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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCEApril 7, 2010Dan BylsmaDAVID KEON: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm David Keon from NHL's public relations department and I'd like to welcome you to today's call. With us we have Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma. Thanks to Dan for taking the time today to join us to answer your questions and thanks to Jen Bullano of the public relations department for the Penguins for helping to arrange this call. The Penguins took their first step towards defending their Stanley Cup championship last week when they clinched a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference for the fourth consecutive season. With three games to go in the regular season, the Penguins are second in the Atlantic Division with 97 points on a record of 45-27-7, two points behind first place New Jersey, who also have three games left. Dan replaced Michel Therrien on February 15th last season and finished that season with a record of 18-3-4 to move from 10th to 4th place in the Eastern Conference standings. The Penguins went on to win the 2009 Stanley Cup, making Dan the 14th coach in NHL history to win the Cup as a rookie head coach. The Penguins host the New York Islanders tomorrow in the final regular season game at Mellon Arena and finish the regular season with road games in Atlanta Saturday and Long Island on Sunday. Thanks again to Dan for taking the time to join us and answer your questions. We'll open it up now. Q. Dan, I'm wondering, with just a couple games left now before the playoffs if you're happy with where your team is at. Are they ready for that, do you think? COACH BYLSMA: Well, you know, you get a different feel in different situations from the different teams. You know, I think we're not happy with how we've played getting to our game throughout the year. We know we've been a little inconsistent with it. So that's really our challenge. Are we happy with our mindset? No, not entirely. Do we know how we need to play? Yes. We have not gotten to the consistency we know we're going to need. Our challenge in going into the playoffs the last three games is that's where we've got to get to. You know, there's a confidence in that mindset that I think develops as you play well and as you win games. That's where we need to go. Q. Do you feel maybe there's a sense of urgency now that the playoffs are so close, guys are starting to think about that? COACH BYLSMA: I think I've spent time talking with the Islanders, their four Stanley Cups, their coach's mentality, the players' mentality. I've spent time talking to other teams in other sports and in hockey about the mentality of the players. You know, that urgency that happens, is there in the playoffs at times, has been tough to get by other teams in other situations. Coaches have tried to get there different ways, with different levels of success. You know, that urgency level is now going to be demanded. We need to get there to get to our game. Our challenge right now is we know what it is from past experience. We know what it means to go through that in the playoffs. But that level has to happen for your team and for your players and your team game, for individuals. Levels have to rise, the team level has to rise. That's something we're accustomed to because of our past but we haven't been great at getting to so far this season. So that urgency level is going to come. The question is, are we going to be a team that we can draw upon our past, get to that level, and have success going forward in the playoffs. Q. When you've seen Steven Stamkos play, what impresses most about him to you? COACH BYLSMA: I think the thing that's most dramatic is just not only in the past two years the difference in the player, but even from the beginning of this year. The last two times we played him, both five?on?five and on the power?play, he was a dynamic player, getting the shot off, using the one-timer on the power?play, getting in the area where he's dangerous and delivering the puck on the net. That's something I did not see from him last year, and even earlier this year. But when we scouted him and we played him the last two times, it's been dynamic. It's been, Wow, that's an elite level, elite scorer, elite shot. His ability to get off, get open and do it. To me, how that's happened in a very short period of time to make him, you know, a 47 goal?scorer to this point is dramatic. Q. Where do you feel his career is headed? COACH BYLSMA: I don't see it stopping, that's for sure. Just how he plays the game, now dynamic he is, how dangerous he is, he's going to continue to get those looks, shots and goals going forward. To be able to do it and to develop that in a relatively small amount of time into his career, I see it being that way for well into the future. Q. Could you talk a little bit about the contributions of Mike Rupp this season, what you expected when the team brought him in? COACH BYLSMA: I think having played against Mike Rupp in the same division, from our scouts to our coaches to our players, a big guy, a physical guy, a real presence on the ice, adds a growl to his team. You know, our scouts thought that and our coaches thought that. But I also think a guy like Sidney Crosby thought that because we played against him, because of what he had done against the Penguins in the past. That's what we thought we were getting, and that's what we got. He's a huge specimen, a big body, a physical guy. But he can play and he can play in the offensive zone, he can go to the net. He's an intimidating guy when he plays that way. That's what we hoped. That's what we got when we got Mike Rupp this year. Q. A lot of veteran NHL referees are retiring this season. They're going to be replaced by rookies. As a head coach, what do you think about so many experienced refs leaving the game and being replaced? COACH BYLSMA: Well, I think I'm too much of a rookie to have had any experience in seeing this happen before with older guys moving on and young guys coming in. The young guys that have come in, a lot of them I have some experience with in the American Hockey League. The older guys I have some experience with as a coach of the Islanders and as a player as well. So I don't feel like there's a big difference in terms of familiarity with the referees on the ice based on the fact whether they're young or old. I think it's a tough, tough gig. It's a really hard job. It's difficult reading the game. You know, sometimes the older guys have the experience of knowing that, hey, this guy is a young coach who shouldn't be yelling, it's not that big a deal. They read the game, have that calming influence, know when to speak up, know how to control the game, call the game. That's a tough thing that some of those older guys have. I expect as a coach to have more control over that situation as I get older. That's what those refs have. When you get the young guys coming in, like myself, there's a lot to learn in terms of managing your emotions, the speed of the game, the players. They're yelling, the coaches, the different situations. It's a tough thing for those young guys. I really think they've done a good job in helping those young guys manage the games, manage the emotions. They're doing it on a stage with 20,000 people