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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v LIGHTNINGJune 4, 2015Jon CooperTAMPA, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q.  Jon, sometimes when you watch the video you have a different impression. How did you feel when looked at the video? Was it different than your impression last night? COACH COOPER: We've had these discussions before where I've watched the video, thought we were okay, then watched it and we weren't very good. A little bit of the opposite on this one. Video was pretty much the way we saw it. I thought we did a really good job. I can't sit up here and say, Oh, Chicago outplayed us. Did they deserve to win? I think it was a pretty even game. I think we had the chance to take that game in the first couple periods. We get that second one, we had chances. Everyone was pointing to, well, if Callahan had scored that breakaway. We had other chances before that to score. I know Cally had that breakaway, but I don't think anybody realizes they were closing on him fast. He didn't have many options. He tries to make a move, he's probably getting checked. Crawford made a really good save. We just couldn't get that second one. I felt if we got that second one, it would have put them away. We didn't. We let them hang around. It burned us. Watching the video didn't change it. If we continue to play the way we did, we're going to be okay. Q. Your guys have been unfailingly polite in discussing the Blackhawks. COACH COOPER: Do you think it's going to change right now (laughter)? Q. No. Is there any level of concern with having too much respect and concern, whether it's earned or not? Is that an issue for you at all? COACH COOPER: Not at all. We just played Mike Babcock and the storied Detroit Red Wings. We just played the Montréal Canadiens. Enough said. We just played the New York Rangers and beat them in their building. As you said, we respect everybody, but there's no fear in the room. Especially after playing last night's game, when you're feeling out your opponent a little bit, I don't know, we didn't come here to come second. We came here to win this. We got a taste of who we were playing against. It's probably in our style. This is four series. Third one where we've lost Game1. We've never made it easy on ourselves. But we came here to win this thing, and that's what we're going to try to do. Q. The way Steven was playing last night, really involved offensively, creating a lot of chances. Do you need to find a way to get him more than 17 minutes when he's feeling it that way? COACH COOPER: I don't know. I think some of the best games he's played, he's played 14, he's played 19, he's played 17. It's about winning the game and what we need to do to win the game. Stammer is one of our leaders. He plays top‑line minutes. He plays on the power play. When we're down a goal, when we're up a goal, he's on the ice. We don't sit here and say, Gosh, if we would have had Stammer on the ice that extra minute, the game would have changed. He's done a hell of a job for us. He's led us to where we are. We wouldn't be here without him. I don't think that extra minute, give or take, makes any difference. Q. Jon, could you explain the thinking behind putting Cedric in the middle, giving him the assignment you did last night, which seemed like a pretty important job for a kid. COACH COOPER: Well, I think his name is Cedric Paquette, so it doesn't roll off the tongue of the popularity in the hockey market because he's a rookie. Notice this last year when we brought him up in the playoffs against Montréal, had a really good feeling. We had to get him in minutes because this kid's a really responsible, hard to play against centerman. It's been a weird year because we played him on the wing a few times and then brought him into center. As time has gone on, I've got so much confidence in that kid's ability. Was that a big best for him? Sure, it was. But he also got to play against Stepan's line, Brassard's line, Pacioretty's line. Snippets all the way through here and he's done a really good job for us. Our thinking was if we can neutralize that line with Ceddy, Cally, and whether it be Brown or Killorn, whoever is out there, that's going to give our other guys hopefully a little bit better chance to score. I thought he did an unreal job. Those guys are great players. To keep them off the score sheet the way they did... He won draws against them. It was something we needed. People sit here and saying, Your top two lines are doing all your scoring for you. That's true, but if your other guys can keep the big boys off the score sheets, that means just as much for us. I can't say enough about what those guys did. Q. The players were talking about being a bit overcautious in the third period. Was that a tactical decision or them maybe not executing the same game plan they had in the first two periods? COACH COOPER: To be honest, a little bit of human nature might have taken over. Our goal was to keep playing the way we were playing, had played the first two periods. What had worked for us a little bit in the past, maybe we sat back and thought, Maybe this is going to work for us again. As I look back on the tape, we didn't give up a whole ton to them, we gave up a lot of time of possession. Unfortunately it was the turnovers. Regardless if we didn't have the puck or not, if you're going to turn the puck over in that area, there's a good chance it's going to end up in the net. That was our big issue. Did we play a little bit in our end too much? There's no question we did. As these playoffs have gone on, it's just another learning experience after another learning experience. We found out if we're going to play passive in the third period against Chicago it may not work out too well for us. We're confident in our defensive abilities. We've shown it in the playoffs. This team got the better of us last night. We just got to make sure it doesn't happen again. Q. When you see what Teravainen did last night as a 20‑year‑old, does that make you think in any way of what Jonathan Drouin might be capable of? COACH COOPER: I saw Teravainen play for the first time at a world junior camp a few years ago. I watched him play. Pretty remarkable skill player. The other similarities in their skill level, there's no question. Jo is a phenomenal skill player. Situations like this, do we think it's going to happen eventually? There's no question. With Teravainen, I mean, it was a nice play. He threw a puck at the net that probably nine times out of ten doesn't go in, but it went in for him. I think that's what happens to players of his skill level. Pucks have eyes for those guys. Is that going to hopefully happen to Jo? For sure. We hope that. As the series goes on, who knows how things are going to go. But it's good to have those guys in your arsenal. Who knows, maybe we'll see Jo here in the future. We don't know. We're going to put the 20 guys in that we feel are going to win us the games that night. They've done that so far for us. But it's easy to put similarities to the two because of the elite skill level. Q. Are those your parents? COACH COOPER: There's my dad and there's my mom. I've lived with them so long (laughter). Yes, those are my parents. And, no, you can't speak with them (laughter). Q. The triplets have owned so many moments, games, series in the playoffs. They were decidedly quiet. Any concerns, wear and tear, how much you count on these guys. COACH COOPER: Well, you look at the middle of the Rangers' series, they were pretty quiet point‑wise in the Rangers' series. I don't think we can sit here and judge the lines on how quiet they were. I don't know if questions got asked that Toews and Kane didn't score, so is there concern about them? There's not concern about those guys. There's not concern about the triplets. For me, I'm not standing here right now if it wasn't for their play throughout the series. They've proven time and time again they may be kept off the score sheet a game here, a game there, but you're not going to keep them off for long. Those kids will find a way. I think it's a massive compliment when they get asked that question because that means they've scored so often and done so many good things. The fact they don't do it once, it's alarming. To me that's the ultimate compliment. So I have no worries. Q. Callahan said you didn't speak to them or he didn't know before the game that that was going to be the matchup. Did you spring that on them at the last minute? COACH COOPER: Well, he's a young kid. If I said there was going to be a million dollar check, would you run out and buy a Porsche right away because you knew you were getting a million dollar check? I don't know if that makes any sense at all (laughter). You can make fun of me later. In any of these situations, I don't want him thinking that. I don't want him thinking, Oh, my gosh, I'm going to have to check Captain Everything. If he's been in the league a few years, it may be different. I might have a different approach if I'm talking to Filppula. For Ceddy, it's, Go out there and do your job. For me, the way it is with certain players, I didn't want him thinking about it. I want him to go out and play. He finds himself against No.19, so be it. I thought he did a great job. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. COACH COOPER: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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