|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCEMay 10, 2012Shane DoanTHE MODERATOR: We have Shane Doan with us. He's in his 16th season with the franchise and will be participating in his first Conference Final. Having posted three goals and three assists for six points in 11 games in the first two rounds, thanks to Shane for joining us. We'll go right to questions. Q. When the Coyotes would lose in the first round or not make the playoffs, did you watch the playoffs again now that you're into the third round? Were you one of those guys that would actually watch Playoff hockey? The other question is going through the handshake line as a winner, how much different is it than going there as a loser? SHANE DOAN: Yeah, I did definitely watch it. I'm the biggest fan of hockey there is. I enjoy watching it. Obviously you root more for players and individuals than you necessarily do teams when you have friends and people that you've played with playing on other teams where you're cheering for them more than you are the other teams. But you definitely watch it and admire what guys can do and the way they battled through and kept going as the rounds got later and later. Then the handshake thing. It's almost a habit to say thanks, and, you know, good luck to them too. It was nice to be on the other end of people wishing you luck and to encourage you to keep going. It was nice to be on that end instead of the other way around. Q. What did Barry Trotz say to you? SHANE DOAN: He just was encouraging me, and Trotz and I have stayed friends since we worked together at the worlds. I really admire the way he hands himself as a man and everything he does off the ice. He was saying it's too bad we had to beat in this round and we couldn't be further on. But he was happy for me individually, and said that he'd be cheering for me and he admired and respected the way I stuck with it here and hoped that we had success. Q. Did you feel badly for him too because he hasn't had much success? SHANE DOAN: Well, he's been to the second round a couple times in a row. I agreed a hundred percent with him. It would have been nice to meet them in the next round. And I had some friends on that team with him and Mike Fisher and Shea Weber and a couple of the other guys that I really admire. Not only guys that I think are great hockey players, but they're good men, and I admired the way they played and the way they handled themselves. Q. When you were sent down to Springfield a long time ago. How much did that mean towards getting your career on the right track? Was there a veteran who helped you get over the shock much like you did with Bodker a couple years ago? SHANE DOAN: Did it help me? I'm hesitant to say that that worked out well for me because of the situation that I got sent down in. But at the same time, once I got there, I really enjoyed playing hockey there. I disagreed still with them sending me down, but I really, really enjoyed the group and the team we had Springfield was a great group of guys. I had an absolute blast. I got to go hang out with people my age and guys my age, and I really enjoyed it. To be honest, our entire team when I was here was unbelievable with helping me. I know Bobby Corcoran called me a couple times when I was in the minors. Craig Janney helped me out and Keith Tkachuk and Teppo Numminen and a couple guys that were here at the time. Cliff Ronning helped me out too. They were unbelievably supportive of me. The whole situation was kind of mixed up and they kept encouraging me and making sure that I stayed focused. So it was really nice. Q. With such a young team as far as experience going deep in the playoffs within the room and for you, how do you prepare for a Conference Final? What kind of things is Ray Whitney bringing to the table to help you guys out in the room? SHANE DOAN: It's nice to have someone can you bounce stuff off of. At the same time we have a pretty good leadership group with Derek Morris and Adrian Aucoin and Ray, obviously. And Vermette has been to the Conference Finals and to the Cup Finals. And Raffi Torres has been there, and everyone's helping out. We're a pretty low‑key group though. We're still in Phoenix and it's not as heavy of an onslaught of media and stuff as there would be playing in maybe another city. But it's been pretty easy and we're enjoying it. Sorry, but Ray, we've obviously used him a lot. So, thanks. Q. Shane, last season you guys ranked fourth, third, and sixth respectively in the Western Conference. But it seems nobody outside the locker room has any belief in the Coyotes being a Stanley Cup caliber team, and how does that feel? SHANE DOAN: Thank you very much for mentioning that. No, no one seems to mention that two years ago we finished with 107 points and we were three point as way from leading the West, and five point as way from leading the whole NHL. But no one recognizes that. We got knocked out in seven games by Detroit. Had a couple things go wrong with a couple of injuries in the Playoff that's really hurt us. But I think that it's kind of been it's been kind of the next step as we move along, and we want to keep it going. Q. Would you be in this position if you hadn't had Mike Smith? SHANE DOAN: No, no way (laughing). I mean, he's as valuable to our team as there is a player in the league. I think he is‑‑ you know, obviously he's proven himself, but last series he got to go against Pekka Rinne who is nominated for the Vezina. And this series he gets to go against Jonathan Quick.  Another guy nominated for the Vezina. We'll go as far as Smitty can carry us. We've got to help out and give him something to work with. Q. How does it change in the playoffs in the regular season when you have a really good goalie? Do you just play through the six months and say wherever you finish, great. But then you get to the playoffs and everybody notices the goalie? SHANE DOAN: I don't know. It's hard. I think there are goalies that elevate their game. You look at Edmonton and what Dwayne Roloson did for the Oilers when he carried them as far as he did. It seems that it really does‑‑ you can also have success without him. Not without him. You always have to have great goaltending, but it might not be the star of your team, per se. You look at what Detroit's done. Obviously they've had good goaltending. But their whole team has been built up with talent and skill, and they've made it through on that. But goaltenders are always going to be the guys that make the difference. It's going to be probably the same way going forward. Q. Is he an even‑keeled guy? Doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low? SHANE DOAN: Yeah, he's pretty even keeled. He's so competitive that I think that's more than it is even keeled. You beat him once. I don't think you could ever beat his competitiveness out of him. It's not like you could get four goals on him, and he's like, oh, man. I've had a bad game. I'm going to‑‑ this isn't my game. It's like, well, there is no way you're getting that fifth one. That is kind of more, from what I get from him. He's so competitive. He's combative at some times whether it's playing cards or two‑touch, or playing anything with him. It's going to be intense, and it's going to be fun. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
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
|