Transcripts Courtesy of the NHL Communications Department
Off Day comments from Flyers Head Coach Peter Laviolette, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Ville Leino, and Chris Pronger
Comments from Head Coach Peter Laviolette
Q. I detect a smile for a change. What has to be different tomorrow night if you’re going to keep playing?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: We weren’t very good the other night. Players will probably be the first to tell you that. Our game, we were a step behind. We didn’t generate enough offensively. We weren’t physical enough. We weren’t quick enough. We didn’t defend well enough. Specialty teams weren’t good enough.
So there’s a lot of things we can do better that we had been doing better. Out of the playoff run, there’s been probably two games you look back out over 22 where you’re not real happy with the way we played. One of them was Game 3 in Montreal and the last game here.
Q. Pete, have you told your goaltender who is going to start?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: No. I haven’t.
Q. When will you do that?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Do you know who is starting in the net for Chicago? Did they announce that yet?
Q. We assume Antti Niemi.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Oh. But nobody has asked?
Q. They haven’t been here yet.
Q. They get here 4:30.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Our goaltender has the best numbers in the playoffs. I didn’t think I had to announce it.
Q. So that means Michael is starting in the net?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I don’t comment on lineups or goaltenders.
Q. Are you confident in Michael for Game 6?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I’m very confident in Michael. He’s played excellent in the playoffs. His home numbers are terrific. Yeah, I’m very confident in Michael.
Q. Peter, why do you think that Michael’s numbers have been so much better at home, especially here in the Stanley Cup Finals?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think we’ve played better at home. We’ve played good in some road games. A lot of road games, but there’s some road games where we haven’t played — we didn’t play very well — I shouldn’t say that. We didn’t give up a lot of chances in Game 1 to Chicago. That was our first road game versus the Hawks.
But the chances that we did give up they were some really bad ones, he had no chance or point blank or breakaways. Odd-man rushes. It seems that we’ve let our goaltending down at times on the road in a few instances. We seemed to have played a better game at home in front of our goaltender. Like I said, when our game has gone bad, usually we have a bad outing and everybody takes part in that. So our home game, our record is excellent. I don’t think we should have lost a game at home yet in the playoffs.
Q. I don’t expect you’ll tip your hand on any potential line changes. But can you talk as a coach in this situation when your opponent makes the kind of adjustments and the amount of adjustments that they made, the thought process, the pros and cons versus shaking up a lineup that has worked for you versus feeling a need to maybe try and adjust?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I can’t control what Chicago does. I can only control what we do in our room and what we feel comfortable with, in the past and then moving forward in the future and what we need to do. So we’re comfortable with our lineup. I can’t really comment on theirs.
Q. Peter, when they’ve scored goals in this series, it seems like they’ve come in bunches. The biggest shift is the one after they get a goal. What do you guys need to do to change what happens on that next shift after they score so they don’t build momentum and get a couple of quick ones in a short time frame?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: They certainly did that at the end of the — like I said, I thought we had gotten by the worst part of Game 5. It was probably the first six or seven minutes that they just came out swarming. They had us pinned back. They threw a lot of attempts at our net.
And then it settled down in there for probably four or five minutes where it was going back and forth. The game had seemed to calm down a little bit from where it had started. They got some goals at the end of the period. I don’t think that’s happened a lot where they’ve come out and they’ve gone like that. Game 2 was a tight game. Game 1 went back and forth. We actually had the lead a few times.
So that was really the first instance, that first period, the last eight minutes or so where they scored those three goals. That’s not something we really talked about.
Q. Peter, you’ve preached playing with desperation throughout this postseason. But going into Game 6, after seeing the way that Chicago played there in Game 5, do you need to have, I guess, an edge, a chip to your team going into game Game 6?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: We’re going to have to play a good hockey game. I think the guys know that. We have played good hockey games. Like I said, there haven’t been a lot that we haven’t liked. Even some of the ones we’ve lost we’ve competed hard and competed well.
There’s other good teams in these playoffs as well. You’re not going to win every game. You don’t see teams go 16-0 in the playoffs. But there’s been a couple of games we haven’t liked.
I have confidence we’ll show up and we’ll play hard tomorrow and we’ll bring our best game to the table.
