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NHL ALL-STAR WEEKEND

January 22, 2007

Brendan Shanahan

DALLAS, TEXAS

BRENDAN SHANAHAN: When Dan Cleary was hot as a pistol I was hearing from him every day. So, yes, still keep in touch with some of the guys. And send some holiday wishes and things like that.
But it gets busy. Because most nights either I'm playing or they're playing. But definitely kept in touch.

Q. First off (inaudible) all the changes in the rules that obviously (inaudible) what do you think of the game has come, what do you think of the game that's resulted from (inaudible)?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: I think it's a work in progress. I think obviously I like the direction it's going. I would tend to agree with Lindy Ruff that it's -- I don't think they're calling it as strictly as they were. And I think, you know, we're still seeking that sort of like perfection from the referees, which is a tough thing to ask.
But I feel lately that it has been scaled back a little bit.
Maybe -- I don't know what the reason is. I think lately it's been expressed we want to eliminate phantom calls, which we do. But that's not really -- that's not an invitation for not making calls when the call needs to be made. Especially in the last, you know, ten minutes of the game.

Q. The big picture on the game, though, what's it have in terms of --
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: I think you watch -- I don't think we're ever -- you're never going to stop complaining about officials. I bump into basketball players, they're doing the same thing. But all you have to do is go back and watch a game from five years ago.
And I guarantee that if you know it's amazing to watch those games now and see the blatant hooking and holding and really good players just getting absolutely tackled.
And we can go back to that. As much as some nights are frustrating, you know we could go out tomorrow and change all the rules to a bunch of new rules. And we'll be frustrated with those ones.
I mean, it's just like parenting out there, you know? But the direction it's going, the speed, the players' abilities to make plays and the fact we have younger players doing it in juniors and the minor hockey leagues. You're going to see players who don't look unfamiliar with it. Don't look awkward with it.
I think it's just going to be better and better.

Q. Some satisfaction from the standpoint of being here after having played a significant --
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Yeah, there is. Because I think it was in the back of my mind when we were doing these rules is I might be pushing myself out of the NHL because I said many times, you know, clutching and grabbing was fine by me.
(Laughter) It worked for me, lining up against a guy like Daniel Briere. It was kind of an equalizer for me. So I think that there are a lot of people coming out of lockout with the new rules and being off a year at the age of whatever I was then, didn't think I could play let alone couple of years later be playing in an All-Star game.

Q. How difficult is it to be patient with the change, because I remember Paul (inaudible) saying it's going to take a few years to unlearn the habits of a lifetime. People know that intuitively but they want it to be faster than it happens?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Right. And I wouldn't have said -- I wouldn't have said three or four, what we're experiencing now with Lindy Ruff's comments and what I just said there, I think as we're going along I think there will be corrections, little correction too little, until we kind of get to an even plane.
And I think the same way I'm saying you've got all these young players now coming up who are going to be playing this style in Pee Wee and Bantam and Pee Wee and Junior. I think you'll have referees coming up through the ranks who will get to the NHL and be a little bit better equipped to call those plays.
So, again, I just think we're never going to achieve perfection. But I just -- from the standpoint of when I watch games, you know, it's a lot -- it's a lot more exciting. There's a certain amount of fairness to it that you see a player beat a guy through the neutral zone.
Once he gets a step on a guy he deserves to maintain that step so long as he's skating.

Q. The turnover in personnel from the last All-Star game to this one, do you attribute to new rules new guys learning the game, playing faster? How much do you attribute to the fall-off of older players from the (inaudible)?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Part of it is just naturally I think a year off at a certain age for certain players. Probably going to be the end of their career. And, you know, it's exciting to see some of the young players. But there have been a lot of comeback stories as well, as much as they're new players and new faces. You look at a guy like Teemu Selanne, who pretty much bring into the lockout -- coming out of the lockout I don't think he had a whole lot of teams lining up for him. If you're an unrestricted free agent right now you'll have 32 teams lining up for you.
There's a lot of good stories on both sides guys who people felt maybe were done who weren't and also guys who saw an opportunity to take advantage of a certain style that suited their game and level of excitement.

Q. How surprised are you that the star power got so young so quickly? So many first-timers and marquee players in the league now much, much younger?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Yeah, I think it goes in waves. And obviously the Gretzky-Messier group, Lemieux and these guys, they were just so fantastic for the league. And they really made these events. They were the reason why people made the trips to the All-Star games turned them on in the evening to watch the games.
Now you've got that same thing coming, with guys like Crosby and Ovechkin only to name a few. There's so many of them. So many of these guys who are very young and who are going to have a lot -- there are a lot of NHL players on break right now who are going to watch the game because they want to see these guys play together.

