|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCEApril 30, 2010Brian BoucherDAVID KEON: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm David Keon of the National Hockey League's public relations department and I'd like to welcome you to today's call. With us we have Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher. Thanks to Brian for taking the time today to answer your questions and thanks to Zack Hill of the Flyers public relations department for arranging this call. Brian backstopped the seventh-seeded Flyers to a five-game series victory over the No. 2 seeded New Jersey Devils in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. He leads all goaltenders with a 1.59 goals-against average and also a .940 save percentage, and he has not allowed an even-strength goal in over nine periods. Today the Flyers travel to Boston, where they will open their second-round series against the Bruins tomorrow at 12:30 eastern time on NBC and TSN. Thanks again to Brian for taking the time to join us and answer your questions. We'll open it up now. Q. Brian, I'm sure you've answered this question a couple times. This long break between series, how are you handling that? Do you expect it to be a disadvantage for you guys? BRIAN BOUCHER: I don't know how it's going to play out. I mean, obviously I think we had eight days I think it was in between games. The coaches have kept practices at a high tempo. We had some lengthy practices, some practices with some conditioning in there. So, you know, they've done their job as far as keeping us ready physically. Mentally, it's just a matter of us making sure we're ready to go at the start of Game 1. I mean, it's not one of those situations where you want to ease into the series. I mean, you got to snap right back into it and be right in game-ready mode. Hopefully that will be the case tomorrow. Q. Their issues scoring goals is pretty well-documented. How does it change when you add a guy like Marc Savard into the lineup? BRIAN BOUCHER: I know it was well-documented all year. I think they've played really good hockey in the latter half of March and into April. They've found ways to win. So, you know, I don't know. I mean, I don't really want to buy into that they have trouble scoring goals. The fact they've added Marc Savard, he's their best play-maker on that team. You know, he's a big piece of their offense. So, I mean, I think we're going to have our hands full as far as shutting them down. They got a good team. Bergeron and Krejci have done a good job in the middle. They got a good lineup. Their top three lines of nine forwards are all very, very, very solid. Like I say, it's going to be a tough test for us. Q. Brian, the question about the layoff. Is it tougher for a goaltender with a longer layoff or is it easier? What kind of role does goalie coach Jeff Reese play? BRIAN BOUCHER: I don't know. It's kind of hard. I guess I liken it to when you're a backup and you go in between starts. You maybe go a week or two between starts. You got to stay sharp in practice. So you get your work in in practice. Only time will tell how we do as a group tomorrow, to see how the layoff affected us. I'd like to think we're all professionals and we put our work in. It's that time of year where you don't catch guys sleeping too much. This is an important time of year. You got everybody's attention. I think everybody is anxious to get back out there and play that first game. So I don't know if it will be that much of a negative effect. I think long-term, I think the positives definitely outweigh the negatives, I mean, to have time off. You don't want to be going a seven-game series all the way through. Those are stressful minutes, stressful games. We'll see how it plays out short-term. I think if we can keep playing long-term, I think it will be good for us. Q. In one aspect, having been a backup, it might be easier mentally going into the series having a layoff? BRIAN BOUCHER: This is something I've been accustomed to, having time off, having to stay sharp in practice. Obviously, goalies will tell you that you like to be playing and stay in a groove. There's no question about that. I think the time off was much needed for us. Q. There's a lot of talk about Peter Laviolette's attack first system. Is it correct to say that system was a little tighter in the first round against the Devils? BRIAN BOUCHER: Yeah, I thought we did a really good job. I think even strength we really took the play to Jersey. I think pretty much a lot of their goals came on the power?play. I think that says a lot for the way we're playing. I think when we play on our toes, you know, and we're aggressive in that sense, you know, we're a pretty good group. When everybody is playing as five?man units, we do a good job. Hopefully that will be the case here at the start of this series. The key for us I think in the Jersey series was we got Game 1. We had the chance to get Game 2. We didn't get it. I think it's good to have a good start in the series to get you going. Q. Of course, you're a generation removed from the great Philly-Boston series before. Can you really escape the shadow of the Big Bad Bruins and the Broad Street Bullies? Do you feel that hanging over the series a little bit? BRIAN BOUCHER: I don't know. I'm sure those series were a lot tougher. You know, a lot more fights and stuff like that. I think it will be a physical series. I think we both have, you know, lineups that like to play physical. So I