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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 7, 2008

John Stevens

SCHUYLER BAEHMAN: We are now joined by the Flyers head coach, John Stevens, who has led the Flyers to an 8-4 record in these playoffs with series wins over the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens. Thank you, coach, for taking the time to answer the questions. We'll open it up to the media.

Q. Can you talk about the importance of Danny Briere to this club, how he seems to have picked up his game to another level in the playoffs?
JOHN STEVENS: Well, yeah, it's no secret when Forsberg left, we were in the market for a No. 1 center iceman. Ideally we were hoping he'd play with Gagne. But unfortunately Gagne was out all year. Danny made an immediate impact. Our power play was one of the league worst last year. We knew it was an area that needed to get better. We knew we needed a No. 1 center to play ahead of our young guys. With Danny and Kimmo, our power play got off to a great start, was the top two most of the year. Really down to the last 20 games of the year and the playoffs, Danny has got back to the level of play, five-on-five, that he had had before, and continued to be a big contributor on our power play. He really fit the role. He's everything we hoped he'd be when he came here. Big game player, scores big goals in big situations for us. Is playing his best hockey as a Flyer now.

Q. Obviously it's going to be an emotional, passionate series. Everybody talks about the bad blood. Do you address with your players, remind them they need to draw the line between that passion and emotion and physical play and not letting the emotions get the best of them?
JOHN STEVENS: Oh, absolutely. I think it's a big key right now. The buildings are so intense. The fan support is just terrific. It tends to ratchet it up even more each step you go.
We want to be aggressive. We want to play with urgency and intensity. But if we're undisciplined, we're just neutralizing ourselves. That's certainly something we can't afford to do. We've seen the power play. We've seen two terrific power plays in Washington and Montreal already. You know, Pittsburgh, we all know dangerous their power play is. There's always going to be penalties in the hockey game, but they can't be unnecessary penalties. They're going to put us at a disadvantage and keep their good players on the ice in a power play situation.

Q. I'd like to know if the Montreal series prepared the Flyers in any way to face the Penguins.
JOHN STEVENS: Yeah, you know what, it really did. The one thing I was really impressed with in Montreal was their defense, ability to move the puck. It wasn't just one line. They had two really good lines, and the third line was effective as well.
If you look at Pittsburgh, you know, I think Pittsburgh is a little different just because their top three players are probably unlike anybody else with Crosby, Malkin and Hossa. I mean, they're almost in a class by themselves. I think Koivu was a great player. They might even go up from there when you go up to Crosby, Malkin and Hossa.
Certainly had to be a real good awareness in terms of our team defensive player, the transition game, their ability to really create momentum on the power play. There are some similarities in terms of structure with Montreal and Pittsburgh, but I don't see it getting any easier, that's for sure.

Q. Do you feel the adversity this team faced last season and again this season with the losing streak has somehow played a part in the team coming together in the second half of the season and now the playoffs?
JOHN STEVENS: Well, I don't know how much last year -- I think last year was a difficult year on everybody. I think once it was over, I think everybody was looking forward and not behind.
But we had an awful lot of new players over the summer and at the end of the year last year. This group really needed time together to get to know each other and develop that bond, I call it affection, but a bond, get to know each other where they learn to trust each other. And I think that's a process that takes time.
Certainly once we got beyond that losing streak this year, we got into a situation where we had to win games, had some continuity in our lines, we got healthy, we played our best hockey at the end of the year.
I do think it's a process that takes time. You know, you can see the group now. These guys all know each other well. They have fun coming to the rink together. We've got great team spirit. But, again, that takes time to build.

Q. Can you just describe the play of Scotty Hartnell and what he's meant to the team on the Briere line?
JOHN STEVENS: There's been a lot of talk about Danny and Vinny and the chemistry they've had. We've tried different things. Hartsy's been a really good fit there. He's a big guy. He's got good skills for a big guy. He's a physical player. He goes to the net. He's been a really good complement. He's actually done a great job moving from left to right wing. Seems like he gets in position to shoot the puck, he reads off of our guys really well. He's been a very effective player on that line.

Q. The play of Martin Biron, as a starter, people wondered about him, but he's been pretty good for you.
JOHN STEVENS: Yeah, I mean, what can you say? I think it was new ground for Marty. Nobody really knew what to expect. I think we all had confidence in his abilities. But the fact that he'd never been in the playoffs was a little bit of an unknown for him and for us.
Seems like he settled right in. He's really thrived on the atmosphere. He's had this ability to focus every game. He's grown with confidence from beginning till now. You know, he's playing his best hockey of the year. Obviously in big games and big environments, intense buildings, he's had an ability to be the difference. I think there's lots of nights where he's been our best player and he's a big reason why we are where we are.

