Transcripts Courtesy of the NHL Communications Department

Comments from Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville, Blackhawks players Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp

Comments from Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville

Q. Joel, how much harder will it be to get Bolly’s line out against their top line and how much of an effort will you make to do it?

COACH QUENNEVILLE: We’ll see. I know it’s been a challenge when we’ve been on the road. It’s not easy at home as well. I think whether we’re trying to get him out there against the Sedin’s or Thornton’s line, sometimes you have to work for it. You don’t always get it. Hopefully you can get the D you want. It is something you have to give and take. The score sometimes dictates how much.

Q. Regarding Marian Hossa, he had kind of a good let’s say Stanley Cup Final with Pittsburgh; not so good with Detroit. Now he’s back again for the third time. How has he kind of played in the Cup Final, and do you get the sense of how much this guy really wants it after his journeys the last few years?

COACH QUENNEVILLE: He’s a special player. Not too many players are going to find a way to play 12 rounds in three years and still not taste the Cup. It’s a pretty amazing type of contribution he can make to three different teams in the way he’s really helped our club. He’s elevated our pace, our tempo, our skill level.

For sure as a coach you have a lot more options with him on the ice. We really like the way he has progressed in the Playoffs as well. I’m sure he’s excited about the third chance here this year. We really like his contribution in the first two games. I think that line has been very effective in a lot of ways.

I think defensively he really provides a lot of puck possession and defensive responsibility. Offensively if he’s got the puck, he can make plays. That line has been a big factor, and he’s a big part of it.

Q. Joel, Andrew Ladd was on the ice this morning. First practice since he got hurt. Is he —

COACH QUENNEVILLE: He’s not playing tonight. He’s status quo.

Q. Coach, having played two games against the Flyers in the Series, is there a Western Conference team that you can kind of compare them to to a degree?

COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, they certainly — not necessarily to a direct type of team. They play a fast game. They’ve got a lot of speed. They’ve got a lot of skill. They’re dangerous. All their lines on the ice can make plays. They can attack well.

So I think we’ve played some skill teams and some fast teams. San Jose and Vancouver are top-scoring teams. Philly kind of represents that type of skill level. A threat offensively. And their D are very active in the attack as well. They’re kind of comparable in that regard.

I think there’s a lot of respect on our side how dangerous they can be. Let’s make sure our checking mentality applies again. But there’s a lot of ability there. We want to make sure we recognize that.

Q. Joel, you have had Pronger and then you coached against him. Does he get away with a little bit more because of who he is and his stature in the game?

COACH QUENNEVILLE: You have to commend Prongs for finding ways to get around it or push the envelope, whichever — as far as, I guess, you can push it. But he’s a smart player that is effective in a lot of ways. He finds the way to take advantage of whatever situation it is that can give him an edge.
So I think we want to make sure we keep it tight on him and hard on him and try to keep him where he’s playing defense, as opposed to attacking. But he’s pretty smart as far as how he works it.

Q. Coach, do you see any advantage at all of having guys like Sharp and Eager who have played here, won a Calder Cup here. They’re familiar with the city and the crowds. They’re kind of down-playing it, but do you see it –

COACH QUENNEVILLE: It’s tough to measure something like that. At the same time, I think the approach we have had throughout these Playoffs on the road is we’re looking to play a hard game. We know the building here is alive. Trying to get through the opening minutes sometimes can set up the whole type of situation that’s going to be played out later in the game.

So let’s respond to what’s going to start in this game or what’s going to happen early. And no matter if we had some experience here or not, we know it’s going to be hostile, and let’s be ready for it.

Q. Coach, Patrick Kane said this is the game where you guys can really seize the momentum, take advantage, take control of the Series. You said the entire Series you commended their approach. Are they any more intense going into tonight’s Game 3, knowing that going up 3-0 would be huge?

COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think we haven’t gotten ahead of ourselves. I think our approach today has been great. I really enjoyed the morning skate. Very business-like. More matter-of-fact than we’ve seen at any point in the Playoffs.

We’re approaching this as a must-win for us. I think the focus is in the right areas. We feel we can play better than we have shown here in the series. And we’re looking to improve off of those levels.

Q. Joel, it’s putting it mildly things have gone well for you since you took the Chicago job. Was there any twinge of doubt that you would get another head-coaching job after Colorado?

COACH QUENNEVILLE: That’s tough to comment on that. At that time I was very comfortable with the way things played out. I think the situation over that summer was — might have been some opportunities. I was very comfortable taking some time off and seeing how things went. I was looking forward to staying in Colorado and watching hockey for part of that year, whether it was a whole year or not.
But I think I was very fortunate to be in the situation, the opportunity that arose here in Chicago. I’ve been very fortunate since that day.

Q. Joel, for about the thousandth time, for some of us who are slow, can you go over the point in time where you decided we’re going with Niemi. He’s our guy, and this is why?

COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think all year long I think that Huet had the ball and Antti was basically getting any opportunity he got to go in the net. He just did whatever he could to stop pucks; and the first game in Finland pitched a shutout, was very comfortable getting practice every single day, quietly went about his business. Never complained. Very supportive of Huet. He was very consistent in his game.

I think as we got closer to the end, we had to make a choice. We knew one guy was going to get the ball going into the Playoffs. He had a chance right at the end of the year too take it, and he took advantage of it. He hasn’t looked back. He’s just the same demeanor that he’s had since all year long that hasn’t changed in the Playoffs, his approach.

