Since I was 15 years old I've never been able to spend Christmas, Halloween or Thanksgiving (with friends and family). This was the first time I was able to enjoy a Super Bowl. |
Since the first day of training camp, he talked about us playing more like a playoff team and scoring playoff-style goals. It's a theme we hear every day. Sometimes you don't like the news the coach is delivering, but he's the coach. It's not his job to fit in with us. It's our job to fit in with him. You need one guy in charge, and he's the guy. |
Some people told me that, with the lock-out, this was the wrong time to do something like this. I thought it was absolutely the right time - even the only time - to do it. |
That's the way they've played all year. |
The fans spoke, ... They told us what they wanted and we tried to deliver while minding the hockey traditionalists as well. |
The first time that there's going to be a shootout, the fans will be very excited, |
The hockey mentality is that when we're challenged, we grow tighter together. One player or two might speak out and it might reflect (poorly) on the union, but 99 percent of the union will band together. |
The league knows that the enforcement of the rules is really going to be judged in the second half of the season and in the playoffs. It will all mean nothing if the standard changes during that time. |
The old days of having a two- or three-goal lead and just being able to lock on are over. You're just going to have to keep on playing. |
The worst thing is going home feeling so-so about a tie. Those highs and lows are what get you excited about the game and get you buying a newspaper the next day. |
They do a better job at marketing their sport. NHL players are a modest group, and the NHL doesn't show our best moments on TV. Fans want to see more. We traditionally put a muzzle on right when things get exciting. |
They're playing tight defense and working hard, and regardless of what it's called, we have to work harder and win games. Whether we win them scoring six goals, or one goal, we just have to win games. |
Things are coming together pretty good, I'm pretty optimistic about our game. |
This is the way we started games earlier in the season, and we need to get back to that. When teams have to play us from behind and are forced to open things up, we're at our best. |
To come out and play the way we did and just have a letdown where all of a sudden, you know, they're scoring at will, it just reflects how the whole series went. It's embarrassing that we were in such control and that we gave it away like that. |