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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: PENGUINS VS SENATORS

May 25, 2017

Guy Boucher

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Pregame

Q. Coach, can you update us on the lineup for tonight.
GUY BOUCHER: Same goalie, same defense, and warmup decision for forwards. It's either Kelly or Wingels.

Q. Colin White continues to play?
GUY BOUCHER: No.

Q. Is there any special message that you'll have when you go out there tonight?
GUY BOUCHER: Yeah, but I won't say it here.

Q. You don't have the speech in your pocket?
GUY BOUCHER: I don't think it's a day of special messages. It's more a day reminding yourself how and why you got here and making sure that that's what your focus is. You don't want to have a focus on doing something new and extraordinary that's just going to get us out of our identity and get us out of our strengths.

And I think it's one of those days the players have to fuel together, and that's been our strength all year. Togetherness -- I don't know if that's a word. If it's not, let's invent it. I think it's been our motto for a long, long time, and our success came from that. So that's what we have to have our minds this morning. That's why we came.

It's a long day, 8:00 game. It's sit and wait for the game. I think it's more to come in and think less and just be together.

Q. Two-parter. First one is, is White out because you're on the road? You talked about matchups, being at home. And the second part is, what's the decision you have to make? What are you looking at between Kelly and Wingels?
GUY BOUCHER: It will all depend if it's a center or winger I'm going to need. It depends on (indiscernible). And the reason why those two are considered, it's because of their experience. They both have lived seven games, and they both have won seven games. So those are the two guys we need to have out there.

Q. Matchups?
GUY BOUCHER: Exactly.

Q. Chris Kelly played 82 games for you guys in the regular season and just one now in the playoffs. What have you seen from him over these last few weeks? I'm sure it's tough for him personally.
GUY BOUCHER: I've seen what we were expecting from him for the season, and the reason why we signed him is his leadership, his experience and leadership. He's the type of person -- I mean, he's Mr. Integrity. That's what he is. I hated having him against me in the seventh game against Boston, he was there. So I've got him on my side now. He's one of those guys that has been a total professional, whether he played or didn't play.

That's probably been my toughest decision all year long, to keep him out in the last games. I feel that definitely today is one of those games that he could be going in and making a contribution.

We had him last game with the players and we just decided at the last second to go with White. But he was there with the guys, and that's what's important.

Today is one of those days where it's more about being able to trim things down and really focus on what's important and get everything else out of the way and making sure our players are poised mentally, not wasting any nervous energy in the morning. He's one of those guys that will help us do that, and he has been able to even when he wasn't playing. He's always around saying the right things and helping the young guys or the guys with less experience. He's one of those guys that is able to calm the group down, whether it's on the bench or before the game.

Q. Guy, two questions. One, did you say anything to Mike Hoffman about the water bottle? Is that something you want to see spreading?
GUY BOUCHER: These things for me -- I didn't see it. I don't watch any clips after games or highlights of any kind. I don't even know those things are happening. So I was aware that when -- after a few times that our guys were getting more information from I don't know where. So I just found that out and that's it.

Q. So clearly, Sidney Crosby is an area of focus, physical play, that kind of stuff. Is there a fine line between him getting distracted from what you need to do to win a game and trying to get under the skin of a player of his caliber?
GUY BOUCHER: If you knew what's being said and being done on the ice every day of every game in the National Hockey League, we would not be having this conversation right now (laughter).

If our focus of our seventh game today is a water bottle, I think we're in trouble.

Q. Until now -- I guess right now, but that loss in 2011 against Boston, I know you said it's in the past, but did it stick with you? Does it stick with you? Is tonight maybe a chance to really put it behind you and forget about it?
GUY BOUCHER: You know what, it's not about me. This is not about me. It's about the players. We're here because they deserve all the credit. It's their experience that matters, not mine.

We're going into this game tonight and we have this opportunity because they've done the job. They're the ones that pay the price on the ice. They were the ones that grew together. They were the ones that built the terrific team chemistry and the resilience that we've displayed. And it's definitely not about me.

I've lived a seventh game here in Pittsburgh, and we won. I've lost against Boston in the seventh game, but that's in 2011. We could also talk about my junior years in 1997, if you want. But we're here right now. It's the 25th of May, 2017, and I just can't feel more privileged to be with the players that we've got right now, the special group of players and the people in the organization. That's my only focus.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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