think in that aspect we're going to have to fight for every inch we get out there. I think it will be a typical series that fans are probably hoping for. I think it will be a physical series. I don't know if it will be as legendary as those series. Q. I believe you're from the New England area. Did you cheer along with those Bruins teams from that era? BRIAN BOUCHER: I was not a Bruins fan. For the sake of writing an article on that, I was a Canadiens fan growing up. Q. Brian, with everyone making a big deal of Brian Boucher defeating Marty Brodeur, the Flyers succeeding despite bad goaltending, do you ever want to jokingly remind people you hold the NHL for shutout streak? BRIAN BOUCHER: I'll leave you guys to do that stuff. For me, it's about what's inside the locker room. You know, what's being said outside, we as players really can't be too worried about that type of stuff. You know, I think we believed in ourselves going down the stretch there in the regular season. We got in. We felt good about ourselves in that first round. Obviously, you know, we played well and got that series. So, you know, I think we're only focused on what we as teammates need to be worried about with each other, going from there. Q. Yesterday in the Vancouver Canuck locker room Roberto Luongo said during the L.A. series one of the on-ice officials warned him against taking dives or embellishing any calls around the crease. Have you had any officials say anything similar to you at all during the first-round series? BRIAN BOUCHER: I have not, no. Q. Do you think the referees should keep a closer eye on what happens around or do you think the goalies are being protected enough right now during the playoffs? BRIAN BOUCHER: I think they're doing the best they can. Obviously you're going to miss calls from time to time. But I think, you know, sometimes if you just have a chat with them, let them know about a player. I hear officials all the time yelling at the player in front of the net to watch the crease all the time. I think they're doing a good job of reminding players that that blue paint is ours, that they can't interfere. I'm confident they'll do their job. I just got to do my job. Q. Brian, you haven't had I guess what would be a typical arc of a career for a player in your position at this point. I'm wondering what was the low point along the way. BRIAN BOUCHER: The low point? Boy, yeah, I'd probably say the year I was in Chicago and then Columbus. That year was a tough year. I ended the year on a bad note. I ended up having to get shoulder surgery with four games left in the regular season in Columbus, spent the off-season rehabbing a shoulder injury. Then the following year ended up starting the year in the minors playing for the Phantoms here in Philadelphia. That stretch there was probably the low point, you know. Pretty lean year. I think I won one game in Chicago and I won one game in Columbus in like 18 games. I won two games in 18 games. It was a pretty tough year. Q. You show up on YouTube and in broadcasts all the time as the victim of Ovechkin's 'the goal' in Phoenix. What goes through your head, and what went through your head when it happened? BRIAN BOUCHER: Now, looking back, it was a helluva goal by him. At the time I didn't realize what had happened. I didn't know he was on his back. It was more I couldn't believe that the angle that he was at that it went in. Looking back, I mean, it was a heck of a goal. I guess I'm proud to be a part of it. He's a world-class player. You know, my son certainly gets a kick out of looking at it on YouTube. Q. Last time you went through this run, Mark Recchi was your teammate. 10 years later, he's going strong. Can you talk about what kind of player he is to play with and against? BRIAN BOUCHER: First of all, he's a great teammate, one of those guys that you really truly enjoy being in the same locker room. He's a good leader. Obviously, you know, the things he does on the ice is pretty darn good, too, because he wouldn't be playing still if he didn't do a good job. He still can skate. He can move. He's a smart hockey player. He has a knack for the net. He scores timely goals. He's done that in the first round. He's going to be a guy we have to pay particular interest in making sure he doesn't get those chances. Q. Brian, I was reading a piece today. Neil Little was quoted in it. Anyway, he was saying how you might be understated, but you actually do great impersonations. I was wondering, who are your signature impersonations of? BRIAN BOUCHER: I got to keep that close to the sleeve there. I can't divulge. Some people might get offended by that. I'm sorry, I can't tell you who I do real well. But if I meet you, I guess maybe I can do one face to face. Q. If you were a Canadiens man, who was your guy? BRIAN BOUCHER: Patrick Roy was my favorite growing up. Hard not for him to be your favorite. He was pretty unbelievable in his time in Montréal. When he was in Montréal is when I was still a youngster and a fan. I think when he went to Colorado is when I started to play juniors and get drafted. You kind of get out of that being a fan mode. But he was my favorite. Q. Did you ever go head-to-head with him? BRIAN BOUCHER: I played a few games against him. I don't think I beat him. I can remember the first time I warmed up against him. I remember staring at him in warmup, like watching him stretch. I was in awe a little bit. It was pretty cool. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|