Q. Pete, if ever there was time where the fans might expect sort of that Knute Rockne speech, this is it. What’s your style? When do you address your team? Will you address your team? What did you do in Carolina before this kind of game? What do you do?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I got it actually, now. Do you want me to give it to you?
Q. If you wouldn’t mind.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I don’t think a lot like that. Usually whatever is in my gut or in my heart I usually say it. Sometimes it’s — sometimes they like to hear it. And sometimes they don’t. But I don’t think about those things like that.
Q. You mentioned the other day Game 6 in Edmonton with Carolina. Ville was in here talking about the feeling of having the Cup that close and not being able to close it out. Do you think there’s a correlation between how badly you want it on the night that you can clinch it and not being able to do it?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I’m not sure I understand the question. What do you mean is there a feeling?
Q. You know, you are that close to the Cup. You are that close to it –and then not to get it on the night –
COACH LAVIOLETTE: It was nauseating. I went back to the hotel room in Edmonton and I almost threw up. To be close, to have an opportunity — Game 5 wasn’t much better. We were winning, they tied it up late. We went on the power-play in overtime and they scored on a short-handed goal in our building with the Cup being polished out back. So that one wasn’t much better. So, I mean, you keep fighting. You keep fighting for it. One thing this team really has proven is that they’re capable of fighting. We’ll be ready to do that tomorrow.
Q. Back to those — to that Cup team. Are you essentially the same coach, same style, this new team? Or have you changed significantly your approach or the way you treat the players, the press, things like that, or is it same guy, new team?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I really don’t think about those things too much. Like I don’t sit here and wonder if I’m the same guy when I coached the Islanders as I am now. I really don’t know. I think you are who you are in life. You try to be other people or do different things. You probably get lost along the way.
Q. Coach, will you remind your guys, or do you even have to, just how far you’ve come in the situations, the elimination games you have been in and how many has it helped you guys faced elimination five times since the end of the regular season and it prevailed every time?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think our guys know that. They’ve lived it. Our guys are on the ice that have to live in those situations and have answered the bell every time. So I don’t think it needs to be pointed out any more by me. Because they’re actually the ones out there on the ice that have to perform in those situations.
Q. Coach, we see one side of Chris Pronger, that jovial always joking around. From your point of view, what do you see in him,and how does he help control the mood of these players as they kind of get ready for this next game?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think — I think there’s a side that you see that you’re talking about. There’s also a side of professionalism that you get to see as a coach that you probably don’t get to see unless you coach him and work with him. The fact that he’s always on time at the rink. He shows up, he does the right things, he says the right things. He practices as hard as he plays. He’s a professional. He really is.
Q. Peter, your sixth defensemen hasn’t played much in the Finals. Would you consider going with five defensemen in the next game, or is that too risky?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Do you want me to answer lineup questions?
Q. Just general questions.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Generally speaking, all year I’ve gone with — generally speaking, but not for tomorrow, just generally, I’ve gone with 6 and 12, I think, every time since I’ve been here, anyway.
Q. Is it too risky to go with five in the playoffs?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Generally speaking? I think that’s up to the coach and how he feels it would work to benefit his team.
Q. Coach, you’ve talked earlier in the series about Mike Richards and even though he’s not putting up the points, not putting up the numbers, he was still working hard. There were aspects of his game that you like. What do you see in him now? Do you expect him to step up tomorrow? Is that putting too much pressure on him to say you have to do it tomorrow?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think our players know exactly where they’re at as far as tomorrow goes. In speaking about our game or you talk about Mike Richards or our team, because I would rather keep it in general terms than Mike Richards. Game 5 was not a good game for our players. I think we have stated that. We need to be better in a lot of different areas. Before that, we’re coming off of two wins at home where I think our team played well. I think Mike Richards played well. It’s a big game. Mike Richards has proven to be, I think, in everybody’s eyes, a big-time player. I would expect a big game from Mike tomorrow.
Q. Can we? Mine is because they’re always asked this, particularly Jeff Carter, what is your perception of if there was a percentage, how much of Jeff Carter is here right now in terms of dealing with his injury?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: It’s a lot — there’s a lot of time that was missed by Jeff. You think about Simon coming back from his injury, Jeff had come back from the first one. He missed a month. He came back and played a few games for us, and then he was out again. So he might have been back for maybe a total of two weeks after missing a month.
