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WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY

September 27, 2016

Mike Babcock

Toronto, Ontario

Team Canada – 3
Team Europe ‑ 1

Q. Mike, I'm sure you're pleased with the W, but there seemed to be large swaths of time in the first two periods that seemed very un‑Team Canada like. I'm wondering if that's your assessment of it, and, if so, is it a concern at all to you?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, obviously we got the two points, I thought we had a good third. We scored timely goals on their turnovers. In the first, I thought that they were better than us for large stretches of the game at times. I thought they executed and played fast. I didn't think we moved the puck out of our zone at all tonight, went back and forth. We had guys out there that didn't talk to one another so actually didn't play fast and then turned the pack over on entry, so they looked quicker than they were and we probably looked slower than we were.
In the end, obviously, we've got lots of room to get better, but we came here today to find a way to win a game. We won a game, so now tomorrow we've got to get better again so we can take this step.

Q. How do you explain the chemistry that top line has as if they've been playing together for years?
MIKE BABCOCK: They're good, and they've had a good tournament. They've played real well. They've got three elite players on it and all different types of players, but they've been really good. I don't know if they were as good tonight as they have been, but they were good.
We need more guys on deck than we had tonight. We just weren't as good as we have been, and we'll be a lot better next game.

Q. What can Team Canada do better coming out of the gate for Game 2?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I think the big thing, don't take a penalty the first shift, but they skated right by us the first shift of the game and got to the net for a chance. We talked a lot about their start, and I thought we got on our heels.
In saying that, we scored two goals off neutral zone transition where they gave us the puck, and then we countered and went. I didn't think we were‑‑ for whatever reason, we weren't as good as we felt we were capable of being, so we'll fix that and be better.

Q. Would it be fair to say that you haven't had a game in this tournament where you needed Carey Price as much as you did tonight early on especially?
MIKE BABCOCK: Yeah, I would say in the Russian game in the third period, when we got up 5‑2 and stopped playing, we needed him.
But we needed him early tonight. I think they were out‑shooting us at one point significantly, and we've been a team that's‑‑ I don't know if we got 50 tonight, but it sure feels like we were all over the other team, and we weren't that tonight.
We had a good third period that way totally, but even towards the end we still gave up chances off the rush, which is not like our team, so we'll fix that. You'd like things to be perfect every night, but it's just not real.

Q. Given the fact that you weren't pleased with the overall game, would you consider any changes for Thursday?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, the great thing about it is I'll get a chance to watch the video in the morning, and then I'll make that decision.

Q. Defensemen scored very few goals in this tournament, actually 8 of 76 only, also not so many power play goals. How can you explain this trend, and how do you think they are interconnected?
MIKE BABCOCK: Yeah, that's a great question. We talk a lot about that actually. Just defensively and the speed of the game, it's so fast. You know, it's interesting, 17 minutes in this is like 22 minutes, and the guys are dying, and they say, no, they can't go, so just that's ice time alone.
Then you get the power play and the penalty killing, the easier the penalty killing, the quicker the nuances of your power play. Those one‑timers that you score on in the regular season and the goalie doesn't even look like he's making a save on those, I think the specialty teams penalty kill wise have been outstanding.
We seem to feel like we're getting looks on our power play. Not tonight, but the looks on our power play, but we haven't done much with it. What is the reason? I don't know. Is it just that the level of hockey is so fast that they can't be as active as they normally are? I don't know the answer.

Q. With respect to the fact that you have said Sidney Crosby, when you guys were in Sochi, played very well, in this tournament he's produced two three points almost every game. Is his role different? Is there something about the way he's playing in this tournament, or is it just the puck?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, let's be honest, in Sochi, we had the puck the whole game. We were dominant. We were as good offensively as you could be, we just didn't shoot it in the net for whatever reason. He got feeling it early, and he's feeling it, and he thinks it's going in. And when you don't get feeling it sometimes for stretches, you might press a little bit harder. You always have more time in the scoring area than you think, and when you're scoring, you take the time, and when you're not scoring, you rush and you don't score.

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