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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: DUCKS v RED WINGSMay 17, 2007Randy CarlyleRyan GetzlafTeemu SelanneANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Game Four JAMEY HORAN: Questions for Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf. Q. Teemu, the power play tonight, do you think you were a little more patient, passing on the power play? TEEMU SELANNE: I think we did better job. I'm not so happy still you know. We can do better job. But I think we were making better decisions and we were not rushing the plays and forcing the pass. Better job, but still I'm expecting we're going to be better. Q. Ryan, how was the play unfolding before you scored in the third period? Teemu, how much of an emotional boost does this victory give your team? RYAN GETZLAF: Well, I mean, obviously the play started in the corner. Without Todd Marchant battling in the corner to get that puck out, we got that rim around, and Teemu made that pass across the lane there. You know, it didn't stop there. Todd Marchant went and battled, got in front of the net. The goalie didn't see a thing all the way in. TEEMU SELANNE: Well, obviously it was a huge boost. I'm really expecting that this is going to carry over in the next game, too, you know. Obviously, we lost Pronger tonight. You can't replace guy like him. I think I told already before, going to give great opportunity to other players to step up, show what they can do. They did great job. You know, we have to be smarter. Five-on-five, I feel pretty comfortable about our team. But we just can't take those penalties. We put ourselves behind the eight ball. So we have to be smarter. Q. Teemu, you've talked in the past, and other people have talked in the past, about Ryan's potential, about how he can be a star in this league. A goal like this tonight in a situation like that, is that the kind of thing that a star does? TEEMU SELANNE: You know, he's not going to only be a star, he's going to be a superstar (smiling). I don't think this guy knows how good he is. I know he can be even better. I'm expecting next couple years, he could be the best player in this league. It's unbelievable things what he can do on a daily basis. I be very lucky to see him every day. I told before that I haven't seen better hands in anybody in my career than this guy. So, you know, you owe me beer now (smiling). Obviously, he's a great puppy. RYAN GETZLAF: I let him win in golf, too (smiling). Q. This game compared to last game, what do you think? Such a comeback. TEEMU SELANNE: Well, obviously the last game, we did everything wrong. I think even the coach said after the game that, Let's just forget this. There's no reason for watch videos or anything, let's move on. That's what we did, you know. We knew we had to be better tonight. Like I said earlier, we lost Pronger. You can't replace him. You have to play team smart, team tough. I think we played good enough game to win. But we can be and we want to be better. Q. Did you see all the fans throwing the octopus onto the ice right after? What are your comments on that? RYAN GETZLAF: Go ahead. TEEMU SELANNE: I didn't even see that (laughter). Q. They usually do that for the Red Wings. All your fans were really waiting for this. To see the octopus, quite a scene. RYAN GETZLAF: I think it shows our fans are getting involved a little bit, the fun of the whole playoff atmosphere. Obviously that kind of stuff happens in Detroit. It's good to see our fans kind of rally around us. I mean, it's a little thing, but it just shows they're involved and they're paying attention the whole series. Q. Teemu, getting the goal tonight, sense of relief or just kind of what was the emotion when you got that one? TEEMU SELANNE: Well, you know, obviously as a goal-scorer, it's really tough sometimes when you can't score. But, you know, it's nothing what I haven't faced before. You just have to work hard and believe that those goals are coming. I think I had some chances to score. When they don't go in, it's tough. But it's not about me. It's about team. Some nights you can't score, you have to do something else to help the team. We need everybody, and tonight it was a little bit my turn. Obviously confidence is everything about this game. I think this was really good boost for myself, too. Q. Gutsy on the game winner. The pass from Teemu, looked like it was fluttering. Were you waiting for the shooting lane to open up or waiting for the puck to settle down? RYAN GETZLAF: No, it was actually a great pass. He sauced it right through the middle. I just had to wait a little bit for guys to get over into the front of the net. I think it was a bit of a scrambling play where the puck went side to side. I had to wait for our guys to get in their position, wait for their guy to overcommit a little bit there so I could pull it around them. JAMEY HORAN: Thank you, gentlemen. We'll bring Coach Carlyle up shortly. Questions for Coach Carlyle. Q. Randy, with Pronger out, what kind of tactical adjustments did you have to make for tonight or was it just a matter of different players needing to step it up a notch? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: Well, you know, we've talked about it off our last performance, we weren't any way, shape or form the type of hockey club that we are capable of playing to. The level of play that we displayed tonight was kind of a gut check for our group. We felt that - the same statement I said after the game: the most important game will be the next one and we'll be judged by our response. Our players took that responsibility upon themselves. We had different people step up and have huge games for our hockey club. Q. Can you talk about the game Ric Jackman played, his first action in well over a month, and do you expect to see him again in Game 5? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: Well, again, when a player comes into your lineup that hasn't played in a while, he had back spasms, he was out for the better part of a month with back spasms, and he's worked hard, and it's a tribute to the player, his off-ice conditioning, the amount of time he put in in the gym, then he steps into a puck tonight and scores a big goal for us. Those are all big positives. You know, as far as where he'll be in the lineup in the next game, we'll assess the situation and see how we feel what we're going to need from our back end. Obviously, Pronger will be back in the lineup. That means somebody might come out or we could go with seven D. Q. Why did you decide to put Carter in the lineup? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: We decided actually yesterday based upon we needed another center ice man because we felt we were going to have to move Marchant to the wing. He was the only natural center. He's a bigger-bodied kid. He didn't get much of an opportunity to play tonight as our fourth line did not. When you have six, seven shifts, I just felt the way the game was going, with the amount of penalties we had to kill the second period, it was an issue for us. Our fourth line got sat on the bench. Q. How much did that first period do for your psyche? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: Obviously, we showed we were ready. It wasn't a question of anything other than the fact that we were a very determined group from the beginning. And that's the way every game has to be played. That's a tribute to our players. All we as coaches can do is just try to provide them with the necessary tools or strategy to give them the best chance for success. The reality of it is our players took that responsibility upon themselves. Q. Did you make any adjustments to your power play going into this game or was it just a matter of execution? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: I think what we did is we tried to do a few different things. We found ways. We had more traffic in front of the net. We shot the puck a little more. But we haven't thought that our power play hasn't created chances; it hasn't created enough for us in some of the earlier games. If you continue to get those chances, people continue to shoot the puck, you have traffic, it's hard for any goaltender to see it. They can't stop what they can't see usually. Q. Did you think it was only a matter of time for Teemu to break out or were you starting to wonder when that time was going to come? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: I coached him now for two years, and I played with him a long, long time ago. He's a dynamic individual that if he continues to get his chances and continues to shoot the puck, he's around the puck, he's a difficult player to hold off the scoreboard for an extended period of time. The pressure that goes with it, he takes it very personal. You know, he's a very emotional individual. He doesn't show that probably on his exterior. I know it was burning up inside of him that he wasn't scoring any goals as of late. It was good to see. It was a goal-scorer's goal. It was a puck that was bouncing around, and he found a way to whack it, got through on Hasek. Q. Ryan's goal, could you comment on the patience he showed and also the shot itself? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: It was a pass across from Selanne to Getzlaf. The one thing Getzlaf can do, he can shoot the puck. He doesn't always have to slap it, as he proved tonight. He has the ability to wrist the puck and get pucks on the net. That's the most important thing. From out there, a lot of times it's not the hardest shot, but it's the shot that's the most accurate or placement of the shot. You got to get shots with people in front and traffic. He was able to find that tonight. JAMEY HORAN: Thanks, Coach. COACH RANDY CARLYLE: You're welcome. End of FastScripts |
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