And then he missed another month. Or in that area, anyway. Just three and a half weeks to four and a half weeks, the two injuries. So you’re talking close to two months of time off the ice. He still looks good out there to me. He still looks like he can contribute. There were a couple of games ago where he had 12 attempts at the net. Game 4 he had more attempts at the net. They looked like they were coming. And then Game 5 I’ve already mentioned that game.
I would expect that — he’s probably not at 100%. But I would expect a good game out of Jeff as well.
Q. Get back to what you might say or might not say before the game, Pittsburgh last year was in the exact same situation, got blown out in Game 5 and still won. If not specifically that, do you look for things like that to talk about? Or as you said, is this team responded so well, you don’t look for historical precedence?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I do look for those type of things. Historical precedence. I look at the situation. I think part of your coach is trying to motivate and get your team to believe in things, and there’s no question we talked about that situation. I mentioned the Carolina situation in the past. We’ve talked about what our team has been through. You talk about winning championships. You see them happen year after year.
But our championship that we’re pursuing is special. Maybe more so than others, if you look at how we had to get here and what we had to do to get our hands on that thing. I always think
you’re looking for something to motivate.
Comments from Mike Richards and Jeff Carter
Q. For Mike, Blackhawks came out Game 5, obviously they talked about having kind of an edge and a chip on their shoulder. Do you need to have that same sort of element to your game for Game 6 tomorrow?
MIKE RICHARDS: Yeah, probably. I think the edge that they got was almost us giving it to them and not playing our best hockey and allowing them to come at us and give them all the credit in the world.
They came out hard and played hard and carried that throughout the game. There were times in the game where we played well, but not on a consistent basis enough to have success at this time of year.
Q. If both of you can just take a quick swipe at this. Chicago comes out, they make a bunch of line changes, shuffles things around. I imagine the temptation is there for your coach to try and figure something out. Is it a matter of tactics and line changes and this and that, or as players, to you is it more about trying to execute what you want to do better?
MIKE RICHARDS: I don’t think we’re playing poorly. I think we are getting a lot of great looks at the net. We’re just not scoring goals. Confidence is such a big thing in hockey, where if you have it you’re almost unstoppable. If you don’t, it’s tough to get anything going.
But we’re getting great chances at the net. You have to think sooner than later they’re going to go in. Let’s hope tomorrow night is the night.
Q. The line change, potential changes or not –
JEFF CARTER: Like Mike said, we’ve played some good games this series with the lines we’ve got going. I think last game we basically just didn’t play our game. I don’t think it’s a matter of panicking and going out there and changing our lines up. We have to get back to playing Flyers hockey and playing the way we’ve played to get here at this point.
Q. Jeff, how much has your foot impacted your play in the Finals?
JEFF CARTER: It hasn’t, no.
Q. Jeff, you said you’re not playing your game. You guys have scored four goals in three straight games.
JEFF CARTER: We have. We can score goals. We can score eight goals a game if we played our game for 60 minutes. We have guys that can put the puck in the net. I think we came out last game and they came out fired and we kind of sat back and they pretty much skated all over us. They out-hit us, outworked us.
We got it going a little bit near the end of the game, but we have to come out and be skating on top of our toes and get another forecheck when we’re playing our game.
Q. Danny Briere talked about you won the two games here and you went back to Chicago, and maybe you felt the momentum was on your side a little bit, and that you took that for granted. Is this in a way still a learning process each step of the way in getting that game to even an extra level?
MIKE RICHARDS: It is a process. Not everyone has been in this situation before. We might have been a little bit overconfident or thought the momentum of our two games at home would have carried right into Chicago. Obviously we were awakened pretty early in that game thatit wasn’t.
At the end of the day, you have to look at it as them just winning their home games. We only have to win one there and protect home ice.
So tomorrow night is obviously a big game, but a place where we’ve played well all playoffs long here and feel confident in our game in this building.
Q. For both Mike and Jeff, tomorrow regardless of what happens, it’s your final home game of the season. Talk about A, the opportunity to send the fans out one last time, and on the flip side of that, you obviously don’t want to have to see a team celebrate and raise a Cup on your home ice. Which of those motivates you more?
