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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 16, 2017

Randy Carlyle

Anaheim, California - Pregame

Q. Can you talk about Hampus Lindholm's play in these Playoffs and just, I guess, his evolution into where he may already, if not, can become an elite defender?
COACH CARLYLE: I guess with Hampus, he's not any different than a few other guys we have on our group, the baptismal by fire here is taking place, the evolution and the growth of a young player participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and deeper in the Playoffs and assuming a larger role.

I think all of those points talk to a bunch of our young defensemen. Big, strong kid that can skate the puck out as well as move the puck effectively. And that's where we see his specific strengths is he's a strong enough player that can skate through the forecheck by himself and move the puck effectively in transporting it by carrying it out.

And we look at him as a guy that still has room to grow on the offensive side of it because he can shoot the puck. He's shown the ability to score goals from the point. So, again, we're just waiting, want to be more patient, but certain times you're always trying to push younger players ahead.

Q. You've had a lot of success in these Playoffs the later you go switching up your lines a little bit. I'm wondering, is that something where you see the individual players not meshing? Is it the opposition? Do you see a weakness on that side? What's behind those line changes?
COACH CARLYLE: I think, again, it's your group and you try to take the temperature of what's going on and what the opposition is doing. We've moved people around all year. So it's not like it's something that's out in left field.

I've historically always tried to keep two people together, be it on one line and then move the left winger or right winger away from the center that he's played with and move people around.

And sometimes it's just based on a gut feeling and sometimes it's out of necessity. And when it works it's great. When it doesn't work nobody seems to talk about it.

Q. Obviously a lot of conversation about Ryan Kesler?
COACH CARLYLE: About who? (Laughter)

Q. Kesler, the last 24, 48 hours. To what extent do you think he embraces it, enjoys that during the course of the Playoff series?
COACH CARLYLE: I don't think it makes any difference to him personally. I think he looks at it as an opportunity to play up against whoever the player is that we decide to match him up against. And as we've stated before that he and the rest of our group is basing their trust and ability to outplay the player they're playing up against.

We assign players opportunities to play against some of the players -- it's no different than Getzlaf is going to have to play against Jarnkrok or Fisher tonight. Now if Getzlaf can outplay those players, it's a personal vendetta that we try to create that you have to outplay the guy you're playing up against.

Q. When Kesler is on the road and matchups are different, how does that affect his game? I'm sure there will be situations you put him out in the D zone for a faceoff, he's going to see their best. But is he freer to play offense as he changes his game at all?
COACH CARLYLE: I don't think that really makes that much difference because, as I stated before, we matched lines and made changes in preseason games. So our hockey club has done this all year. So it's not like we're asking them to do something they haven't done for the 82-game schedule and now into the Playoffs.

It's all part of the process that we feel that we have to have a game plan in place, and our players understand that that's what's in place and they're going to go out and give us 110 percent. And that's what we're asking them. There's no easy ones and they're only going to get more difficult and we're going to play in a raucous environment tonight.

And we've played in these situations before. And we just feel it gives us the best chance for success to have a plan and try to implement it.

Q. When you were a player, you probably played in places like Tulsa and Memphis when you were on your way out, but we're in Nashville --
COACH CARLYLE: Tulsa, yeah, I've been in Tulsa.

Q. We're sitting in Nashville, Tennessee. We're playing for the right to go to the Stanley Cup. This town has come a really long way as one of Gary's Southern, nontraditional towns. Maybe you could just speak to sort of how Nashville became such a good hockey town?
COACH CARLYLE: Again, I think they've taken on the label of the workman's type of team. And if you look at their history, at the development of their players, basically a smaller market team. And one of the models that Barry Trotz used to talk about, I remember very vividly, is the way for a player, or the distance for a player to travel always takes him through Milwaukee before they get to Nashville. And that's developing young players, developing players in your minor league system. And they've benefited from it.

They've taken on that blue-collar attitude and the work ethic that they display and the style that they play has been maintained for a number of years. Always been competitive. Always hard to play against. Always been a team that has shown up and shown that there is an ability for a smaller market team to have success.

And now they're reaping the benefits of all that hard work. And it's no easy feat to get where they've gone and to see their city. And what's amazing to me is it's the same thing when we were here before, that they have some rent-a-wreck, and they painted in the opposition's colors. And you see these elderly women out there with a sledge hammer taking a pounding at a car that's got a Ducks logo on it. And I'm going -- that kind of stuff. And it's been consistent. Those are the kinds of things you look to, that passion that's been developed in their market.

Q. Andrew Cogliano said after Game 6 in Edmonton that more players are going to have to chip in, more players are going to have to get on the score sheet. Coincidentally, not so coincidentally, it appears that ever since then you're getting goal scoring and whatsoever from a number of different sources other than the usual. How important has that been?
COACH CARLYLE: I think we're not any different than any other hockey club. And that's one thing about Playoffs. I described that earlier in one of the pressers, that I can remember the Detroit Red Wings playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals Game 7, an elimination game. And the guy that scored the two goals for Pittsburgh was Talbot. And he wasn't known as a prolific goal scorer. But he delivered in a key situation.

And that's what you need. You need people that historically haven't provided offense on a regular basis that step out of the comfort zone and make a contribution.

That's what teams do. Good teams find ways to get contributions from different levels and different people. And it's a good sign that when you have a lineup that you can put out, that you can basically count on somebody that's going to be a hero that night; it's their turn, somebody else's turn. It always can't be the same people.

Q. You referenced the raucous environment that we expect here tonight. Your team's had the benefit of playing in Calgary, playing in Edmonton. Some of your guys played in Winnipeg a couple years ago. I don't know if comfort level is the right term. But is your team comfortable playing in these kinds of situations on the road?
COACH CARLYLE: I think we've experienced it before. I think we've experienced loud buildings. I think this building is a little bit more unique because of the brightness in the building, the color of the opposition's jerseys. The closeness and the acoustics in the building make it a very loud place.

To me that can be an advantage. I look at it as you feed off the positives. If you don't get shivers and chills up your spine stepping out onto the ice then you're in the wrong sport.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH CARLYLE: No, I said it makes it a brighter place and it makes it more raucous because of the color and the color schemes, the acoustics in the building. It just seems like it's a more raucous place. If you look at the top of the board around the rink it's yellow. All other buildings are blue, have a different color. This is yellow. That's defining.

It's part of their color scheme and their jersey. It's all added. I just find it's different. It's a bright place -- dark building but bright place, bright, acoustically, loud, raucous. Whatever word you want to use to describe it. You guys are the journalists, I'm not.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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