Transcripts Courtesy of the NHL Communications Department

Post game comments from Head Coach Joel Quenneville, Jonathan Towes, and Patrick Sharp

Audio of Head Coach Joel Quenneville’s Comments

Q.  Three acts down, ready for four?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  I think today was one of those games where everything was kind of going against us.  We give up a shorthanded goal, get hit in the face with the puck.  I think we were in a little bit of a disarray for a minute.  Seabrook makes a real nice play on the first goal with good patience, good vision and awareness.  And Bolland scores a big one at the end of the second period.  And all of a sudden it’s anyone’s game.
It’s one of those games you have to be happy and proud of the way the guys came back and got ourselves in the game, win the series.  I think the series was a lot closer than the way the score looks.  But at the same time, I like the perseverance and where we’re at today.

Q.  Talk about Duncan Keith.
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Yeah, I thought he had a great third period.  He’s a battler, he’s a warrior.  Obviously we certainly missed him through that stretch.  But his quickness, his puck pursuit, the way he defends just complements our whole team game.  That pair again did a nice job again.

Q.  Can you pinpoint the exact moment when Dustin became the best power forward in the NHL?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  I think he certainly had a remarkable playoffs, particularly last two rounds.  I think when he got back to forward there, I think he would rather play defense, but right now today, he’ll discount that and say no way.
But I think he creates so much space when he does get in the net.  He’s a hard body to move.  Has a decent set of hands.  Physically, he can be overpowering sometimes.
I think he’s had a real good round here and a real good playoffs for us.

Q.  Seems to be easier for the Blackhawks the deeper you’re going.  What is the level of confidence with the players in the locker room before the game?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Well, the guys have been great.  I think, you know, they go in a game very focused.  I think the leadership and experienced guys are really helping the focus, keeping ourselves in the right fashion, the right type of attitude.
I think as a team, I think we find we’re more effective by keeping it simple and taking it easy, keeping it easy on ourselves as opposed to trying to force and create.  I think that’s something the guys reinforce amongst themselves.
I think the approach of being ready to play a simple game, the guys have been really diligent about it.

Q.  You played this team eight times.  They had one more point than you in the regular season.  You beat them seven times.  How can you explain something like this?  Do you just match up well with them?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Like I said, I think you look back, particularly I’ll talk about this series, the four games, three of them were, I felt, anybody’s ballgame from start to finish.  I thought Game 2, we had maybe our best game of the series.  We had the lead throughout.
Every series was very unpredictable.  The scores throughout were tight.  The timeliness of our goals in the last couple of games, that makes it look a little bit like a larger margin than really what happened.
I just think every game is different.  But I like the way our guys stuck with the game plan and what we had to do.

Q.  You mentioned over the past few days everybody knows about Philly coming back from 3-0, talked about having a different mentality.  Were you able to go through with that?  Was that a key to this game?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  We saw that.  Talked about it.  When you look at the game, all of a sudden you’re starting the game, the start wasn’t great, had a couple things where you got some adversity, give up a shorthanded goal, you lose a lot of momentum, you’re down 2-0, you lose a key defenseman for an extended period, you got to find a way to get back into it.
I thought the guys were resilient today.  Crowd got ourselves in the game as well.  At the end, I think everybody liked the way we played in the third period, particularly probably the last half of the game.

Q.  Can you talk about the job of David Bolland.  I believe he held Thornton to one assist in this series.
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Yeah, I thought Bolland had a great series.  I think one thing with him, whether he’s underrated or underappreciated, I think we have a real good sense of his value to our team.  You trust him, the top matchups, looking at the two top forwards maybe you could argue about in the game with the Sedins, Joe Thornton.  I think he welcomes the opportunity play against those guys.
I think defensively, you know he’s always surrounding the puck, around the play.  Offensively, I think that’s where he can chip in and be the difference.  When you make plays against top players, sometimes you get some nice chances along the way.  I think that line throughout the playoffs, but in this series was not just Bolland, I think Ladder and Versteeg really helped him out.