Q. Most coaches shudder at the thought of facing one superstar. Here you have two in Malkin and Crosby. How do you approach this? Usually you try to put a shutdown line out there, but they have two.
JOHN STEVENS: Yeah, you know, the thing for me with Pittsburgh is that they've got stars, but they've got a really good team game they play within there. They don't just free-lance and play on their own. I think the structure of their game is very good. I think it's going to take a really strong team performance from us to try and check them. You know, not just one, they've got Sykora, Malkin, Hossa, Crosby, Malone is having a great year, Staal is there. They have many weapons there. They're a very good team.
So to concentrate just on one or two of their players I think would be a big mistake. We're going to have to all be responsible. We're going to have to all work and check if we hope to have a chance in this series.

Q. It seems as if for whatever reason Malkin has just been playing at the top of his game and almost become more of a focal point on their team than Crosby. Is that the way you look at it?
JOHN STEVENS: Well, you know, it's really interesting for me this year when you look around the league. There's a lot of situations this year where key players have gone down. If you look at what happened with Carolina with the emergence of Staal, when Mike Richards got here, and the emergence of Jeff Carter. And certainly in Pittsburgh, when Crosby went down and Malkin kind of took over there, they needed him to really step up and he did.
I think you know, he's obviously a world-class player, but he showed an ability to be a real leader there, as well. Even with Crosby coming back, there's been no letup in his game. I think he's really, really showing everybody in the hockey world just how good he is. It seems like he relishing the responsibility.
He's really emerged as a world-class player and he's continued to play really well right through the intensity of the playoffs here. Certainly bodes for a big concern for us trying to shut them both down.

Q. Where do you think you've come in terms of your coaching style, maybe some of the things you've learned from when you stepped behind the bench the first time? In what way are you a better coach than then?
JOHN STEVENS: Well, you know, I've said this before, I hope I'm a better coach today than I was yesterday. Seems like every day we try to get better, do things better. My philosophy about building a team kind of has been the same. We did the same thing at the American League level. But just getting to know the league now, getting to know your own players better, getting to know the matchups in the league, being able to adjust to the schedule, finding out when you can rest and when you can work. It's been a great learning experience for me and one that I think I'm much better prepared for now than I was maybe a year ago.

Q. During that stretch in February, were you concerned about whether you were doing the right things? When you go through a period like that, as a coach, how do you try and get beyond a bump like that?
JOHN STEVENS: Well, you know, just like we always do, I think you try to figure out things you're doing well and continue to use them as strengths and try to eliminate weaknesses.
We went through that stretch, I think we lost six or seven games by a goal. We had some games we played extremely well. We had some injuries we were dealing with. We just felt it was a matter of time before we got going. It was almost like we were starting to play well, but just weren't able to win. We had guys step up. We really didn't change our belief or philosophy. I think sometimes as a coach you try to change things just to try to bring focus back just to narrow the focus and allow you to win hockey games, then you can go from there and the confidence builds. Just like when you're winning, you keep trying to get better. If you're losing, you try to figure out ways to give your team the best chance to win.
I thought the guys did a great job of staying on board and working through it together, and we're a better team now because of it.

Q. Michel Therrien was talking about the rivalry, not only as far as the National Hockey League is concerned, but a lot of players and yourselves as well, you and Michel go back to the American Hockey League. Does that add to the intensity in a series like this or is that something in the past?
JOHN STEVENS: Obviously there's a history there. But we've had a few series in the American League, the Phantoms and the Penguins, the American League, have a great rivalry. Had two great series that we played before with a lot of the players that are now playing in the National Hockey League.
As a coach and as a player, I think it was a great experience to be a part of. And now, you know, at this level, it's obviously a whole different ballgame. You know, to me it doesn't really play that much into it. It's the Flyers and the Penguins. I think Michel Therrien is a great coach, obviously done a great job there. We've got a great challenge in front of us. But certainly an exciting series that we're happy to be a part of.

Q. Do you happen to recall when those years were you faced each other in the AHL?
JOHN STEVENS: I think it was back-to-back years. I know the lockout was the last year for me. And I think the year prior to us they beat us the first year and went on to the final. We won the next year, went on to win the Calder Cup. That division in the American League is extremely competitive. Seems like there's a team come out of there, whether it's Hershey, us or Wilkes-Barre, has a chance to win it every year. Again, a great learning ground for the next level.
SCHUYLER BAEHMAN: Thank you, everyone.

End of FastScripts

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