I think that whether it’s a young goalie or not, a lot of young goalies in the Playoffs have gotten deeper than they have in past years.

But nothing phases Antti and his approach. I would say at the end when he got the ball to play consecutive games at the end of the year, we had a little bit of a hiccup there as a team. He stabilized that — whether it was a decision or a thought process and took advantage of it.

Comments from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp

Q. Jonathan, as a line, how much better were your chances do you think last game maybe than in Game 1?

JONATHAN TOEWS: Quite a bit better. I mean, the biggest thing for us is that we were much, much better defensively, and we worked harder on our own side of the puck. That’s where we wanted to start from the ground up. And we know the offense is going to come.

Obviously, in the last couple of games it worked out for our team where we didn’t need to score for to us win. But we know we want to come up big on one of these nights here.

Q. For both Patrick and Jonathan, what you guys first thought when Marian Hossa was brought over to your team and what you think of the unique circumstances that is he’s sort of been under in the last couple of Cup Finals going from team to team, but not quite being able to win.

PATRICK SHARP: I think it’s been a great addition to the team. If you ask all 30 teams in the league if they want Hoss there, I think everyone would take him gladly. We’re lucky to have him on our team. He brings so much to the club besides his goal scoring. Everyone knows him because he scores 40 goals a year.

But I think he’s one of the best two-way wingers in the league, and I can tell that you because I play with him, so I know firsthand. He’s a great locker room guy. The fact he’s been to three Cup Finals I think is a great thing. He’s been a big part of all three of those teams, and we want to make sure we keep winning for him.

Q. Jonathan, is it easy to not get frustrated just because you guys have won these last two games?

JONATHAN TOEWS: Yeah, I mean, at the same time you look at the bigger picture. You look at how we’ve done in previous series. It’s always about who you are matched up against and who you’re competing against every other shift.

And you don’t want to let them get the best of you. You want to win the small battles. I think as a team we’ve won most of those little battles which end up helping us win those games.

But as a line we’re going to keep getting better. We know we’re going to break through and get our chances. The easy thing is to get frustrated. We’re not going to do that either.

Q. Just wondering, do you guys allow yourselves to think two wins from the Cup, or we’re two wins from the Cup?

PATRICK SHARP: I think we’re pretty focused on Game 3. Everyone knows what’s on the line in this series. We’re definitely not getting too far ahead of ourselves. We know the challenges to play in this building and how good they’re fans are going to be to help them on their side. It’s going to be tough for us here. We’re not looking past tonight’s game. That’s for sure.

Q. Patrick, as a guy who has played here, is there anything particularly distinctive about the crowds here, and when you played here, was it helpful to you and as a guy who comes in here as a visitor, is it particularly ruder or louder or more abusive or whatever than any other place that you go to play?

PATRICK SHARP: We haven’t been here too many times since they went — since I went to Chicago. I’m not sure how they’re going to treat us. In the Playoff atmosphere I know I was on the Flyers side before. It’s a great atmosphere. Every building has great fans when the puck goes in the net or something happens out on the ice. These Philly fans, they watch every play. They can get on top of the opposing teams players as well.
I think it’s going to be a fun atmosphere. We’re all looking forward to it, and we want to play our best.

Q. Jonathan, for both of you, you were home for a long time here in Chicago for quite a while. Does it feel good to be away a little bit?

JONATHAN TOEWS: Absolutely. Before we came home for Games 3 and 4 against San Jose, we were on the road for what felt like a long time at that point too. Things were going pretty good for us at that point. I think we can bring that confidence back we had on the road in the previous series and really try and get after it tonight and use that.

When you’re on the road, you spend more time as a team. We’re together. For us that’s where we want to be. That’s where we’re in our comfort zone.

Q. Pat said maybe it was a case of trying too hard in front of the home crowd for your line. Do you buy into that? When you see his game, do you see that in him as well?

JONATHAN TOEWS: Yeah, sometimes in those types of games you’re trying to create something when there’s no plays there. That’s the last thing you want to be doing. We’re just going to keep things simple the way we did last game.

We had a couple of scoring chances where if you score a goal or two, well then everything is simple and you don’t ask as many questions after a game like that. We’ll keep working hard and we’re going to get that success and contribute to our team the way we want to, the way we have been. And things will be better after that.

Q. For both of you guys. You guys are a win away from setting a record for consecutive road wins in the Playoffs. What is it about that’s allowed to you have that kind of success on the road?

PATRICK SHARP: I think we get along so well off the ice as a team. We enjoy each other’s company. We like being out on the road together. It’s nice to have a road-winning streak, but it doesn’t mean much at end of the day. We have to hopefully win two more on the road.

Q. Can you talk about playing with Mike Richards on the Canadien team? Did you know him well? Did you learn a lot from him? Did you guys develop a bit of a friendship? Was it hard to imagine then playing against him now in the fines?

JONATHAN TOEWS: Yeah, I mean, obviously I knew people, knew him better than I did going into the Olympics. Obviously, playing on his line, you get to know him on and off the ice pretty well. A lot of just being around him, kind of confirmed what I already knew about him as a person and as a player. Obviously he’s a character guy, the type of guy you want on your team.
It was a lot of fun to play with some of the best players in the league. Especially a guy like Mike Richards. There’s nothing like going up against a guy like that too. Because it really tests what you got and what you can bring to the table.