’m sure there’s a little bit of history in the background.  But the players could answer that better.

Q.  Joel, watching Brian Campbell since his return from the injury, last year it looked like there was more risk taking.  This year it seems like he wants to get himself into the game with his skating, yet not taking risks.  Do you see that?  Has that been part of his evolution in Chicago?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  I’ve had Soupy last year in the playoffs, he was very important for us in a couple of rounds there.  He was a big factor.  This year, you know, we certainly went through that stretch where we talked about we were stumbling our foot, had trouble winning games.  I think when he returned in the middle of that Nashville series when we weren’t in a good spot, he immediately helped our team game.  I think his quickness on the back end, his puck-moving ability.
I like the way he’s been playing defense in his own zone like you’ve been talking about.  I think he’s improved that part of his game.  But I just think he adds another element with that offensive ability and his quickness.  But I think predictability on the back end defensively along with Hammer, that gives us a real solid pair.  I think you’re comfortable with him out there against anybody as well.  It’s a situation where, you know, you can say he’s improved in that area.  I think there’s an awareness with him both ways, there’s some offense there, but defense as well.