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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v DUCKSMay 16, 2015Patrick KaneDuncan KeithJonathan ToewsANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Jonathan, the penalty kill started to get back to normal. What are the challenges with that power play? JONATHAN TOEWS: I think, first of all, the first concern is staying off the penalty kill. But knowing that, you know, it's a situation that we'll have to face. We'll have to be (indiscernible) given the fact it's been a big part of their game. We know the types of players they've got, a huge offense. That's where they like to capitalize. Our focus is on staying away, staying out of the box. From there, some details we've obviously been going over this past week. We'll have to be focused on the game tomorrow. Q. Jonathan, you've battled with Ryan Kesler throughout the years (indiscernible). JONATHAN TOEWS: He's definitely a player that you respect and that you challenge yourself against. You know, I think he's meant a lot to his team offensively, but I think most of all he plays a smart, gritty defense. He tries to take other top players off their game. I think he's definitely (indiscernible) with Anaheim, too. You know, again, I think our top guys know that he's one of those guys we have to worry about, be concerned with, try to not let him have an easy time with us, I guess, let him play his game too easily. I think, obviously, he's one of their strongest players and we have to be aware of him. Q. Jonathan, you played a lot this season. Any ways in which this lull in the action has helped you rest and recover or anything like that? JONATHAN TOEWS: Yeah, obviously we tried to use this time as best as we could to our advantage. I think if you asked everybody, they would have much rather had a couple days and get right back in it. But it is what it is, try to use that to our advantage, feel good. I think the team feels good. (Indiscernible) tomorrow. Q. For either Patrick or Jonathan. Obviously their big two are Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. How much mutual respect is there between you guys as even peers, to be at that high level? PATRICK KANE: Well, I think, you know, they're obviously two key players for the team. You know, fortunate to watch Perry a little bit when he was in London. I got to see him battling in that league. Getzlaf is another guy, you know, that if you're going to watch a hockey game, those are two guys at the top of the list that you're going to want to watch play because they're so big, they're so talented, they possess the puck a lot throughout the whole game. I think there's a lot of respect on our side for them. We know we have to be aware of them when we're on the ice. Try to eliminate any chance they can get when they have opportunities to get the puck. We have a pretty good defensive mindset against those guys and hopefully we can take advantage and go the other way and try to make them play in their end, too. Q. Patrick, did you develop a friendship with Kesler over the years? PATRICK KANE: Yeah, I mean, I got to play with him in the past couple Olympics. He kind of reminds me of Jonny a little bit as a player, where he's kind of that two‑way centerman, easy to play with, is always kind of looking to get the puck in your hands, too. I just developed a friendship with him because I was playing with him, was on the same team. I think when you're going through those things, whether it's Olympics or whatever, the international tournaments, you're trying to win. I think all hockey players develop friendships whether it's off the ice, and when you play each other on the ice, that competitiveness comes back. Q. Duncan, has it been a challenge to change defensive partners this late in a playoffs, multiple partners throughout each game? Is that a challenge? DUNCAN KEITH: I think it's always a bit of an adjustment, but at the same time, I played with Rundy, I played with Hammer, I've played with pretty much everybody, not only the course of this year, but over the course of the past few years. I got a feel for what it's like, what each guy's tendency kind of are. At the same time I think that my game, I don't really try to change many things. It's kind of been the same things to focus on. You know, the better I can be, hopefully I can help my defense partner. Q. Jonathan, you guys are undefeated when you take the lead into the third period this season. What has enabled this team to do that? JONATHAN TOEWS: I think we had times in the past, in the playoffs last year, last few seasons, that was maybe a problem in the game, that we weren't able to properly protect leads, play smart ahead of teams. We just kind of let off the gas pedal a little too much. This year I think we really learned how to play smart hockey, how to keep coming out with even better efforts (indiscernible) especially late in games. So I think that's a good habit, a good characteristic to have, especially this time of year. It's something that we're definitely focused on, I think we're conscious of. We know when we go into a third period with a one‑ or two‑goal lead, that we know what we have to do in order to preserve that and not give the other team too much to feed off of. Hopefully we'll carry that into this series, as well. Q. Jonathan, fifth time in seven seasons for you in the Western Conference Finals. That's really tough to do in the salary cap era where there's supposed to be parity. What drives you? There has to be character in the room to get to this point. JONATHAN TOEWS: Well, I think we all know as an organization, as a team, at the professional level, especially with hockey like everything is, like you just said, the cap, whatever you want to call it, a lot of things have to go right for you to have success. At the end of the day, I think the guys in our locker room, the guys that have been around for those seven years understand every chance, every opportunity they get. No one wants to waste that. I think at the end of the day we have individuals that had success, you know, get recognition for it. At the end of the day those guys want to win, they want to win at this time of year, come playoff time. That's the most important thing to those guys. I think we've said it before, you heard these two guys say, once you win one Stanley Cup, you know the feeling, you can't forget it, you want to get back there. I think that's probably a huge reason why we've been fighting to get back there the last couple years, as well. Q. Patrick, after having this much time off, what will it be like getting to hit somebody wearing a different jersey? PATRICK KANE: Yeah, it will be fun. You know, we all love playing the game, we love playing hockey. It's a great opportunity for us to go up against a great team. I think it's a new challenge for us. We never faced this team in the playoffs. That's exciting for us. After these 10 days, whatever it's been, it's going to be exciting just to get out there and play a game that means so much. I think we're all looking forward to it. Q. Is that excitement adrenaline? What's the adrenaline level like for you guys at this point in the season and are there still nerves anymore? PATRICK KANE: Yeah, I think a little bit. We kind of had that nervous energy, especially going into these big games. But I think, you know, we're just excited about playing hockey again. I'm sure there will be a lot of adrenaline. I'm sure both teams will be well‑rested and come out flying tomorrow. Usually when you're on the road you try to weather the storm for the first five or ten minutes, then turn the game around and take it to them. So we'll look to do that tomorrow. DUNCAN KEITH: Yeah, I think Kaner said it well. I think we still have that nervous energy at this time of year. It's down to four teams left. There's an excitement to be here, to be in this position. So we know we've got a tough opponent. We haven't played these guys, like Kane said. There's that excitement, as well. We're a group of guys that's excited to get the series going tomorrow. It's been a long layoff. We all want to get it going. Q. Patrick, you mentioned not having played the Ducks in the playoffs before. Yet the past three years or so, these two teams have played some tremendous regular‑season games. I don't know if you necessarily would have expected this matchup. When you look at it, what the Ducks have done building the last three years, where you guys have been, is it almost kind of making sense that these two teams would hook up in a huge series like this? PATRICK KANE: Yeah, I think you have to remember, they've been there, too. They won it back in 2007. They have some players that have won not only Stanley Cups, but Olympics, as well. It seems like a team that knows how to win. You can see that in this playoffs, too. I think they went into the third period down three or four times and have come back and won all those games. It's a dangerous team. By no means are they ever out of a game. I think we got to be aware of those situations throughout the game. Every shift is important. But there's little moments in a game I think you have to understand a little bit more than others. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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