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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORSMay 13, 2017Cam FowlerAndrew CoglianoAnaheim, California - Practice Day Q. Obviously a big topic of last night was just the first period and the slow start. Do you feel tomorrow night will be more representative of you guys? CAM FOWLER: Yeah, I mean, I certainly hope so. You know, credit to them, they came out extremely aggressive, really put us on our heels in the first period, and dictated most of the play, but I thought we settled down after that. But starts in the Playoffs are huge. It gave them a lot of momentum and sucked the life out of us, so we need to make sure that we turn that around tomorrow night. Q. Cam, you've led start to finish in just one of these 12 playoff games. You've won eight of the games and you're here in the Conference Finals. What does it say about the team or maybe it's playoff hockey in general? CAM FOWLER: Yeah, well, I think the resiliency is something that we pride ourselves on. I think we always have the belief that we can win no matter what situation we're in. But you know, kind of on the flipside, it might show a little inconsistency in our game that we're not able to put 60 minutes together and hold the lead and maintain that pace of play. So that's certainly something that we can improve on. Q. You were a pretty young player when Randy was here the first time, and he was a rookies should speak but not spoken to kind of coach back then. Now you're older, he's back. How has he changed, what's the difference in today's Randy Carlyle compared to the old days? ANDREW COGLIANO: Yeah, I think he still has his -- I wouldn't say a ton has changed. I think he's still very hard in terms of what he wants for players and the discipline you need to play. I feel he's much more approachable this time around in terms of if you need to talk to him, if you need to -- if there's things that you need to get off your chest. I think he's easier to approach and kind of figure it out. But he's a hard coach in terms of he demands a lot, and I think for young guys, I think it can help in a way because it forces you to execute at a young age because you really have no choice. I feel like he's also much better in terms of when you're younger and you make mistakes, I think there's a sense now where you need to continue to play and continue to work through those details, where back then, that wasn't going to happen. I think he's a lot better in terms of letting guys play and letting guys -- in terms of figure out their game and not having to be perfect all the time. Q. Last round, Game 5 and Game 7 were such emotional games for you guys; how much of a challenge was it to try and get it back up from an emotional standpoint, even last night, and do you feel like you guys are beyond that? ANDREW COGLIANO: Yeah, I think last night was a tough one in terms of -- to start the game, it didn't feel like the Conference Finals to be honest. I think for whatever reason, I think a lot of things played a factor into it, but emotionally, we didn't start the game like we needed to. From the flipside, the positive is we lost in overtime, so I think we were able to weather the storm in terms of where they came out. We won Game 7 the other night, and obviously that was a big win, and I think a lot of guys felt great about that. I think the entire organization and fan base did, as well. But we've got to get going now in terms of these are the games now that are the important ones, and you want to make the best out of them. I think there's a sense that we let that game last night get away from us, where we have to now figure out where we are -- realize where we are and get ready for tomorrow. Q. People around the team talk about what a tremendous competitor you are. What instilled that competitiveness in you? ANDREW COGLIANO: I think my parents, obviously. Like any other player, I look up to them. They're two hard-working people and people that I admire, and I think I've grown up as a guy that always shows up and does his job, and I think I've been able to translate that into my career, as well. If anything, I think my family has been a big part of that and my two parents for sure. Q. Cam, how much of a -- was last night's penalty killing a turning point for you guys, given the challenges you guys have had these Playoffs? CAM FOWLER: It was certainly a step in the right direction. You can analyze the penalty kill in the last series specifically against Edmonton, and you can definitely poke some holes in it, but really as a group, we felt that there were some positives to that that came out of it. There were some flukey goals, and they had a lot of opportunities, too, so the discipline decide of it is certainly important, but I thought the five-on-three last night, that was a huge, huge spot in the game. Unfortunately we weren't able to pull it out. But just the sacrifice of guys and the shot blocking and being able to execute at that point of the game I thought was huge, so hopefully we can build off that. Q. And at the same time, your power play has gone pretty dry here since Game 2 of the last round. Randy just sat up here and said, not good enough, and we're going to fix it. Do you see changes in how the Ducks execute their power play, or do you just see a demand to just execute the Ducks' power play better? CAM FOWLER: Well, I mean, by all means, we have to be better at it, and I'm included in that. I think a lot of responsibility falls on me to get things organized, and once we get set up and organized, we feel like we can execute. But part of our problem right now is getting to that point. We're not even -- at times we're not even getting set up into our spots, and we're not really even getting looks, so a lot of that falls on me. I have to be better at that. But you know, they're pretty aggressive, too, so we have to find some ways to execute under pressure because they don't give you anything for free. It's something that we obviously know that we have to turn around, and at the very least we have to give our group momentum. We can't suck life out of the group, so we have to find a way to do that. Q. Cam, I was going to ask, the team you played on in Windsor with Ryan Ellis, very special team. What do you remember about him as a teammate at that point in time, and how much have you guys stayed in touch over the years since? CAM FOWLER: Yeah, he's a super competitive guy. He's always played with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. I think a lot of that comes from people always say that he was undersized. But he was a special, special player in juniors, and what he's doing now for their group, he seems to be doing a lot of the same things that he did back then. From that standpoint, I'm happy for him. I feel like he deserves it. We're fighting for the same thing right now, obviously, but I've stayed in touch with him a little bit here and there. We're obviously two competitive guys, but once this is all wrapped up, I'll get a chance to talk to him and just tell him that I'm happy for him and he deserves it. He's been playing great. Q. Whether through the course of the season or even in these Playoffs or even in individual games, it seems like you guys are able to perform in the most crucial situations. Is tomorrow one of those? ANDREW COGLIANO: Yeah. Yes. I don't think you can put it any other way. We need to emotionally get ourselves involved in the game right away, and we have to have a strong game, and I think we need to -- I think if the Game 7 against Edmonton was the team that we need to see tomorrow, which was a tight-checking, relentless team that went at them -- this team is good. They're a team that comes at you really hard and forces you to make plays under pressure and gives you absolutely nothing of free ice, but we've got to earn it tomorrow. Tomorrow is, I think, a game that we need to establish our home ice and show what we're about. But I think it was encouraging that we were able to get it to overtime last night after kind of the start we had, and like I said, maybe tomorrow it's about all of us collectively as a group showing up. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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