Q. Involved them in the ongoing dialogue of the direction of the game.
It's not me.
(Laughter.)
Q. You know what I mean. Like I think a lot of people will argue Crosby is great, Ovechkin is great. But they've come into the game at an opportune time. They didn't have Chris Pronger hanging all over their backs. Not to diminish what they're saying, but it helps them. So when you sort of discuss the direction you want the game to go what kind of feedback do you get?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Like you said they just entered into this. And they didn't really have to experience some of the frustration that you heard Mario talking about for so many years or Brett Hull talking about for so many years. All they have to do is spend an hour with Mario and ask him what it was like on some nights. Can't imagine Mario being a 20-year-old playing with these rules, or Wayne Gretzky and some of these guys.
But they have an opportunity to get involved. I mean, when we set up the competition committee, we put a three-year window on it for guys just so it wasn't going to be just the opinion of six NHLers for their whole careers. It was going to be constantly moving around and new players and guys who not only had an interest and an opinion but were willing to put the work in because it's a lot of work.
And it's your private time and personal time and it's sometimes a pain in the neck to get to meetings or to be available for conference calls. You're talking about 12 people who have very busy schedules all getting themselves available.
So I hope that these young guys do get involved. And at some point in their careers stick their necks out and have a say and get involved in something like this. Because that was the vision when this was started, that new fresh players, fresh ideas would keep coming in.

Q. You mentioned (inaudible) is it too soon to (inaudible) making the nets bigger and things like that?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: I don't think -- my personal opinion is I don't think that we're at a point yet where we have to make the nets bigger. I think we've -- the goalie is going to hate me for saying this, but I think we failed a little bit with the goaltenders and their equipment and streamlining the equipment.
So so much of the focus was on the width of their pads and it's really about their upper body, in my opinion. And, you know, you want to make sure these guys are protected. I just don't understand how a cop can walk down the street in a bulletproof vest and look normal, yet our goalies have to look like Lacrosse goalies, Michelin men, in order to stop a puck.
They're going to hate me for saying that, but I prefer to streamline their equipment even more before we make -- they hate me more before I say make the nets bigger. Put it that way. I'm not in favor of making the nets bigger. I think to a certain degree we have to look at the goaltender situation again with their upper body and pants.
I think the shoulders are high again. I think that their arm pads are square again. And I think the jerseys are big. The pants are big. There's a million reasons why they need it. And I think most of them are performance.

Q. Jerseys, streamlining the jerseys, is that going to help anything?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: It will expose certain --

Q. Areas?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: It will help a little bit.

Q. (Inaudible) sleep?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Sleep? No, that's not the goal. I said the fact that my kids aren't here I will probably get more sleep. I remember Larry Murphy saying to me, when he first came to the team when we were going on the road. He was so excited about -- I forget. We were in a fun city, might have been Chicago. He was so excited. And I thought, going to go out to dinner, have a couple of drinks? And he said, No, the sleep. When you have kids, you'll realize it's the best part of being on the road is uninterrupted sleep.

Q. With all the young first-timers, first-time All Stars, as a veteran are you worried that the tempo and the keenness will be a little high for what some of you veterans prefer in a All-Star game?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: No, my game is all about speed. So I'm happy to have some company there.

Q. As a veteran, if somebody has maybe amped it up a notch too high than maybe it should be, do you take it upon yourself to --
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: To what?

Q. Step in and say, Hey, kid, this is an All-Star game kind of thing?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: No, I won't. Do whatever you want to do. However you want to play it.

Q. (Inaudible)?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: I haven't really tried it. We had one in practice. But you know they had the wrong size for me. I couldn't really give a fair opinion. Because they had sized me wrong, incorrectly.

Q. Can you comment on (inaudible) this game (inaudible)?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Isn't he hurt, though? Yeah. Well, it's too bad Mike's not here because, I mean, being here in Dallas, what he's done for this organization in Minnesota and in Dallas, it would be great if he was healthy, I'm sure. If he was healthy, he would be playing.

Q. A lot of talk, young guys, yourself, Teemu Selanne having a fantastic year. It's got to be just as important for people to see the elite players in an All-Star game?
BRENDAN SHANAHAN: I think your career goes in so many different stages where you're trying to elevate your game and then maintain your game and when you get to a certain point in your career obviously it's your goal when you're working out in summer or preparing for the season. It's about maintaining a certain level and you want to talk to a lot of players, friends of mine who have retired and they all say the same thing.
Sometimes you think about retirement and you think it's a welcomed relief, but they also play as long as you can.
So the advice you get from guys who have gone through it is as long as you can maintain that level, do it.

End of FastScripts

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