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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v DUCKSMay 29, 2015Ryan KeslerCorey PerryANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day Q. Corey, after Game 6, Bruce talked about how nerves got the best of you last year and in Game 6 this year. Do you agree with that? If so, how do you prevent that from happening one more time? COREY PERRY: I think we learned our lesson the other night. No, we got to play on our toes. We were waiting for something to happen last game. Eventually it did. We were on the wrong side of it. I mean, if we play the way we did in Game5 at the start of the first period and continue that all the way through, you know, we're going to be good. That's the way we have to play. Like I said, if we're on our toes, we'll be all right. Q. Corey, after that last game, Ryan kind of took it upon himself and placed a lot of blame on himself. Knowing him as well as you do, what kind of response do you think you'll get from him in this next game? COREY PERRY: Oh, he's our leader. When he takes a lot of blame, normally, you know, the next game is one of his better games. That's what we're looking for. He can take all the blame he wants, but there's a lot of blame to go around in that game. It wasn't just him. You know, there was different things that happened. Normally, like I said, when somebody has an off night, the next night's probably one of their better ones. Q. Corey, you guys haven't hesitated when talking about the pain of past defeats. How badly do you guys not want to have the same old same old happen? COREY PERRY: It's happened too often the last couple years. But you win tomorrow night, and people start talking about something different. We're not focused on the past. We're focused on tomorrow night, starting something different. It's one game to go play for the Stanley Cup. You know, it doesn't get any more exciting than that. That's what we're talking about today: go out, go play your game, do what you normally do, don't try to do somebody else's job, you'll be okay. Q. Corey, when you play against a guy like Ryan Kesler, then he's in your dressing room, what have you learned about Ryan Kesler, maybe the kind of impact he could have on a Game 7 tomorrow night? COREY PERRY: He's definitely showed that he battles and he's a competitor. When you play against him so many times, you know, the first part of your career, you understand and you see that. When you have him on your team, it definitely helps to have him on your team rather than playing against him. We've had many battles in the past. It's just battles in practice now. Q. This series started on May 17th. For the past 13 days, it's been nothing but about beating the Blackhawks. How much of this Game 7 is about preparation and how much of it is just going out and competing? COREY PERRY: You can prepare all you want, think about it all you want, but you have to go out and do it. You have to go out and play hockey, do your job. Since the series started, like you said, it's all about beating the Blackhawks. That's all it is. You have to go out and beat that team on the other side. You have one opportunity to make it, make a chance and play for that Stanley Cup. That's what you want to do. Q. Ryan, your list was fairly short when it came time to leave Vancouver and find somewhere else to go. Why Anaheim? Why are you wearing that hat (laughter)? RYAN KESLER: I like it. But fair question. I know this team can win. You know, obviously when you get a taste of the Stanley Cup Finals, you get that close, you want to be back. I think we all know careers don't last forever, you only get a kick at the can a couple times. That's why. Q. You're a guy that is hard to play against. Opponents generally don't enjoy the experience. Between your time in Vancouver and your time with Team USA, what has it been like meshing with these guys now and being friends with them? RYAN KESLER: Do you want to leave the room for a second (laughter). No, they're great guys. Obviously you're talking mostly about Getzy and Perry. Like Perry has said, we've had many battles over the years, battles that we joke about now. I see how hard these guys work on a daily basis, how they lead our team. It makes it easy for me to follow them. Obviously they're the leaders, and I'm part of the leadership group. But those are the guys that we follow on the ice. When they go out and do their jobs, it's easy for us to do ours. Q. Ryan, it's just two guys on the ice, but it's been a lot of fun to watch you and Jonathan Toews go at it. It's not the first time. What is that experience like? What has it been like in this series to go out and for the most part know that is part of your responsibility, to go out and wear him down? RYAN KESLER: It's obviously a challenge. You know, he wins some nights, I win some nights. That's the way it goes when you have that caliber of player you're trying to defend. It's been no different than other series. Obviously we have a battle, but it's a piece to the puzzle. There's 19 other guys on both teams that are trying to do the same thing, not just one battle of many. Q. Corey, you have worked so hard to get home ice during the course of the season. Now that you have it, Game 7 in your building, how do you make sure you use that to your advantage this time around? COREY PERRY: Obviously, the emotions are going to be high. Everybody's going to be jumping right off the hop. The crowd's going to be into it. All those things you can use to your advantage. But you can't go over on top of what you have to do. You still have to play hockey. You still have to keep your emotions in check. It's why we play 82 games in the regular season, is to get to this point, if this point ever happens, which it has. We have to go out and do the right things. Like I said, if we are on our toes, keep pushing forward, make something happen, not wait for something to happen, I think we'll be okay. Q. Ryan, this series has been so incredibly close, right down to the number of goals scored by each team, are we destined in Game 7 to see it determined simply by who gets a bounce or who gets a break? What, in your mind, should determine which of these teams goes on? RYAN KESLER: I think who wants it more. You know, I don't think it's about X's and O's anymore. I think it's about who wants it more and who is ready to out‑compete the guy across from him. Whoever that is is going to win the game. Q. Corey, with these Game 7s here, in previous ones you played in, do you feel like you guys showed your best? How important, win or lose tomorrow, will it be for you guys to show your best in Game 7? COREY PERRY: Well, I think Ryan just said it. If you out‑work the guy standing beside you, you're going to have a better opportunity. That's what it's about. I'll just say what he said. It's not about X's and O's anymore. It's about out‑competing, out‑willing, wanting it more than them. That's all it's about. You want to go out there and you want to prove yourself. Yeah, it hasn't gone the way we wanted it to in the last few Game 7s. But I think, you know, this is a different team. There's different pieces to the puzzle now. We got to go out and we got to prove that. Q. Corey, you see a lot of Duncan Keith. Ryan talked earlier about trying to keep the puck in his corner, force him to make special plays. When you guys pound him as much as he has in this series, yet he plays that many minutes, goes on and plays the best game of his series in Game 6, do you wonder if you can get to him and wear him down? COREY PERRY: Obviously he's one of the top athletes in this game. The minutes he's played, the pounding he gets, you know, yeah, you want to keep doing that and keep him in front of you. That's all you really want. When he has the puck, don't let him make those plays. I mean, he made some plays where we got out of coverage on defense. Yeah, he can make those plays, find the open guys. He's one of the top, top players in this league, and it's for a reason. Q. Ryan, you were asked a couple minutes ago about matching up against Jonathan Toews, shutting him down. How do things change when Patrick Kane is also out there on the ice, you and the other four guys that are out there together? RYAN KESLER: It doesn't. We have to keep the puck out of the net. Simple as that. There's five guys going against five guys. Obviously when you add Kane to the line, it adds a little more still. But, you know, our job's the same thing. Keep the puck out of their net and put it in ours. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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