JEFF CARTER: I think obviously they both do. You never want to see a team come into your building beat you and let alone win the Stanley Cup on your home ice. So a lot of motivation there. Obviously, the fans have been behind us since we began this five years ago, really. It would be nice to come out and get a big win for them in the last home game.
Q. Mike, Danny just said that the way they started the last game, he said we sat back and basically watched them come at us. We didn’t really react until later. Do you expect tomorrow the first period this team is going to send messages to everybody on the ice? Much more physical showing by the Flyers, the first period?
MIKE RICHARDS: Yeah, I expect us to get back to the way we’ve played throughout the series. Last game was obviously just a blip hopefully. We’re going to have to play physical and play hard and relentless and fast-pace if we’re going to have a chance to win tomorrow night.
Q. Mike, when the puck is not going in for you personally, how do you walk that line of saying okay, I need to score, I want to score, change your game, not change your game? How do you avoid pressing and getting away from the things that do you so well and got you — that were so successful for you during the season?
MIKE RICHARDS: It’s not the first time I’ve gone in a streak that I haven’t scored or — I don’t feel like I’m playing bad hockey, doing a lot of good things on the ice, I feel, and looking at the games and tape, getting a lot of opportunities, you’re putting yourself in a lot of great opportunities and getting a lot of good looks at the net. Whereas if you start pressing you might get away from that and might not get the opportunities.
I don’t feel I need to press for goals. I think they’re going to come naturally if I keep working hard and keep going to the net. You’re bearing down as much as you can without squeezing the stick. They’re eventually going to come, hopefully tomorrow night, like I said.
Q. In Vancouver you guys were under the gun and won the quarter final, then obviously the semi-final, the gold medal. Now 3-0 against Boston you ran the table. I don’t know if you get used to it, but do you get comfortable in these situations?
MIKE RICHARDS: Not a situation you want to get used to, but I don’t think it’s panic time. We’ve played well the whole series except for last game. I think it would be a time to be concerned if we weren’t playing good hockey. Like I said, we’re playing well. We’re hitting.
Obviously, except for last game I don’t think we played very well. Their goaltender has made some saves that’s one bounce away from kind of breaking the flood gates open, hopefully. You just keep going at it. You can’t change too much. You can’t get away from what you’re trying to do as a team. Just go out there and play hockey. Relax. Try to enjoy it. When you do that, I think you play little bit looser and you get better opportunities and when you do that, you get more pucks in the net.
Q. Ian Laperriere was saying some guys played 20 something minutes, some of them are soft minutes. He was talking about you, that all of your minutes are hard. Is it reasonable to think that you can play that way through your career? Or are you going to have to do some sort of veteran adjusting about when to go hard?
MIKE RICHARDS: I’m not sure. We’ll cross that bridge when it comes, I guess.
Comments from Scotts Hartnell and Simon Gagne
Q. Fair to say tomorrow has to be the most physical game you guys are going to play this season, you’re going to keep playing?
SCOTT HARTNELL: That’s been our motto from Game 1 to wear them down physically on the forecheck, defensive zone. Pinning bodies and stuff. Game 6 at home is going to be a lot of emotion in the crowd, in our dressing room. It’s going to be a big day on the body by everyone in the dressing room.
Q. If you can both touch on this, just watching Chris Pronger and the way he’s handled himself in the media through this process. He’s obviously been here before. He’s a veteran presence. How much does Chris’ demeanor and what seems to be calm impact the way the rest of you guys are handling this pressure situation?
SIMON GAGNE: You know, he’s been here before. He’s a veteran. He won Cups. Been there with Edmonton. So it’s not the first time for him. For guys like even myself, be there for the first time in the Stanley Cup Final. You learn a lot from a guy like that. We lost last game. Now it’s over. Now it’s time to focus on the next one. We all know tomorrow is going to be a big game. Having Prongs in the lineup for us, it’s a plus. He’s a leader. He’s a guy that’s going to play big minutes for us. He’s going to be physical. We all know that. No, doesn’t matter what happened last game. We know he’s going to bounce back from it.
Q. Scott, you are banged up a little bit in Game 5. How are you feeling and how much better do you feel today than you did on Sunday?
