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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORSMay 15, 2017Randy CarlyleNate ThompsonJosh MansonJakob SilfverbergAnaheim, California - Practice Day Q. I guess such a big talking point with Ryan Johansen's comments after the game about how Kesler had played him. I'm just wondering what your guys' take is on that knowing what kind of player and teammate Kes is? NATE THOMPSON: I'll watch Kes any day. It's Playoff hockey. That's all I have to say. Q. Just watching him through the Playoffs so far starting with Calgary and Edmonton and now Anaheim, has he ratcheted up his game in terms of making it difficult on the centers he's facing? NATE THOMPSON: Kes is a gamer. Every time he plays he comes to play. He plays hard and he does a lot of little things I think that go unnoticed and there's a reason why he's nominated for the Selke every year. Q. For you guys at the top of the line, how would you react to have to face a guy like Kesler? JAKOB SILFVERBERG: It's tough and frustrating. (Indiscernible) And he likes to play against that. But I think he plays hard and fair. And as Tommer said, he's nominated for the Selke, and that comes with a reason. He's a tough guy but I think he's fun and plays hard and fair. Q. Josh, do you think Kes is in Ryan Johansen's head? JOSH MANSON: He would be in my head a little bit. He's a tough guy to play against. You watch him and he's a guy that you love to have on your head and you hate to play against. So you watch throughout the series and throughout the Playoffs, so far he takes pride in throwing guys off their game. So hopefully it is working. He's a tough guy to play against. It's an asset to have on our team. Q. Any of you guys, do you remember this incident, but in 2011, Western Conference Final Game 1, Kesler facing off with the Canucks and Joe Thornton, and they were low in the faceoff and butting heads like a couple of rams. Do you remember that one in particular? Does it make you think how he's as a Duck now? NATE THOMPSON: Vaguely I remember that. I just remember seeing that and whenever I see stuff like that I just think it's the Playoffs, and when guys are doing that, it's the Playoffs and guys are fighting for every inch of the ice and will do whatever it takes to win. And when guys are playing like that you know that when you have him on your team it's nice. Q. Jakob, a lot has been made of Nashville's home record, and you guys came in here in the Playoffs and won two games. Can you take any of that into the series? JAKOB SILFVERBERG: That was last year, but I think we did a good job in Edmonton, too, and I think definitely we have the experience in this group to steal games on the road. And to talk to him, it's going to be a loud building. We played in both Calgary and Edmonton. Those were two really loud buildings. It's going to be an energetic game and it's going to be a fun one and we have the experience to steal a game or two. Q. Randy, just to revisit something that happened last night, Ryan Johansen's comments about Ryan Kesler, do you feel in some degree that Kesler is in Johansen's head, if an opponent is going to -- COACH CARLYLE: Quite frankly, I don't pay any attention to any of that stuff. Players can say what he want. That's not my concern. My concern is for our players. I have enough trouble worrying about our players, worrying about anybody else's players. Q. How good has Kesler been since then? COACH CARLYLE: Kes is an effective player. And he's played the playoffs the way that he normally would play them. He approaches the task as he stated. And he's got to be better than the player he's playing up against. That's the mandate that we try to put forth to our players, that if you're going to go out on the ice and you're going to be in a competitive environment, that our expectation is we have to win more battles and outcompete the guys you're playing up against. And some nights it works for you and some nights it doesn't work quite so well. So we just think Ryan Kesler is a heck of a player, and we support our player 100 percent. Q. As the Playoffs have progressed round by round and he's faced guys like Monahan and McDavid and now Johansen have you seen him step up his games in terms of his shut down abilities? COACH CARLYLE: I don't know if I've seen him step up. Obviously the intensity of each series ramps up. It's simple. And there's the game within the game. And again he's a veteran player. He's done this before. It's not his first day at the office, as per se. Q. When you speak about his experience and that part of his game, does it remind you of the 2011 Western Conference Final Game 1 when he and Thornton were butting heads like a couple of rams? COACH CARLYLE: I don't remember that specifically. But I do know that Kes is competitive no matter who he plays up against. And I know that in our playoff battles against him my first time in Anaheim, and he was in Vancouver at that time -- I think we played them in the second round in '07 -- and he was up against Getzlaf as much as Alain Vigneault could put him out there, and he's a formidable task. He's a guy that plays hard. And he plays the game the way most coaches would want their players to play it. Q. Do you like him more now? COACH CARLYLE: Well, you have to remember I had him, before he was in the NHL, I had him a year in the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League in the year of the lockout. So I've got a history with him. And I knew what he was about a long time ago. He played that way for me in Manitoba and he just continued to grow and develop into an elite level NHL player. Q. It's been a few years ago. If there's a matchup going on tomorrow night and they try to keep Johansen away, how much can you rely on Kesler and put him on the ice for more and more minutes, how much can you ride him in the game if the other team doesn't want to put Johansen there? COACH CARLYLE: Well, you know, that's going to be their decision. They're going to have a game plan and we're going to have a game plan. And obviously the matchup game has been taking place, and he did not shy away from that matchup the two games in Anaheim. So whatever he decides tomorrow night, we'll try to work effectively to get the matchups we would like to have in place. And I'm sure he's going to work effectively. And it's easier for him with home ice advantage to have the last change to get his matchups. That's always a little game within the game. But we don't worry about it. We matched in exhibition games this year. So our team is used to it. We're accustomed to it. Q. When you and Getzlaf talk about him maybe worrying less about what anybody else -- worrying less about what anybody else is doing later on in his career, is that like teammates? Is that opponents? How has he grown in that regard? COACH CARLYLE: I just think there's an understanding. The one thing about him, he's all business. He's a very serious guy. When he puts his skates on, he goes out to play, he plays hard and he plays to win. And I think that's probably been the most consistent thing you could say about the individual. And the one thing he does, he takes care of himself. The young players in the league could adopt the lifestyle and the choices that Kes makes to sacrifice some of the things for the betterment of his body; it's huge. And people don't see that unless you're behind the scenes. Q. The game within the game, you've been around it a long time. COACH CARLYLE: Too long, some people say. (Laughter). Q. Have you ever had a team that was that strong in the faceoff circle, that what you have so far in these Playoffs? COACH CARLYLE: I think good faceoff teams, I don't know if we've had one as good. I think we had a good faceoff team in '07 when we won the Cup. Sami Paulsson was a pretty good center iceman. Andy McDonald. Getzy was a fourth line center. Todd Marchant. I think faceoffs are not just the one or two individuals or the four centers that are on your hockey club. The rest of your teammates have to support and be in there to get the 50/50 pucks that are made available on the scrums that take place. And that can be a determining factor also in the percentages as far as the faceoffs go. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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