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NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL: BLUES VS BRUINS

May 30, 2019

Craig Berube

St. Louis, Missouri- Practice Day

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us. We'll have coach here answering some questions.

First question.

Q. What did you see different in Vladimir Tarasenko's game when he's playing the way it is right now, dialed in, as opposed to his regular, solid game?
CRAIG BERUBE: Well, I think obviously the intensity level is at an all time high here right now in the Playoffs. His intensity level is right up there.

But his skating and his work ethic, with or without the puck, is really good right now. When he doesn't have the puck, he's going after it. He's physical in all the battles. I think that's the difference.

Q. What was the first conversation that you had with Vladimir? What was that like and how have you seen him evolve into whatever you tasked with him initially?
CRAIG BERUBE: Well, the very first conversation I had with him when I took over as a coach?

Q. Yes.
CRAIG BERUBE: I think just what I expect out of him. I know he's a goal-scorer. He scores lots of goals every year. But there's a lot more to his game than that. I think that needed to come out.

I really believed he could be a 200-foot player in this game. That was what we demanded of him. He wanted to do that, too. He wanted to become that player. He wants to be in all these crucial situations.

For me, he's gotten better and better over the year. He's really dialed into the team game, leading my example. His leadership has grown this year for me with his play on the ice, but also his communication off the ice with the team. I think that he's really become more of a leader.

Again, more of a 200-foot player, and that's the one thing we really demanded out of him.

Q. You're just now back home. The city hasn't seen a Stanley Cup Final game in half a century. What are you hoping to see out of the crowd, out of the atmosphere?
CRAIG BERUBE: Well, I mean, it will be a great atmosphere, for sure. It has been all Playoffs. I think the fans, they've been great all year. We have a great fan base here, great support from the city. Everybody's really excited right now obviously with the Blues being in the Finals.

Again, it's going to be a great atmosphere. It's going to be a lot of intensity, I'll tell you that.

Q. How hard have you seen Gunnarsson work to get back to this point, working through the injuries? How gratifying do you think it is for him, getting the pivotal goal for the series?
CRAIG BERUBE: Yeah, Gunnie obviously battled injuries this year at different times. He's always worked hard and found a way to get back in, perform at a good level, a high level for us. Even before Playoffs, from his injuries, things like that, he stepped in and played really well for us and scored some big goals, a lot like last night in the game, where he obviously game up with a huge goal again.

I think he's been real solid since he's gotten back in the lineup here in the Playoffs, given us really good minutes on a nightly basis in the Playoffs.

Q. Do you have a preference as far as your forward line?
CRAIG BERUBE: Well, we use the Sundqvist line against them. I don't think I really tend to stick to one line against them. I think it's did depending on the situation, where the faceoffs are, things like that.

I don't mind using two to three different lines against them, depending on the game, what's going on, how guys are looking. I go off a lot of that.

Q. Talk about what Sundqvist has meant to your team.
CRAIG BERUBE: Just all-around play, to be honest. Sunny has always been a good defensive player, penalty killer for us, hard working guy. His offensive side has really come through this year, scoring quite a few goals during the regular season. He's gotten four in the Playoffs here. Been a real good player for us in the Playoffs.

He's got a good offensive side to him, too. He's playing a real good 200-foot game. We kind of used him in all different situations.

Q. You want to give most of the credit to the players, but can you tell us what kind of stamp you put on this team when you took over mid-season, your strategies, schemes, how you motivated this team.
CRAIG BERUBE: Well, first of all, it is about the players. They're the ones that go out and do the job, play. They've really bought into what we want from them.

I think when we took over, we wanted a team-first mentality. We wanted to put the team first. We wanted to get these guys playing for each other on a nightly basis. That was the biggest turnaround for this hockey team.

Now the strategies and all that stuff, there's always different things that we bring in and work on and change. The players have all bought into things that we've done and changed in terms of strategies, the style of play.

From the style of play standpoint, I think we wanted to really get all our guys on the same program here and be real predictable, north-south hockey team, a heavy team, a physical team, a hard-forechecking team. That was the style that we wanted. Like I said, the players have really bought into it. We've had good success with it so far, so it's been good.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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