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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v DUCKSMay 28, 2015Bruce BoudreauANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Thanks, everyone, for joining us. We'll go right into questions for Bruce. Q. Bruce, you have talked about playing angry at times, and that maybe some of your best hockey is when you do that. Did you feel like you were sufficiently angry last night? Can you elaborate on why that makes you play at your best? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, I think we were too tentative last night. We were waiting for something to happen. What makes you play at your best is when you know you haven't played well, and you know you're capable of doing much more. When I say 'playing angry,' you're mad at yourself for not playing up to your capabilities and maybe letting something slip away. That's what that means. Q. What does playing angry in‑game mean to you guys? COACH BOUDREAU: Being aggressive. Not waiting for counteracting them, but making them, you know, check us. Having the puck. Doing the things that we can do. Winning battles. I thought last night, especially in the first half of the game, we didn't win a lot of the one‑on‑one battles. A lot of that to me is a phrase I use: The will and the want. We felt we got out‑willed and out‑wanted last night. That being said, when you get mad, you win those one‑on‑one battles, doesn't matter who you are or how big you are, you just have the desire to win that battle and you go out and do it. Q. Bruce, obviously the fans who were watching the series, what they see is a highly entertaining series, both teams playing at a high level, lots of subplots. Is it even possible for a coach and players to appreciate how great this series is or are you so caught up in trying to compete that you can't feel the greatness of the series? COACH BOUDREAU: I can't feel it, quite frankly. I've asked people, Is this a good series? Is it entertaining? You're caught up in the moment of winning and losing. People say it's unbelievable, it's this and that. But we look at it as a little different right now. It might be something you appreciate one way or another in six months or in the future. But right now, it's like a day‑to‑day thing. Q. Do you think the guys, now they faced for a third consecutive year a home Game 7, do you think they draw motivation from the fact that if they don't win this game, they could be going down as players that were part of a good regular‑season team that couldn't achieve the great glory? Is that something they can draw from to put on the performance they need to Saturday night? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, there's so much in that comment. The negative connotations, I'm not bringing that up to them at all. To me, quite frankly, every year is a different entity. I think the guys that have been here for the three years know what's happened. If we have to draw on extra motivation for a Game 7, with a chance to play for the Stanley Cup, I think we've got the wrong guys. That's something I don't think we have. I think we have the right guys is what I'm trying to say. Q. Bruce, have you ever had to coach a team or play against a team that played a rotation as short on defense as Chicago is playing? Have you had any prior experience like that and how do you think that's affected the series so far? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, I can't remember in recent times that we've done that. I mean, L.A. was down to five defensemen last year, but not four. Sometimes it's better for them. They got their four best players on the ice all the time. I mean, they can obviously handle the big minutes. So it's not like they're looking at their depth. Their four guys are playing 30 minutes a game. That's a pretty good recipe for them. Q. Kes said earlier in the series that no human can withstand these hits. Last night he double‑downed on that. Do you think there's a potential for that to rear its head in Game 7? COACH BOUDREAU: Rear its head how? Q. Do you agree with Kesler? Do you feel like the idea has been to wear them down and Game 7 might be where that manifests itself? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, we're hoping. I mean, we're not going to change too much of our game plan. I mean, we got here playing the way we play. They're hard guys to hit. I think it's something that we can't let up on. Q. The young defensemen, especially Hampus and Sami, how do you feel they played last night? Can you talk about your confidence of how they can still play in Game 7. COACH BOUDREAU: Well, the confidence is always high. These are great players. They've got us this far, playing with these six. My confidence won't be lost in there. As far as how they played, I think they were like everybody else: they played some good shifts and some bad shifts. We'd like them all to be more consistent at all times. I mean, when a defenseman sometimes isn't having a good shift, it's sometimes because the forwards aren't getting open or helping out. When you talk about hockey, it's a five‑man game 90% of the time and not individual mistakes are by themselves. There's usually something compounding those things. Q. On the heels of last night, this team is going to look at its leader, Getzlaf and Perry, to really set the tone. How do you feel about their response? What do you think it will be in Game 7? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, I can only guess and hope that the response is that this is why they've won a Stanley Cup in the past, two Olympic medals, a World Junior Championship, draw on those experiences and play the game of their lives. Q.  I know health issues are never going to be discussed. Are there any health issues at all? Is anyone beat up in any significant way that could affect this game? COACH BOUDREAU: I'm sure everybody has ice bags on, both teams. But I've got to believe that everybody's going to play. Q. After the game Ryan Getzlaf suggested that maybe the tension got to some of your players. He said it started with him, used the expression that he was 'terrible' in the game. What are your thoughts on his assessment?  What does it mean for him as a leader to say that after a particularly difficult loss? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, I mean, good leaders, what they do is they take the brunt of the criticism to save a lot of their other teammates. I think Ryan made a couple mistakes, like a lot of other guys did. But he was up front, and he's taking the bullet for everybody else. Q. Bruce, faceoffs. Maybe the first game in a long while where a team has decisively had the edge in the circle. How much did that play into last night and how critical will it be to sort of balance the ledger for Game 7 if not have the advantage there? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, I mean, we did get beat pretty good in the faceoff circle. What it means is the other team has possession of the puck. So if they want to make line changes off of our lineup out there, if they want to get the puck into our zone and have zone time, they want to get it out when the faceoff is in their zone, that's all important to win those faceoffs. I mean, I think teams have taken turn being very successful or non‑successful on the road or at home. It will be interesting to see who wins that faceoff battle tomorrow because it's a vital part of the game. Q. Did you see where their edge really manifested itself in a certain way during the game, where one affected the other? COACH BOUDREAU: Well, when we were trying to make line changes, if we didn't want certain guys out against certain guys, they win the draw, the puck's in our end, we can't get off. When that happens, it's sort of a cluster. You're always a step behind as far as line changes go because by the time you do change, they're ready to change, then you have to change again. It becomes a never‑ending cycle. In playoffs especially, the winning of the faceoffs means so much more than just getting possession at that time and maybe getting a shot on goal. Q. It's hard enough already to get the matchups you want. COACH BOUDREAU: Exactly. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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