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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: PENGUINS VS SENATORS

May 24, 2017

Guy Boucher

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Practice Day

Q. (No microphone)?
GUY BOUCHER: They're all must-win games since day one. Exhibition games are must game wins. They're all games -- you know, we've approached every game the same. We're not going to change. I think it's a great opportunity, just like yesterday was, and I think our players have really stuck to the identity that we've had when we have success, and we gave ourselves a chance.

Q. All kidding aside, winning is all that mattered. When you look at last night's game, are you happy with the effort, or are there things you can change for next time?
GUY BOUCHER: You know, there's always things that you want to do better, but I can't ask more of an effort from our players. They're giving everything they've got. And even the game we lost the other day, the previous game where our guys gave what they had that day and they didn't have a lot.

That's one thing I can never say they don't -- right now they play every game. Whether they've lost, whether we play well or not, they've given us everything they've had on the day that -- some days they had a lot. Some days they had a bit. Some days they had nothing. That's one thing I never want to distract from our guys for not showing up.

Q. Is there a psychological difference in the approach to a Game 7?
GUY BOUCHER: Not for me. The one thing is you don't want to get lost in the emotion, just like yesterday. We play well when we play smart, when we stick to our identity, when we don't let our emotions take over. That's what we have to watch out for.

I think the play yesterday, there was excitement in the game yesterday. There was positive excitement. The minute we get into more emotion than that, you get into anxiety, and that's no good. That's what we wanted to do yesterday, and our players did that very well.

Q. You wanted to get away from the run and gun, and you did that yesterday, but can you generate a little more at the same time offensively or try to?
GUY BOUCHER: Well, the goal is to generate more goals than the opponent, and that's what we did yesterday. So that's all we're asking for.

Q. Can you repeat that same thing? You guys didn't have a shot from, I guess, inside the (indiscernible) area. Can you win the same way?
GUY BOUCHER: We have to win the same way. There's no other way for us to win. It's exactly the problem of the previous games. We tried to win another way, and we got our butts kicked.

Q. When you look at how this team has bounced back from adversity all year, is this a special group?
GUY BOUCHER: It's a special group. It definitely is. I felt it a while ago, and I think it's a group that's developed real strong ties in terms of relationships, and they've developed real strong ties in terms of playing together, being on the same page.

So I think the emotional tone of our group, the mental toughness of our group is something that the players have worked hard at getting over time. It's not something that just happens. It happens because people care and they want it to happen, and that's where the credit goes through to the players for everything that they've done up to now. And there's no other team that I'd like to coach more than these guys.

Q. They seem to take pride in how they win their games.
GUY BOUCHER: Yeah, because, you know, there's different ways to win, and every day is a different game, and it's a different story. You can't make the next game the same story as the previous game because that's usually the big mistake. You want to reproduce something great that you've done, and if it doesn't, then you're all disappointed, and then you lose sight of the fact that you have to face new things on a new day. And I think the players have been really good at expecting different things and still believing that we can find a way.

Q. You said last night that your last Game 7 in this spot still hurt. How much do you think about that at all when you're preparing, and the opportunity that you have here?
GUY BOUCHER: For me, it's not looking at the past. I can draw back on many, many Game 7s that I've been in and we won and it was unbelievable, and Game 7s where you lose.

The reality is tomorrow it's May 25th, 2017, with our team, our players, and that's a new opportunity in my life. That's the way I see it.

Q. What does the power of positive thinking mean to you?
GUY BOUCHER: You know, for me, it's not just positive thinking. You choose every day what you want. You choose every day the perception you have about everything. You wake up in the morning, and you can come and want to be better, you can stay the same, or you can get worse. Something's happening, one of the three. It's your choice to decide what it is. That's the way I approach it.

Q. When it comes to Game 7, (inaudible). How does experience or lack of experience, in your mind, kind of play into a game like this?
GUY BOUCHER: Well, I think the players on our team that have benefited from being in those moments definitely are important.

The other day in the room, we had Burrows talk, even if he was injured. And we had Kelly talk, and guys who have lived Game 7s, guys who have been to the Stanley Cup Finals. Stalberg has been there twice, and he's won it once. And the thing that comes out of those guys is there's a lot of poise, and there's a lot of calm in the way they see it.

To be honest with you, that's the way I feel too. It's just a game, but the tough part is to actually take everything up and make it just a game, make it what it is. It's ice and boards, our team against their team, the same as it was yesterday. And everything else outside, the big picture, that's your jobs. That's the fans' perspective and their fun and their involvement in it, which is important for them and we understand that. But for us, everything has to stay inside our bubble. The minute we get out of it, we add on stuff that we don't need to manage and make it heavier than it is.

I think we just need to stick to what we are, what we've been doing, and our strengths. The minute we try to fall into the other team's strengths, we're done, and I think that's our main focus.

Q. Do you think it's something that you learned six years ago with Tampa?
GUY BOUCHER: No.

Q. Or is it a take-away from that?
GUY BOUCHER: No, I learned it from way back. When you're a player, you get some of that. Then you become a coach. And I was really lucky, I was involved in a lot of one-game, do-or-die things. Nine times with Hockey Canada, and different gold medals at different levels. In Junior, three different teams have had those seven games. Won two championships in Junior, winning seven games. And then the American League, winning series in seven games, and in the NHL, winning series in seven games.

So I was really fortunate and lucky to be involved in a lot of those games. And the one thing that you get from it is that you can't go in there thinking you're going to win the first ten minutes.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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