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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 5, 2007Bryan MurrayDAVID KEON: We now have Bryan Murray, Ottawa Senators general manager with us. Operator, we'll open it up for questions. Q. Bryan, came so close last year. The team so good and everything. What are the main areas of improvement that you think need to occur? BRYAN MURRAY: Well, I don't know that there's a lot of different things that we have to do other than maybe go through the experience and hope that we benefit from that. Obviously we need a couple of our younger good players to be a touch better because of it. Spezza, Heatley, Fisher, people of that nature. But certainly the finals wasn't quite as interesting as we wanted to make it be. But I think it's time. Going through the process has help us a great deal. Q. You can't talk about the regular season and your team without mentioning Toronto and Montréal, the rivalry there. How important is it for your team to maintain the good record it had against those clubs in regular season with an eye to finishing first in the division and getting a good playoff seed? BRYAN MURRAY: Well, there's no question, they're always real challenging games. They're fun games to be involved in. I certainly think that we're a little bit of a target for both the other Canadian teams in the division. We've had a pretty good run for the most part for the last couple years. But we know also that they have something to really prove and challenge us with now. It will be I think very interesting and very challenging for our team to continue with the success rate we've had. Q. Obviously you guys would be at the top of most people's list in the Eastern Conference. How do you see the competition shaking out in the conference this year? Obviously some big changes with some teams. If you could do a little bit of handicapping. BRYAN MURRAY: Well, I don't know that it's really fair for me to handicap. Obviously Buffalo was the top team in the east last year from a talent point of view, performance over the 82-game schedule. We had a good match-up series with them and happened to win. But I think there's a number of real good teams, a number of teams that have made some nice strides. Buffalo lost a couple good players. But I looked at their depth. Even at times last year, they fit guys in that were very, very comparable to the players they lost. They're certainly going to add physically to the type of team they had last year. We know New York made some additions. We know the Leaf's getting a goaltender now will make a huge difference. I think there are a variety of teams that are threats, that are going to make interesting opponents. I think, like the West, it's just going -- you have to win your games, you have to win your home games, and in your own division you have to match up well against particular teams. For me to pick and choose, I just wouldn't want to do that. Q. Could you talk a little bit about how the use of video has evolved over the course of your career, where it was when it started, how important it has become over the last decade really here. BRYAN MURRAY: Well, there's no question, when I started, I used it very little. We occasionally had a highlight clip for a player or two. But it wasn't the normal means of teaching. It's like teaching has evolved in the area of education. I think video has really helped in hockey. It helps in particular because of the number of teams, because of in a lot of cases you don't see the team very often. The preparation you can do, the information you can give to a player about the opponent, number one, is a tremendous asset. Maybe we overdo it. Maybe that's why the games, no matter what rules we have, the games are so tight because we're able to educate our team in a fashion that really has to be done now. Individual players I think really benefit from it. I think we can bring individuals in, whether it be a goaltender or a defenseman, whatever, and really point out things that help the next day in practice, then going forward in games. It's an assistant coach in itself. It's a tool that I think every team now has. We have a video coach who breaks everything down. We sit with the coaching staff, then bring players in. I guess it's a priority item now at this point in time. Q. With the success of the big club last year, the development club suffered last year. Is there a plan afoot to try to bring that club up to par so they can replenish the big club again? BRYAN MURRAY: I think it was a bad year down there. We had few if any prospects. We revamped the whole team this year. I think we're bringing back two or three players only. We've got a number of drafts that have now graduated that turned pro. We've gone out and tried very hard to identify and sign several guys that have played in the American Hockey League and had success. Denny and Mel (ph) back with us. We signed to an American League contract. We have a number of different players. So we're going to be better at that level, I believe. We've got a new coach. Certainly Dave Cameron did an adequate job for what he had available to him in the American League. But Cory Clouston, junior coach from Western Canada has come in. He's highly motivated at this point in time. We think our whole program is better. To refocus on