Q.  Kind of a quiet, reserved celebration in that room.  Does that show the focus on what they really want here?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  I think that’s what it’s all about.  I think getting to this stage was a great accomplishment, not easy to do.  We should be proud of where we’re at.  I just think it creates a greater appetite for what it’s all about.
The experienced guys certainly bring that type of attitude around the room.  But I think our focus and concentration by watching our preparation going into these games, is something that is improving as we’re going along here.  I think it’s help setting us up where we’re at.

Q.  I assume you’ve been paying attention to the Eastern finals, watching tomorrow night.  Should the Flyers advance, do they look like a seventh seed to you?  Are they playing much better than that seed?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  No, I think it’s a remarkable story.  They’re on life support the last game of the year, in the Boston series as well.  They found a way to get themselves where they were playing as well as they played at any stretch this year.  They got healthy.
At the same time, we’ll watch the game tomorrow night, like you said, see what happens.  You know, they got a lot of ammunition there.  But we’ll see what happens.

Q.  You may not be able to say much, but Andrew Ladd, extent of injury?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  He should be fine.

Q.  Conditioning-wise, hypothetically, if Philadelphia and Montréal go seven, is there any special plan that your strength and conditioning coach has for the time that’s upcoming here?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  I think they’re looking at a couple potential options as far as how the schedule looks.  But we’ll give the guys one day off tomorrow.  We’ll see what happens after tomorrow’s game.  We’ll come in Tuesday and we’ll see how we’re going to go off of that.
But, you know, we’ve had kind of a scheduling that’s gone on here where we’ve been on and off the ice every other day.  The guys have been in that routine and they seem to enjoy it.

Q.  Coach, talk a little bit about Niemi.  Seems like he’s getting better every game.  Most of us are surprised.  Are you surprised at the performance?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Well, you got to commend him, how well he’s handled the situation.  I think the one thing that makes him keep moving on, he’s a very relaxed guy, very comfortable, confident as he approaches the games or during games just moves ahead to the next shot.  I think that attitude helps facilitate maybe the attention or I guess the focus of what the goaltenders bring at this time of year.  He just goes about it like, Hey, I’m just trying to stop the next puck and do my job.

Q.  Marian said he’s a little frustrated the goals aren’t coming for him.  Can you talk about what he’s bringing to the team?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  He’s had some great chances in the last three games.  But he’s a threat.  His speed certainly backs people off.  You know, I just think defensively, you know, you can’t ask for him to do anything more.  His backside pressure, his stick, his strength in the puck area.  But I think there’s a lot of time where they got to be aware of him on the ice because he creates a lot.  He’s dangerous, creates a threat, and defensively gets the job done.

Q.  I know this isn’t a great time to look back.  Since you’ve taken this team over more than a year ago, can you imagine where you guys are right now?
COACH QUENNEVILLE:  Well, we should all be fortunate about the opportunity we have here, being in Chicago with the Blackhawks organization.  The team, the foundation, is in a great spot.  You know, some core young players that are going to have special careers.
But I think over the last two years I think trying to get better as a team has been the objective, and as individuals we think there’s room to grow as well.
I think our same course of development this year was basically on the same path as last year’s was, and I think we gained some experience of knowing what it took to get to this round, using that to our advantage throughout this series particularly.

Post game comments from Patrick Sharp

Audio of Patrick Sharp’s and Jonathan Toews’s comments

Q.  Patrick, can you pinpoint the exact moment when Dustin Byfuglien became the best power forward in the NHL?
PATRICK SHARP:  No (laughter).  I think it started in the Vancouver series.  All those fans were getting on his case.  He wasn’t popular in that building.
Seems like he likes the spotlight.  He likes being the hero.  He steps up in big-time.
He told me before the third period he was going to be the guy to go get it.  True to his word, he got it.

