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WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY

September 21, 2016

Todd McLellan

Toronto, Ontario

Team North America – 4
Team Sweden ‑ 3

Q. I know you guys wanted a good start, but what were you thinking after 30 seconds when you see that display of skill and it's in the back of the net?
TODD McLELLAN: Happy. It was very fast. It was something we needed. It got us going. It got everybody engaged. The start probably set us up for the end, as well. Like we were energized and we were excited, we got the fans in it right away, so couldn't ask for a better start.

Q. Todd, I'm just wondering what's going through your mind late in the third because obviously a win in regulation has a different impact than a win in overtime, and yet I guess pulling your goalie is probably dumb because you can't lose or else you're out. Do you remind the guys to try to press and try to win it before the buzzer?
TODD McLELLAN: Well, we had talked as a staff. Management, coaching, we went through basically every scenario we possibly could, and we had a goal spread that we knew we basically had to stay in. We knew that winning would do wonders for us. We knew that getting into the situation we ended in we would still need help. But as we went down the stretch, we played to win there. And certainly in overtime I think both teams were playing to win. It was like oh, no, and go, one after another. So very exciting, but we played to win. We played to win down the stretch.

Q. Todd, from a point of view of being a coach in that kind of a game with that display of speed and that display of skill and that display of excitement, can you even separate yourself from what's going on and realize that this is one of the greatest hockey games ever played?
TODD McLELLAN: No, you can't. You know what, we were just talking, Dave Tippett has coached probably more games than probably the rest of our staff put together, and we have coaches that have been around for a while, but we became fans. Like I said, I was standing on the bench, no, no, no, and then go, go, go. It was just going back and forth, the energy in the building and the passion with the fans, the players. I've seen a lot of excited players, but that bench was very excited. It was a lot of fun.

Q. (No microphone.)
TODD McLELLAN: Yeah, that's probably a good comparison. It's just that that generation is so long gone, the league is different now. You know, it's hard to get a collection of Messiers, Kurris and that many offensive type players and keep them in one spot in today's game. We're lucky to have it. Everybody is, I think, on an entry level deal or pretty close to it, so we don't have to worry about the cap with Team North America.

Q. You won two games against two good countries, but the impact that this team has made, we're all sitting around here talking about the '80s Oilers and one of the better games we've all seen in decades. Did you ever think that you guys could in such a short time have a real imprint on the game like this?
TODD McLELLAN: I didn't. I thought that we could be dangerous. I thought that we could have fun playing as a team. I thought we built the team and played to the identity. We didn't try and adjust that. But I didn't think we'd have as big an impact on the hockey world as we have had so far.
And what the young players are learning and what we keep telling them is they're pretty damned good. They have played well in many different areas. We make mistakes, and we pay for them, but they're pretty good, and they're a lot of fun to watch.
It's exciting to be a part of it.

Q. How realistic do you think tomorrow, the outcome of the Russian‑Finland game is that Finland beats Russia?
TODD McLELLAN: Well, I know there's going to be a large contingent of Canadians and Americans pulling for them, but I don't know. That's completely out of our control. We've done everything we can as a group of young players. We lost one goal by one game, and we could be out. We entertained, and we'd like a chance to continue that. But it's out of our control.
The Russians are a very good team. The Fins will be very proud. That's the one thing I know about the Fins is they're a proud, proud group. They'll show up and play. It could end up being this type of game tomorrow night, and we'll end up watching every minute of it.

Q. Most of the players I talked to felt like the reins had been let off a little bit from what they do in the National Hockey League. From a coaching perspective, how challenging was it and how fun was it to back off from what you might normally do?
TODD McLELLAN: What we're trying to do here is what we're trying to promote with our club teams. We're not trying to do anything different. It's just the talent level is a little bit different. 82 games come into play. It's dramatically different. Flights from Boston back to Edmonton and then to LA two days later makes a huge difference. Scheduling, injuries, the concepts and the way we play, we just have a different type of team.
You know, as coaches we took the reins off them. You could say that. We've had a lot of work as a staff to try to hold them accountable for certain areas of the game, too. We're fought reinventing the game. We're still trying to hold them accountable defensively, and with our group I'm getting happier with them‑‑ more and more happy with them defensively.
Now, you guys don't want to hear that because, oh, no, we're going to change the way we play, but we'll still play towards an identity, and that's speed coming back on loose pucks, as well. But they're fun to watch. They're fun to coach.

Q. Even before this tournament began, you said we'll probably never see another team like this, David, Matthews, two different countries playing together. If this is it for your group, what do you think we're going to remember about this performance?
TODD McLELLAN: Well, if I get a vote, I'd like to do it again. We've proven that this young generation can play with the older ones. We've been very entertaining. I think if you surveyed 99 out of 100 fans, they'd probably say put them in again, so those are all real positive things.
Obviously the NHL and Players Association have to review the process and look at it, but the Canadian‑American contingent that's playing in this tournament right now, they were this team eight years ago. As we move forward and Connor and Jack Eichel and all those young men become older, there's another group‑‑ there's somebody playing pee wee and bantam out there right now that are going to play in this eight years from now. We just don't know who they are, but they'll be good, too. Both countries are doing a tremendous job of developing young talent.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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