SCOTT HARTNELL: Good. I think as the series go on, you get kind of banged up a little bit. Some bruises here and there. Just had a little trouble with my skate there too. I was just trying to get that figured out. Guys are banged up. It’s been a long season. But this time of year, you fight through a lot of nicks and tweaks and all that kind of stuff to come out flying.
Q. If both of you guys can answer this, how much does it help that you guys have been in elimination games before so much down the stretch here from the end of the regular season to the Boston series. How much does it help you guys now going forward in Game 6 and possibly Game 7?
SIMON GAGNE: I think it’s helped a lot. It’s not the first time that we’re going to face elimination or even game 82 of the last game of the season. We had to win this one to be where we are today.
Now we’re a confident group here. We know that coming back for Game 6 at home in front of our fans, we’re a tough team to beat. We’ve been there before. It’s not like it’s the first time, and I think it’s a plus. I’m sure guys are going to be ready to play a big game. We know what to expect those type of situations. And we’re going to be ready for the biggest game of the season.
Q. Can I get Scott to answer that?
SCOTT HARTNELL: Yeah, Game 4 against Boston was pretty incredible. We won that one in overtime. Just gave us a lot of confidence to kind of keep going through that series. I think we got better and better as that series wore on. I think maybe last game, Game 5, we took a step back with our team play, our physical play, our skating ability and stuff, watching the clips this morning and what not, seeing it on the video is more real than just kind of talking about it.
Been in this position before. I don’t expect any less than us to come out flying, banging, shooting, scoring, everything we need to be on tomorrow.
Q. This question is for both players. Obviously, the Blackhawks and the Flyers both have a lot of offensive weapons. But in the Stanley Cup Final, even when it involves good offensive teams, it’s usually difficult to score a lot of goals. Yet both teams have piled up the goals. Can you explain why that’s happening?
SCOTT HARTNELL: Good things happen when you throw pucks at the net and you have some sharp shooters on both teams. Look at Sharp’s goals — the goals he’s gotten in this series off a couple of bars and in the net. It’s tough for any goalie to stop those shots.
When you are getting tap-in goals, when the goalie is kind of out of the play. All the kind of havoc in front that both teams are trying to do to make their team successful and score goals. It’s good things are going to happen.
We have to tighten up obviously defensively. We know they can score goals. We have to protect the net, block shots and sink in the slot, all that kind of stuff.
Q. Simon, Chicago benefited from breaking up their top line. It seemed to work out for them. I wonder if you thought it might benefit you guys with that as well?
SIMON GAGNE: I don’t think we’re going to see any change on their lines. It worked for them last game. I don’t know if they got some energy from it or whatever. Looked like their top guys got a lot of goals from them. For us, I think we like the lines that we have right now. It’s just like we have to find — especially my line with Cartsie and Richie, we need to, I think, create a little bit more offensively. Try to maybe get a lucky goal or something. I don’t know. We just have to keep working a little bit harder, I think, and we know that we could be the difference tomorrow in the game. So our line has to be very big for our team tomorrow. We’re going to try to do that.
Q. Right on top of that, we made so much of you finally getting to the promised land here after all your season. Happy, frustrated, how would you describe personally how you feel about your play right now?
SIMON GAGNE: You know what, we were talking, we’re in the Stanley Cup Final, Game 6. You have to feel good about yourself. But at the same time tomorrow is going to be the biggest game that personally I’m going to have to play. I’m going to be ready for that. It doesn’t matter what happened in that Stanley Cup Final, if our line didn’t produce like we wanted to. We have a chance to make that all behind us tomorrow if we have a big game. I’m sure our line is going to be ready. Me, Richie and Cartsie, going to be ready to play the biggest game of our life. And not only us, but I think the whole team is going to be ready to play the biggest game of the season.
Comments from Ville Leino
Q. Ville, can you talk about playing at home for the final time this season, and not only sending off the fans with something positive, but on the other hand, not having Chicago come in here, win and celebrate on your home ice?
VILLE LEINO: Well, obviously it’s a big game. We’re going to be ready and we have to be ready. Because the last game wasn’t good. And hopefully it was a little bit of a wake-up call. We just got to win tomorrow. That’s all. All we’re going to be thinking.
Q. Along the same lines, is your extra motivation knowing the Stanley Cup is in the building and you don’t want them to hoist it here?
