[Heyer] said he lost sight of the puck, so he blew it. That was very frustrating, because we'd finally gotten some offense going. |
A few games after Peter Laviolette became the coach, I began to get more ice time, ... Pretty soon, I was skating 25-30 minutes a night. I was more than happy to keep doing that. It sure makes a difference when you have the coach's confidence. |
All the guys they brought in ... every one has that good character on and off the ice, which is huge, |
Columbus, bringing in Adam Foote was a huge pickup for them, |
He helped changed my attitude. He was so intense and so hard on himself. Early on in my career, that wasn't one of my qualities. I think that's why we were such a good mix. |
Hopefully it's not as bad and it's just some scar tissue breaking up and it will stay loose. |
I had no problems with the old rules, but I think taking the red line away will hopefully add to scoring and make the game faster, ... As a defenseman, I look at scoring negatively, but it works both ways. I wonder about the expectations though. I played in Sweden, without a red line, and I don't think the game was faster. On the other hand, I wasn't playing with the best players in the world, as in the NHL. We'll adjust to the new icing rules and in a few years we won't remember what it was like before. There's always calls for new rules, but I just hope the game doesn't change too drastically. |
I hadn't even heard of them, |
I liked what he had to say about where the team is going and what is going on in Chicago. And Chicago has always been one of my favorite cities. |
I think there's a handful of guys that ended up being lucky in that way, ... Some guys who were free agents actually had to take a little bit of a hit but it just all depends on who's available and at what time. There was only a handful of defencemen in my situation so it made things a little easier for me, I guess. |
I was in the same boat as everyone else. Just waiting and hoping that it was going to get done sooner than later, |
If there is any doubt, normally you go upstairs. He's not giving us any leeway. That's accountability on his part. You gotta be a man about it. Clearly, everybody thought it crossed the line. |
It seems to be my best option. Even if I came back [to play] after rehab, [doctors] wanted me to have surgery after the season, and they didn't like the odds too much. |
It was different. There were a lot of whistles, and some of the guys who got penalties didn't know they got them. |
It was just one thing after another, not only for me but for the team. It has been a rough year on the organization as a whole. |