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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v LIGHTNINGJune 7, 2015Kyle CumiskeyBrent SeabrookCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day Q. Brent, I believe you're tied for career playoff goals in franchise history. I think you have the most in one post‑season by a defenseman. Do you look for your shot more in the post‑season as opposed to the regular season or is it about the same? How do you explain all the big goals? BRENT SEABROOK: I don't think so. I think I'm just out there trying to shoot the puck. It was a great pass last night by Toews. Hossa going to the net hard created a spot there. I didn't know where I was shooting it. I was trying to shoot it as hard as I could, as quick as I could. I didn't know if anybody was behind me. I just let it rip. Q. We're watching Teuvo Teravainen grow with his play. What do you see not just on the ice, but even off it as far as how much confidence, even his humor come out more these last couple months? KYLE CUMISKEY: He's a good kid. He's a little quiet at first. He's starting to open up a bit. I played with him down at Rockford, too. He's a really skilled player with a bright future ahead of him, I think. BRENT SEABROOK: He's been great. He's been a big part of this team for the last four, five months. Being able to see what he can do in the playoffs, he's fearless out there. He has the ability to make plays. Like Cumer said, he's opening up a little bit more and having some fun. It's good to see. Q. Kyle, coming in you knew it was going to be an interesting role. What sort of challenges have you had when you just get a few shifts or the minutes are down? KYLE CUMISKEY: It's a little tough when you're not getting out there too often. I think it's something you have to adjust to, make sure you're staying focused, being mentally prepared for every shift. Once you get out there, take your chance, do your job. Q. Brent, do you even pay attention to your own career stats and marks, where they're going? BRENT SEABROOK: No. Q. You don't like that stuff at all? BRENT SEABROOK: No. I'm not here to make personal gains. We're here to win a Stanley Cup. That's what our team's focused on. We're in a great spot. It's the best time of the year. We're looking forward to coming out and playing a good game tomorrow night. Q. Brent, we've talked a lot about the triplets line for Tampa Bay. What makes that line unique in the way they have been sort of a dynamic trio? What makes them difficult to defend against? BRENT SEABROOK: I think their familiarity with each other. They all seem to know where each other's at. They're all highly skilled.  They can all skate. They're not afraid to mix it up and get in the dirty areas, go to the net and whatnot. Yeah, they're three great players that have that ability to find each other in tight areas and make plays, be it a shot, a tip, making a pass backdoor. You got to be aware of them. Q. Brent, you've been here a while before the Hawks were such a hot ticket. Did you find it humorous, about not letting Hawks fans wear their sweaters in the arena down there? BRENT SEABROOK: I didn't pay much attention to it. I didn't really know what was going on with how that was going. We had a good turnout in Chicago. We always travel very well. In Tampa Bay, sorry. It's fun to see Chicago jerseys in the crowd, being able to get cheers when we score goals, things like that. It's definitely fun. Q. Brent, what sets Duncan Keith apart from other defensemen you've been around, either played with or against? BRENT SEABROOK: I think a lot of things. But I think, you know, his compete level, his battle level. He's obviously got the skills and the qualities that everybody sees night in, night out. Nobody wants to win more than that guy. He's going to do whatever it takes. He's one of those special, special athletes that, you know, won't give up. He's fun to have been around and watched him progress into this player that he is. I think, like I said, he's got so many great qualities that set him apart from different players in the league that make him great. Q. Brent, how does it affect your game or how you feel about your game when you do get on the score sheet and are productive? BRENT SEABROOK: It's nice to contribute. I think you're always trying to contribute whatever way you can, whether it's block a shot, make a big hit to try to change momentum, score a goal, make a nice play. We're out there trying to make plays every game, every night, just trying to help our team win. That's the biggest thing. It's nice to contribute with a goal, but there are a lot of other things that go into the game. Q. You played with Corey Crawford a lot. He was tough on himself last night. How do you think he'll rebound? BRENT SEABROOK: I think Corey is great. He's a great goaltender. He's shown throughout his career that he can bounce back and become the guy that we need and everybody expects him to be. I think last night we could have helped him out a lot more than we did. He did make some big saves at big points throughout last night's game, and especially in Game1. We got to be better as a group and be better in front of him, too. Q. Brent, all teams enjoy home ice advantage when they have it. What is it like for you guys playing in this building? BRENT SEABROOK: We're excited to get back here in front of our fans. We got great fans. It's going to be loud tomorrow night. We're looking forward to getting out and getting on the ice tomorrow night. We have fun in this building. The fans do a great job of getting us pumped up and ready to go. Q. Kyle, do you look at the talent on both sides and sort of analyze it in terms of could you have imagined a matchup that would provide as much offensive talent in the league in this Cup Final? KYLE CUMISKEY: It's pretty impressive when you take a look at both teams. The amount of skill and speed on both sides. It's really fast hockey out there, really skilled. It's definitely fun to be out there playing. I'm sure it's making for a great series to watch so far. Q. Brent, there's a lot of discussion through a couple of games about how fast this series is. Jonathan talked about maybe you guys having to adjust a little bit to that in the first game. Is this some of the fastest hockey you've ever played? Do you think it took you guys a little bit to adjust? BRENT SEABROOK: I don't know about the adjustment period. I mean, the first period of Game1, looked like we were standing still and they were flying. But, you know, it's a fast series. They're a fast team. We're a fast team. I think both teams move the puck extremely well. The defense jump up and create, you know, odd‑man rushes, four or five guys skating up the ice. It's a fast series. It's fast when you're out there. I don't know what it looks like on TV. It's been a fast series so far. I'm sure, you know, it's not going to stop. Q. Obviously Tampa had a goalie change yesterday. Your team in the past has had a couple goalie changes here and there. Does that change the way you play at all when that happens or are you trying to avoid it changing the way you play? KYLE CUMISKEY: I think when something like that happens, you just take advantage of a cold net miner coming in, try to get as many shots on net from any angle, just test him, take advantage of the opportunity if he's not in the game yet. Q. Brent, if Trevor Van Riemsdyk were to get into the series at some point, what kind of advice would you give him before he goes out there? BRENT SEABROOK: Just to enjoy it. It's hockey. It's a game. They're big games, but it's just another hockey game. You want to try to take as much nervousness out of him as you can. I don't know what else you'd say. I think you'd just sort of try to keep him calm, let him play his game. He's a great player. If he plays his game, he'll be fine, so... Q. In the event you would have to face Vasilevskiy, because there is a limited body of work there, you haven't gotten to see him much, how do you approach that? BRENT SEABROOK: I think you approach any goalie the same way. He's played great for them the last, I don't know, five or six minutes the last game. You want to try to continue to get pucks and bodies at the net, make it tough for him to see. Get traffic. That's pretty much what you want to try to do. I'm sure if that's the case, the coaches will look into it more than what we know about him. But, you know, it's just sort of along the same lines as playing either goalies. They're both big, both great goaltenders. We just got to try to find ways to put the puck in the net. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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