player development and drafting a little bit better, that's what we're attempting to do. Q. You flop back between coaching and general managing. What to you like better? BRYAN MURRAY: That's the question I'm asked most often, I think. I enjoyed the coaching. I like the daily contact with the players. I like being around the rink, on the ice. Being an old guy, getting out there an hour and a half, whatever, a day, was helpful for me, my own state of mind. There's a time when you can kind of put your coaching hat aside. I've done that a couple times. I think this is the final time for me, you know, management, being in the situation we're in in Ottawa. I turned the coaching over to a real good man in John. I've enjoyed the management part, but certainly the on-ice participation with the players, just being around them on a daily basis, has been real enjoyable. Q. Is it different being a general manager of a team that's right on the cusp of winning a Stanley Cup than, let's say, Anaheim, where it's let's go out and get bigger names? BRYAN MURRAY: I think certainly from a GM point of view, if you like winning, you like being with a good team, there's no question. The part I enjoy most about management I think is the focus on drafting, making player changes, whatever it may be, player development. Just dealing on a daily basis somewhat with your scouting staff, making sure you know the league and identify players. That's the fun part. We don't maybe have as many big needs in Ottawa at the moment. We will. We have a tough year ahead as far as player signings, trying to keep our own team together. But I think there's always a challenge. There's a great challenge in our business, even for you guys to get stories. There's no doubt that the player development part of it now, and Ottawa like every team in the league has to be on top of that or you very quickly drop out of the cycle of contending teams. We're going to work hard at that. I'd like to add a player or two to this roster. As a matter of fact, we don't need six or seven, we need one or two. I think that's the good thing about Ottawa right now. Q. You mentioned about your young players in the Stanley Cup final, it's a learning experience. What do they have to learn to make the next step? BRYAN MURRAY: Well, I think we got outcompeted against Anaheim. I think they were a little bigger. They battled physically a little harder than some of our players did. I think a couple of our guys, a couple of our better players in particular, got caught kind of a little off guard. We'd gone through the East. We weren't as ready physically to get the battles going as we might have liked. But I think you learn that. I think it is a time thing, I think getting to that level. Our players can come back now understanding that that's an every-night requirement. I think you only learn by doing. Hopefully that will happen for us. Q. You said you'd like to have one or two more players. Can you sort of pinpoint in what areas? BRYAN MURRAY: Well, I think we would like one more forward, there's no question about that. I think we've got a couple young candidates, through rookie camp and training camp, will step up to some extent. But there's no question when you're one of the better teams or at least had been known in the past as being one of the better teams, you'd like to have a little more experience to kind of fit in and help right away. That's what I think we need. And then we'll find out on the blueline if we need another body or not. Right now it's certainly a top forward, a type of top forward that fits would be a real help. Q. Is Forsberg still a realistic option? BRYAN MURRAY: You know, that name came up before. Certainly like most general managers you have to phone and find out if there's an interest on the part of the player, which I did. Beyond that, I don't know whether it's even somebody I can talk about. I haven't heard anything further. I haven't talked any further to Don Basley (ph). I expect Peter is ready to play at some time this year, but he'll have a variety of teams he'll investigate and make a decision. I hope we're in the ballpark, but I don't know that at this time. Q. Just on Gerber, with Emery being in the situation where he's not going to be able to play exhibition games possibly, would you hope that Gerber can come in here and have a pretty good camp? BRYAN MURRAY: Well, I suspect he will. I said this to our coach. I think he's a heck of a guy, to start off with. I think he's a good goaltender. His games at the end after we got going as a team, I think he's like he's won 12 of his last 15 games. We know he can play well in this league. The only judgment ever made on him it seems is financial. But very definitely capable of being the number one goaltender. If Ray can't start right away, I feel very confident that Martin can do the job for us. Q. Folks in Boston are looking forward to Peter Schaefer taking the ice for the Bruins. Can you talk about what he meant to your team the last couple years, the type of player that he was. BRYAN MURRAY: Well, he was a second-line player pretty much for us. He's got good hand skills. We were always asking him to shoot the puck more, score a little more. I think he only got 13 goals last year. But he's very capable of getting 20, 25 goals. I just felt when we made the change here was to allow Antoine Vermette to move up to that spot and give him a chance and find out a little more about him in an offensive capacity. Peter is one of the best board guys in the game. Good, solid player. From our point of view at the moment, he financially just strapped us a little bit. It was one of those moves I made for dollars more than anything. Q. Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley are in contract years. What is the loose plan of action in terms of contract negotiations? Some teams want to wait till after the season is played to get into that. Have you decided a course of action in dealing with those two important projects? BRYAN MURRAY: The two of them, and there's Mike Fisher. There's probably a couple of other guys, too, that we're going to have to address here. We would like that to be the case. We will be proactive as much as we can be. We'll find out where the numbers have to be for them and then we'll have to make some decisions. They'll be hard decisions, there's no question about it. But very definitely, we're interested as early as possible to talk and see where we can get to with them. Q. John Paddock, your thoughts on what he'll bring behind the bench as the new head coach of your team? BRYAN MURRAY: I think he's a quiet man, real poised, very experienced. Well-respected and liked by a lot of our players because of his background with them. I just think he'll just add to what we did last year. I think he's bringing an element that will be beneficial. He won't be yelling at the referees as much as I did. That might help our team, too. That's an offhanded comment (laughter). Q. Is there a spot for a rookie or a new player in the roster this year? Watching some of the kids skate, you were talking about getting a more experienced player. Would you like to see a rookie step up and play? Are you hoping one will earn a spot during training camp? BRYAN MURRAY: That's always a nice item if it happens. We do have a couple guys that have a chance, there's no question about that. The thing that I liked, we have Nick Foligno, people of that nature. It wouldn't be a bad thing for them to start in the American Hockey League, play a couple months and then go from there. We'll see how they play. If a guy earns a spot, he'll certainly get a chance to play here. My only comment was that, you know, having one more experienced guy might give one of the younger guys a chance to develop better and give us a chance to know what we're getting right from day one. I think experience is supposed to be able to help you do that. Q. Gerber, you said last year you were trying to accommodate his desire for a trade to a team where he could be the No. 1 goalie, get more playing time. Are you still actively trying to do that? BRYAN MURRAY: No. I've talked to some teams. There is nobody at this point that indicated they can take on a goaltender or need one. I think like everybody that talks about trades, you have to wait till teams start now and see if anybody has a need in that area. But I'm not calling teams any longer to make that happen. We've had our conversations with people, with Martin and his agent. Now we just have to play. Q. You mentioned the experience and time thing for the playoff run. In addition to that, what's basically key to make this team successful again? BRYAN MURRAY: Well, I think talent is always a priority. But character is just about as much in our game now. Having a guy that competes real hard, I think we have a couple of examples if that in Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, people of that nature. I think those are the real areas of importance. You have to have talent. We complain sometimes about a talented guy not competing as hard as you might like. But you have to them on your team. Then you obviously have to have character. We think our goaltending situation, in spite of having a guy making over $3 million as our second goaltender at the moment, we think our goaltending is one of our strengths because of the depth and ability there. Q. Can you talk a little bit about how Daniel Alfredsson came of age last year in the playoffs, and how your relationship with many of your players may change now that you're the general manager? BRYAN MURRAY: Well, first of all, I hope the relationship doesn't change very much. I think I'm a fairly open guy. I had fun and a great rapport with the players last year. I think we can continue that. I don't think we have to be fighting over any issues going forward. Daniel to me, the short time I was with him, the couple years he played for me, has been a hard-working, great example, great leader. Very, very smart off the ice as well as on the ice. I think all that happened for Daniel, the puck went into the net for him, the team started to have some success. I think nothing more than that. I think his leadership was always there. He was questioned because the team didn't have the result. But combining results with pucks going in for him, the winning goal against Buffalo, he shot the puck, it happened to go in. Some years that happens. I think he's a great player based on that and a lot of other things. DAVID KEON: Thanks very much, Bryan, for your time today. BRYAN MURRAY: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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