The more time and space he has, the more he can make plays. You have to take that away from him, try to shut him down. But he's really good. It's also going to take a whole checking line and four or five guys doing their jobs. |
The refs are under a microscope. So we can't blame them. |
There's a good young group, but it's going to take time to mold them into NHL defensemen. But that's part of learning. I went through it. Other coaches are going to put out the top lines against the more inexperienced defensemen. But in a way that's good, because then they get some experience. |
There's a lot of jobs open. More than any other camp I can remember. When I came up, there was only one. |
There's no sense dwelling on it. We're only three games in. We have to learn from it and move forward. We spent too much time in the box, and the Thrashers capitalized on it. They have a good [power play] unit. Once you go down three, four up and you're still going in the penalty box, it becomes an epidemic and we end up embarrassing ourselves. |
Things could change, but I've gotten some positive feedback. I'd like to come back, and we'll talk when the time is right. |
Times have changed. It's time to move on. This labor problem hurt both sides, it hurt the game, but now we've got to move forward. |
We didn't play last year, but they're still the Stanley Cup champions. It's a good test every time we play them. |
We haven't gotten off to good starts, so that's important for us to do in both games. We want to come home on a good, positive note. L.A. is struggling, but is still a good hockey team. And San Jose, with Thornton in the lineup, that makes them even more dangerous offensively. The good thing for us is we've seen Thornton a lot, so we know his strengths and weaknesses. |
We wanted to stop our losing streak and the guys were up to the test. |
We weren't going to win this battle. They won the last time. This is definitely an owner-friendly agreement. The owners want to make money. And now, if they don't, they don't deserve to have a franchise. |
You have to learn what you can and can't get away with. Every referee is a little difference in how he calls it, too. |