VILLE LEINO: Well, it’s probably same thing to both teams. They probably just want to grab it, and we don’t want to give it away. I think it’s mentally the same for the both teams. It’s just something a little extra there.
Q. Ville, what are your impressions of Chris Pronger, his demeanor? He seems pretty loose with the media. Seems to be having fun even after losses. Does his moods, does that reflect on the team as well?
VILLE LEINO: Well, probably. Probably yes. I don’t think he cares about, or he cares, but I don’t think it matters. He had a rough game yesterday, and everybody else did.
So he’s loose and having fun. I think that’s the way he goes. He’s enjoying. So hopefully everyone else is too.
Q. What is Peter like in the locker room with you guys? Is he more of a big motivational speech kind of a guy before the games? Or is he just an X’s and O’s video type of guy? How would you describe his role in the way you guys have turned the season around?
VILLE LEINO: I think he’s good. He has great speeches. They’re not just speeches. He really motivates people. It’s not just talk. You can feel how he really feels — you can feel the truth in the talk and he’s really caring. Just — I think he’s speaking all the right things to the right person. To us it’s just perfect to our team. I think that’s what he’s best at.
Q. Ville, having been through this situation in Detroit very much the same kind of situation Chicago is in right now, do you have any insight into what that team is feeling with a chance to wrap it up here?
VILLE LEINO: Well, last year — it’s tough time. You just want it to be over with. You want to be winning and raising that Cup. It’s just something you try to block out, but it’s still there. It’s not very easy to shut it out and blank it out. It’s going to be there. Hopefully it’s going to be a little bit advantage to us.
Comments from Chris Pronger
Q. Beside yourself, what else has to be better tomorrow for you guys continue to play to Game 7?
CHRIS PRONGER: We’ll fix your hair first. And then… What do we get with that part?
Q. Do you like that?
CHRIS PRONGER: No. A lot of things. Bounces. We have to be more physical. We have to skate. I’m sure you’ve heard about 15 different things. We obviously have to play a lot better than we did in Game 5. Thanks for that, Tim.
Q. Just wondering if you’ve seen or been alerted to the Chicago Tribune, nice poster of you today in the paper?
CHRIS PRONGER: I don’t read what you guys write. Good or bad.
Q. Do you get motivated by the reaction you get in Chicago? Does that motivate you even more?
CHRIS PRONGER: I really couldn’t care, to be honest with you. I’m worried about playing the game.
Q. Chris, you’ve been in this situation a few times now, a Stanley Cup Final. Is your demeanor any different now than it was in the last two? You’ve always been fairly loose and you seem to have a good time with things. Do you feel that’s important to project that to your teammates to just keep things calm in the face of the pressure you are under?
CHRIS PRONGER: I think you’re on a bigger stage. Obviously a lot more of you fine folks. You’re excluded. And, you know, you have to try to keep things as light as possible in preparation for the game. Obviously, once you come to 4:30, 5 o’clock for an 8 o’clock game, you have to start mentally being prepared and focused and ready to roll.
But prior to that, I think it’s important to stay as relaxed as you can and use the time that’s been allotted to prepare and rest up for what’s going to be a tough game.
Q. Chris, you’ve played three out of five I think it is in the Finals. You’ve often said it’s maintenance, how you can last, how make all those minutes. Was there a moment or a season or a switch click there that you realized I’m going to have to do this, this and this? Or is it just kind of a gradual thing you’ve learned over time?
CHRIS PRONGER: Yeah, I think it’s more gradual. I think it’s — you try little things in the summer. How you train. Things that do you through the course of the season, training and practice and maintenance in the training room after games and practices and things like that. Warming up for practices and games. You try different things and see with a works best. And you try to just keep adding those little things to your repertoire and what you do to be ready to play or practice. And you use that as you continue to go along and use the experience that you have.
Q. Chris, you won a Cup, you lost a Cup. The Cup will be in the building tomorrow night. Is this more of a media thing, or do the players in the back of their mind know it’s in the trunk and obviously you want to keep it in the trunk tonight?
CHRIS PRONGER: Yeah, I think we know what we’re up against. They’re obviously trying to close this out, and we’re trying to get to a Game 7. I think everybody in the locker room understands what’s at stake and what we need to do. We obviously looked at a lot of the different video clips of our last game. Not very many were good. And we use that as a learning experience and what we can do right and things that we can tighten up.