Q.  You knew San Jose wouldn’t give up.  I know you respect that team.  2-0, you guys weren’t playing well or just stayed patient and get your breaks?
PATRICK SHARP:  Yeah, more the latter, I think.  We got a lot of respect for what those guys can do over there.  4-0 doesn’t tell the whole story, that’s for sure.  Every game was a battle.  Every game was right down to the end.  When they scored the second one there, that was a tough break.
Duncan took one in the face.  I think he lost six or seven teeth.  We already lost another forward.  Things weren’t looking good.  We needed a spark, get the crowd into it.  They were unbelievable out there.  The energy was awesome.  It seems like when Seabrook buried the first one, the crowd was kind of great and we fed off the energy.

Q.  Kane talked about this being the best team he’s been a part of, camaraderie.
PATRICK SHARP:  I’d have to agree with him.  Feels likes we’ve been together a long time.  A handful of guys that have been here since the dark days.  A group of kids that drafted together, played in Norfolk and Rockford together.  It’s fun to be a part of this team on and off the ice.  Guys get along so well.  I think that really carries over into our play.
Feels like a celebration right now.  Everyone is pretty excited, but at the same time we’re focused on the next series already.  We know we got some more work to do.

Q.  You played with an element of desperation you don’t see out of a team up 3-0.  Why was it important to see this closing it out today?
PATRICK SHARP:  You look around the league, you see teams battling back in every series.  Like I said earlier, that series was a lot closer than the 4-0 score at the end.  We don’t want to give them any life, go back to their building and play a Game 5.  We’re approaching each game as a must win.
We’re playing better and better as the series goes on.  I’d like to think we have more in the tank and get better for the next round.

Q.  When you see a guy like Duncan come back after losing seven teeth, does that give you more determination?
PATRICK SHARP:  Yeah, I told him it’s kind of a blessing in disguise because now he’s going to get some nice fake teeth.  He’s going to have a great smile in a couple weeks (laughter).  That’s playoff hockey all over it.  A guy takes one in the face, picking out his teeth in the locker room, comes back.  He assisted on the Bolland goal there, created the whole goal there by taking a big hit.  He’s walking around, skating around the ice, talking to us before the power play, mumbling what we were supposed to do.  I don’t think anybody understood what he was talking about.
But he’s one of our leaders.  He’s wearing the letter.  He’s had a great season up to this point.  He’s only getting better.

Q.  Coach Quenneville’s demeanor throughout the last three series, can you count on the leadership from the coach’s side.
PATRICK SHARP:  Yeah, I think he’s done a heck of a job since he came to Chicago, kind of took over the team last year midway through the season.  Didn’t get to training camp.  Didn’t get to start out with us.  Seems like — we talk about a lot of leadership in the dressing room, what the players can bring, but he’s our leader.  He’s confident behind the bench.  He’s a smart hockey guy.  He knows how to figure out matchups and instill confidence in his players.
He’s done a great job with our team.  Hopefully we can win one more series for him.

Comments from Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews

Q.  You didn’t touch the trophy.  Did you even look at it?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Yeah, caught my eye there.  Kind of shiny. Yeah, didn’t need to touch it, pick it up.

Q.  People talk all the time that you have to lose in order to learn how to win.  What was the number one thing you took from last year’s Western Conference finals that helped you this year in?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Well, the number one thing is any team in that position thinks that they can win.  When you get to the Conference Finals, you still feel like you’re really close to winning it all, you know.  It was really disappointing to lose like we did against Detroit.  I think that was enough.
Yeah, it was a long year.  It was a long time getting back to that point.  But that feeling was definitely pretty fresh in our minds.  You saw it in this series, we were ready to go.  We brought it every single night.  We gave ourselves a chance to win every single game.

