|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v DUCKSMay 29, 2015Corey CrawfordNiklas HjalmarssonDuncan KeithBrent SeabrookANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Anybody who wants to answer. You got the extra day here. Nice to get this little buffer, catch your breath before Game 7? UNIDENTIFIED PLAYER: Yeah, I would say so. It's been a pretty intense series so far. Like you say, with travel, just adds a little more. To get that extra day, I mean, it's good for the speed of the game. Q. Corey, last year Game 7, what was your first thought? Do you use that as personal motivation? COREY CRAWFORD: I mean, we're pretty far past that now. We have it in the back of our mind a little bit. It was tough for us to take. We want to obviously get back there again. But it's a new year. I think just the excitement and the chance to move on, have a chance to win the Stanley Cup is enough for us. Q. Duncan, I remember you talking about when you were a kid you could play all day long. Did you ever actually have your lung capacity ever checked? DUNCAN KEITH: I don't know what you mean by 'lung capacity.' Q. There's a rumor going around online you've had it checked to see your endurance. DUNCAN KEITH: Different testing we do, the fitness testing stuff. This guy right here, he was the number one fitness testing guy. Maybe we should (indiscernible). Q. At what point when you were a kid did you know you had good aerobic endurance? DUNCAN KEITH: I don't know. I just liked to play. When I was a kid (indiscernible) rinks. I didn't really pay attention to my lung capacity. I was eight years old (laughter). Yeah, I don't really know what to say. I think I've always just enjoyed the game. It's my passion, just like everybody else here in the NHL. I think over the years just working, working hard at it has helped develop certain things. Q. Duncan, what does it say about the fact that Anaheim has been trying to wear you down, and yet the guy who has played more minutes than anyone had his best game in Game 6? DUNCAN KEITH: Over the years in playoffs, I think teams, you know, they look at our team, and that's what gets talked about a lot. They have a big team, they skate well, are fast. But those are the type of things that, you know, myself and our team has dealt with throughout the year and over the years. It's just a case where we just try to play our game and use our strengths to the best of our ability. You know, give them credit, they got a great team. It's two good teams here going for a Game 7. Q. Corey, as a goalie, do you have a preference, do you like to see the guys in front of you block shots or does that even make it tougher sometimes? In a weird way, would you like to see the puck better? Do you have a preference? COREY CRAWFORD: I think it really depends on the situation. I think for the most part if our guys have a chance to go out and shove, go out and shove. But there's some situations where you're kind of in no man's land and you can't get in the way and it's better for you to move to the side and clear a rebound. But it's really right in the game when the situation happens. Q. Brent and Nick, a lot is made of Duncan. Are there any challenges when there is (indiscernible) ice time with the top four defensemen? BRENT SEABROOK: I don't think so. I think we welcome the opportunity getting out there and helping the team out as much as we can. Obviously some of our games have gone pretty long, so we've played a lot of minutes. But, you know, all the guys are looking forward to getting out there, you want to be out there in those situations. Q. Corey, you've been looking at Kane and Toews play together throughout the season. What kind of added dynamic do you see with those two together? COREY CRAWFORD: They're two of the best players in the league. Playing together, their chemistry is pretty good. Dangerous every time they get on the ice. Yeah, I think it's just another thing for their team (indiscernible). Q. Nik, Bruce Boudreau talked about how his team was nervous in Game 7 last year, and maybe in Game 6 the other day. Is there a way a team like you guys that are experienced can use this against them, put pressure on them early? Is there a way to exploit that? NIKLAS HJALMARSSON: I don't know. I try not to think about things too much, what happened in past years. Just have to show up and play one game for 60 minutes. We know it's going to be a tough one to win in their building. They always bring it there. So I don't really think about what's happened the past couple years. Just have to focus on what we have to do to win the game and try to continue to get pucks (indiscernible) do a decent job (indiscernible). It's going to be a tough game. Q. Duncan, how do you prepare yourself mentally for a game like this? What is the foremost thought in your mind as you look ahead to tomorrow? DUNCAN KEITH: Just like Hammer said, you just think about it's only one game. At the end of the day it's still hockey, no matter what.  I mean, obviously the intensity's going to be there, emotions, fans will be into it. But try to take some of that experience we've had over the years playing in big games, big situations, where a lot of people's eyes are on you. Especially in the other team's building, you know, I think you just at the end of the day try to go in and execute and think about how you're going to play the game and do the things that make you successful, that contribute to the success of the team. That's all you can do. Q. If you are playing against Toews and Kane, would there be any difference in your mindset as to how you're together on the ice as defensemen? UNIDENTIFIED PLAYER: I think it would be a different mindset playing with them than playing against them, yeah (laughter). We're trying to get the puck to them all the time playing with them. When you're playing against them, you don't want them to have the puck. Like Hammer said there, they're two of the best players in the league. They've sort of grown up together. They've got a good chemistry with each other, sort of seem to know where they are. I've been lucky enough I haven't had to play against them, other than just in practice. But playing with them, it's fun to watch what they're able to do, join the rush with those guys, get them the puck, see what they're capable of. It's pretty fun to watch. Q. Brent, you were on the ice Game 7 last year when the Kings scored. How sickening a feeling was that when you were watching the puck go in? Do you use it as fuel for tomorrow? BRENT SEABROOK: Yeah, it was a tough feeling obviously when you see the puck go in the net. But, you know, we're not thinking about that. We're not worried about that. We're worried about tomorrow night's game. We're looking forward to it. It's one of the greatest things in sports, is a Game 7, for an opportunity to go to the Stanley Cup Final. We're excited. We had good energy today in practice. We've been feeling good since we got to Anaheim. We're looking forward to getting out there and playing. It's going to be a lot of fun. Q. Duncan, along those lines, do you remember last year how long it took you to get over that loss? What did you do to kind of take your mind off it in the week or so after? DUNCAN KEITH: Well, at the end of the day it was a really tough loss. You go that far in the playoffs, you're one win away. You're going to remember that feeling and understand what you just went through. But at the same time there's no other choice but to turn the page, you know, clear out the locker room, all that sort of thing. I think some of that feeling, even though it was a year ago, you can still remember a little bit of it, kind of understand that we don't want to have that feeling come this way, and we want to make sure we do our best to try to get through this time. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. 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
|