Q. Based on your performance with us, you’re perfectly suited for the banquet circuit. Are you a big speech guy in the room before a big game like tomorrow night?
CHRIS PRONGER: Not really. I think Peter, as I said in past press conferences, Peter has done an excellent job of keeping the guys on point and focused and understanding that we got to worry about one game. Not look at what can be the prize, whether it’s a close-out game or you’re trying to move on to the next series, or a position like this where our backs are against the walls, we have to focus on Game 6 and not worry about what’s going to happen down the pipe.
We have to make sure that we’re worrying about our next shift and not what can happen if you get to a possible Game 7 or whatever.
Q. Chris, Peter just said that when they lost that Game 6 to you guys in Edmonton, that he was nauseated. He said he almost threw up he felt so bad. You’ve lost a Cup, two days later, I guess, and won a Cup. Can you take us through that range of motion emotions and how down you get and how high it is when you win?
CHRIS PRONGER: That was a tough summer on a lot of different fronts. You very well know. But it was tough to start that next season, knowing that you came what was essentially a 2-1 hockey game barring an empty-net goal with 25 seconds left or whatever, but it was tough.
It was tough to get motivated again to get back on the ice. We had just — I think we played to like June 21st or 22nd. It was a quick summer, and obviously all the rest of that stuff with the trade and what not.
But I think going to a new team, you kind of understand what their goals were right off the bat. Obviously I was brought in there for a reason. We had beaten them the year before in the Conference Finals. They felt they had a team that can go far.
That was single-minded belief, not only in Edmonton, but in Anaheim. I think we have that here where we believe we can win on any given night as long as we play up to our capabilities and play to the system that’s in front of us.
Q. Chris, you have alluded to the fact that you kind of grown up and changed over the course of your career. At what point would a Game 5 that you had there in Chicago would have eaten at you mentally to think about it whereas now you probably have more of a short-term memory and you can put it out of mind and focus on Game 6 right away.
CHRIS PRONGER: I’ve already started to focus on Game 6. I’m not really worried about it. Probably in years past I wouldn’t have worried too much about it either. There’s not much you can do about it. It’s in the past. I don’t know if you watched much of the highlights or the video, but I have. There’s really not a whole lot you can do when a puck bounces off your shin pad and goes in the net a couple of times. I’m not too worried about it. Could just have easily went the other way.
Q. Chris, Peter just said that indirectly he said Michael Leighton will be the goalie tomorrow. Can you talk about the team’s confidence level in Leighton after a rough first period?
CHRIS PRONGER: I don’t think we’re too worried about it. We’ve seen this story before. Not only on our team but a lot of other teams during the course of the playoffs, this year and in years past. I think he’s the type of guy that can let things like that roll off him and just go out and be focused and be prepared. I’m not too worried about him. I don’t think anybody else is either.
Q. Just referring to Mark’s earlier question, do you recall the feeling when Carolina came in with a chance to clinch in your building, whether that was a motivating factor for you how you obviously dealt with it pretty darn well, but…
CHRIS PRONGER: Yeah, I think it’s a motivating factor. You’re on home ice. They have a chance to clinch. You don’t want to see that in your building, and you want to get to a Game 7. You want to have an opportunity to win it. That’s the biggest thing. We’re not here just to get to a Game 7. We want to win.
At the end of the day, we’re here to win a Stanley Cup. We need to get two wins to do it. But you have to get one before you get two.
Q. Chris, in terms of — Chicago made a bunch of line adjustments. You had different lines coming at you in that last game. Is it a matter of over thinking, making your own adjustments? Or was it more an issue the way of the team you played whatever lines that were thrown at you?
CHRIS PRONGER: I don’t think it really mattered who they had matched up. We didn’t play very well. They could have had the same lineup going from the line combination, and it wouldn’t have mattered. You’re not very good through the neutral zone. They came with a lot of speed and pretty much did whatever they wanted.
Us as defensemen need to get up and get a better gap. Our forwards need to do a better job of closing gap and finishing through the neutral zone. We’ll do that here in Game 6 tomorrow.
Coach Laviolette,
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