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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v LIGHTNINGJune 8, 2015Jon CooperCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Game Three Tampa Bay – 3 THE MODERATOR: Questions for coach. Q. Talk a little bit about Ben Bishop's play tonight and whether you at any point thought about taking him out of this game. COACH COOPER: I thought he was excellent, and no. Weren't used to the short answer, were you (laughter)? Q. It did look at times throughout the game where he seemed to be struggling to get back up after a shot. I'm not a medical doctor, but he looked in discomfort. What gave you the confidence he could stay in and do the job he ultimately did? COACH COOPER: Well, I talked to him. We're not going to put anybody in a game that is going to be in harm's way of hurting himself. We talked long and hard if he could play tonight. There wasn't a doubt in his eyes. You can read when guys are sitting there saying, Coach, I'll go for you. Or you can say, Give me the net. That kid said, Give me the net. I knew we were going to be okay. As for him getting up slowly, that's happened to him before. But, as I said, if he was going to be in harm's way, we would have pulled him out. But he was good. Q. Now that he's okay, can you tell us what the mystery injury was? COACH COOPER: We'll have to wait till whenever this series ends for that. Sorry. Q. What is making Callahan so effective in this series? COACH COOPER: Well, he's a gamer. That's the word. He's a gamer. I'm sure he's been frustrated. But we had a talk a couple games ago, after Game1, about we're going to go far with Johnny's line and Fil 's line doing what they're doing, but I don't know if we can go all the way. They need help. I'm not just speaking Callahan, it's Brown and Paquette, Boyle, Drouin, guys that get not as many minutes but have big‑time assignments. We needed help. They've been doing a great job at keeping the puck out of the net. But we need them to chip in a little bit. Callahan led the charge. I can't say enough about that kid. No secret why he was captain of the New York Rangers. You need guys that can play the 200 feet and make sacrifices for the team. When things aren't going well personally or statistically, they find a way. It's no secret with the acquisition of Ryan, believing in what we were doing, so he resigned here, getting all those other guys that have been to the dance before, that's a big reason why we're here. Q. Was the 120‑foot past from Victor Hedman on the Callahan goal just as you drew it up? COACH COOPER: Didn't he do that against‑‑ maybe that was Stralman. I'm getting my Callahan breakaways all clouding together. We'd been under just a little bit of fire just before that. Victor Hedman, what he's doing, I mean, this is clearly his coming‑out party. He sets that one up and then makes a big‑time play on the winner. He was a monster out there tonight. Q. Hedman, what does it say about him that you put him up against Jonathan Toews so much, you rely on him defensively, yet he's able to create so much offense? COACH COOPER: I think part of growth, especially defensemen in this league, you have to play in the league for a while. I don't know, I'm sure you guys will stump me on this. Guys don't just come in and run showing in the league, especially at defensemen. Victor, he's just blossomed the last couple years. I think he was skating, set him apart, his size, but he's really learned how to defend. I think everything starts with him defending. He doesn't spend a bunch of time in his own zone. I think just the way we play the game and our structure is kind of tailor made for him. He's got pretty much free rein with me. He's got my trust. Just the plays he makes, it's fun to watch. He's a fun player to watch. He's really grown into that role. It took him a few years, but Victor Hedman's arrived. Q. When did you have that talk with Ben? Was it before or after you saw us this morning? Maybe just exactly what did he say that convinced you? COACH COOPER: Okay, next time don't let me answer the last one (laughter). We spoke after we did this conference this morning. I was really confident he was going to play. We talked about it, but it wasn't till we got here tonight. That's the eye test. You look in the player's eyes and you could see, I knew he was ready. That's when it happened. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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