Q.  Three years ago when you stepped on the ice as a rookie in this league, if someone would have told you you would be in the Cup Final three years later, what would have been your reaction?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  I would have felt pretty nervous that I had a lot to live up to.
At this point it doesn’t come as any surprise to myself or anybody else in our locker room.  We know what we can do as a team.  Last year, we felt we were very close, like I said, but just didn’t have enough in us.  We were young.  Obviously that inexperience did catch up to us a little bit.
To us, there’s no surprise that we’re back here.  You know, we’re excited about winning this series, whether it was in four games or seven games.  It’s a good feeling to go on to the next round and keep playing hockey.  Doesn’t really matter how you do it.  You want to find a way.  That’s what we did.
Tonight being down 2-0, still found a way to win.  We knew it wasn’t over.  Just kept working.  It says a lot about our team right there.  Win or lose, there’s always things we can take away from each game and we’re going to keep getting better.

Q.  Talk about Buff.  I’m assuming you and Patrick don’t mind giving up a goal a game to Buff.
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Yeah, as a line, you know, doesn’t matter who is scoring goals, especially the big goals.  We’re working hard.  And tonight we had the puck a lot in the first two periods and didn’t get anything to show for it.  You know, Buff is always in front of the net.  You know where to find him.
You know, it was a good pass by Kane.  A couple times couldn’t pull the trigger.  Kane threw it at the net.  Sure enough, there he is to bang home the game winner again.  He knows how to get open, how to create space for the two of us.  He’s been great.
You know, it’s not like he’s getting lucky or he’s on a string of great games.  He’s working hard.  You know, if one of us on our line has an off night, things aren’t going to work for us, we’re all working hard for our scoring chances right now.

Q.  Can you revisit the Campbell Trophy thing?  Did you think in advance you weren’t going to touch it?  Do you respect the superstitions?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Well, I mean, Sharp was the one who brought it to my attention before the game.  I actually hadn’t thought about it at all.  He asked me if I had any plans for after the game.  I told someone before that I thought he was talking about dinner plans or something like that (laughter).  I hadn’t thought about it at all.
You know, I think in my mind, if it ever got to this point, I think I knew that as a captain, to me it’s not a superstitious thing.  Some teams are all onboard with grabbing the trophy and saying, you know, the heck with it.  But to me it’s not being superstitious.  It’s just saying that we’re here for bigger and better things.  We’re just happy about winning this round and moving on.  That’s what it’s all about.
We’re happy about that, and we got nothing to celebrate, no reason to accept any hardware yet because it’s meaningless to us.

Q.  Three rounds, three wins.  Now you’re in the final.  How much better can this team still be and how much better will it have to be to finish the job?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  Sky’s the limit.  We know we can still be better.  We’re going to keep pushing ourselves.  That’s how you kind of take the pressure off each other, is you keep working on little things.  You know, we’re going to have fun doing it.  This is a great opportunity, a great chance.  You know, nothing’s holding us back.  We’re going to go right after it, enjoy doing it as a team.  Doing it for each other.  Firing on all cylinders.  No reason we can’t go out there and get another four wins.

Q.  Nashville, tough series.  Vancouver, probably not as tough.  San Jose in four.  Do you feel, as a team, do you sort of put that impression on the rest of the players that it’s getting easier because you’re getting better and better and better?
JONATHAN TOEWS:  I don’t think it’s getting easier at all.  Maybe it looks like that.  Of course, your first impression for any outsider is, yeah, you win four games in a row, it must have been just a cruise.  But it absolutely wasn’t.  You know, there was no blow-outs.  No 4-1, 5-1 games.  Every game was close.  We worked for every inch.
You know, I think the biggest difference between this series and the series against, say, Vancouver was that we didn’t have any off nights.  Maybe we had a couple iffy starts, some nights where we took more penalties than we wanted to, got ourselves in tight.  But we stuck with it and we found ways.  We worked hard.
It’s a 60-minute game.  You saw that tonight, that even though we’re trailing through 30 minutes, it’s far from over.  So we stuck with it, found a way to win.  I think the four games in a row doesn’t show how tough the series really was.