watching. Q. Have you sought out any advice from anybody, Mario, on what it's going to be like going in as the defending champions? Do you think it could be any different than going in last year? COACH BYLSMA: You asked me if I sought out any advice from anyone or Mario? Q. Anyone or Mario. COACH BYLSMA: I have sought out advice. I have talked to not only ex Penguins when they did defend, but other NHL players, as well, young and old, their different situations. I have sought it out. They have unique insight. People on the same team will offer different insight on the same situation. I'm not sure I've gotten the book exactly about what it's going to be like, but I have had some people say interesting things. It's interesting about the mindset of the team now versus when they went into the playoffs, regular season, versus when the puck dropped in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was different in some teams. Some teams, they thought their coaches acted differently as the year wound down. So I have sought out that advice. But, you know, I can honestly tell you I sought out a lot of advice during the summer about this year. I know Mike Babcock sought out a lot of advice after we went to the finals in '03 with Anaheim. I can tell you there's not a real good book on what the year's going to be like and what's going to happen, what it's going to be like in the playoffs. There's not a distinct picture from one person or every person that says, Hey, this is how it's going to be. So I definitely have sought out advice, definitely taken advice, definitely used some of the things I've talked to people about. But I know our experience has been a little bit different than what I've talked to players and coaches about. I've talked about the playoffs coming up with those people and we're going to try to draw on that experience and use some of it, but that doesn't mean we have the book. Q. With that in mind, what do you think it's going to be like? If you just had to kind of look into a crystal ball, what would you say it could be like for this team? COACH BYLSMA: Well, I think we're going to draw upon the experience that we had in the past, and I don't mean just last year when we won. This group of guys, a lot of guys, have been in the playoffs now for three straight years. Lost out in the first round, went to the finals and lost, and then again and won as we all know. That experience will be drawn upon. We know it's going to be ratcheted up. We know there's going to be some ups and downs. We know that most teams that win don't win every game. There's a certain amount of dealing with those situations, the road games, the fans, that we know and we're going to be ready for. There's also, you know, a confidence in the way your team plays and how you need to play, how you're going to have success. We had that confidence last year. It's also a process. We moved along and got better on that as we moved through the playoffs. So we anticipate those things. We anticipate the higher level. We anticipate drawing on our experience. But we also know we have to be ready for the ups and downs within a game, going on the road, and also winning and losing games. Q. If you could quantify it or compare it to something else, just how difficult is it to win the Stanley Cup? It may be hard to do, but I was wondering if you could do it. COACH BYLSMA: You know, I don't know if there's a good way to quantify it. I think when you win it, I think you'll hear this story over and over and over again, your guys say, I thought we were going to get there every year, we thought we were going to, and I didn't again for 19 years. Every year you're going to hear that story. It is extremely difficult. It is talented players and talented teams with good coaches and good organizations every year having a chance to win it, fighting tooth and nail to do it. You can do everything right, and that doesn't mean you're going to win. And putting your chips all in, a good plan, a good team, doesn't mean you're going to win. There's a certain amount of fortitude, there's a certain amount of perseverance that it takes to get through four rounds and win. You need to have a good team, good players. People need to rise to the occasion. It is so difficult. You look back to last year. At any given moment in numerous different games, it could have all changed because of one player, one situation. You could say that over and over again about our 16 wins last season. It's really hard. You know, I know 16 teams are going to try for it and 15 teams are going to go home disappointed. That doesn't mean that the 15 teams doesn't deserve it, didn't try, didn't do the right things. Only one team can come through that marathon and those games and those battles. Q. Is there an update on Kunitz and Malkin at all? COACH BYLSMA: Both Malkin and Gonchar had illnesses last game. They are day to day. Hoping they'll be fine to play for tomorrow. Kunitz is day to day with an undisclosed injury. He'll be on the ice tomorrow morning. Q. Dan, I know you don't see them a great deal, but could you give us a quick rundown of how you view the teams in the West and you who you think might have a better chance to succeed. COACH BYLSMA: That's a great question. And I think the West is something I view as I get to be a fan of a little bit and watch, see how things are playing out. We hope to heck we get to play one of those teams in the playoffs. But for now, you're watching the scenario Detroit. I've talked about and always anticipated them doing well, getting into the playoffs. I think they present the situation where they're going to play a good team that had a good year, and one of those teams is going to go home in the first round. There's always that story in the playoffs about there's going to be a good team that goes home in the first round, maybe one or two of them, maybe three. To me, Detroit is going to play a team, Detroit is a good team, their history, their championships, they're playing well. That's going to be a matchup I really look forward to seeing because I think a good team has had a great season, they're going to play the Red Wings and one of them is going home. Interesting. I think there's the dynamic that San Jose and Chicago, they're going into the playoffs again. I'm not sure from a fans and point of view, not watching them every day, I feel like they're not playing as well as maybe they did early. They have a question mark or two. That presents kind of an intriguing start to the playoffs for the matchups they'll get and who kind of gets out of that first round. I look at Vancouver, for some reason, not having watched much, I've liked what they've done. They had the tough road trip with the Olympics, that scenario. They came out of that. They seem, at least when I watch, to be making a statement and saying they're playing well with a goalie who is playing well. That for me is a team to watch as well. A couple different scenarios going into the playoffs. Certainly the race for eighth there is an interesting one, as well. As a fan, I don't know, I'm going to be interested in watching that Detroit series, whoever they get. And I'll be watching Vancouver with a keen eye because I like the way they're playing right now, I like the way their goaltender is playing. End of FastScripts |
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