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NHL ALL-STAR WEEKEND

January 25, 2008

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Brian, let me first of all start off by congratulating the coaches for their selection in the 2008 All-Star Game. From the Western Conference, Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings. Beside him, Ron Wilson of the San Jose Sharks and in the Eastern Conference, Don Waddell who is hosting this event in beautiful Atlanta from the Atlanta Thrashers, and head coach of the Eastern Conference, John Paddock of the Ottawa Senators.
Gentlemen, we're going to cover a number of topics today, some of which will be very related to the All-Star Game which you are here appearing in. Some of them will be about the game itself.
Let's get started first of all, I want to talk to you about, how, Mike -- and I'll go to you first of all -- how do you rest your All-Stars when they come back to your hockey club, seeing how the rest of your team is off on a nice vacation now? How do you take care of the players who play the most, yes, they make the most, but they play the most; how do you get them their rest?
MIKE BABCOCK: I think that's a real good question. Real important factor is your best people have to be healthy and be jumping for you to win. In saying that, I don't think you're wearing anybody out at this opportunity. But we'll try to judge their time off. But when the game starts, you play your best players, that's what you have to do to win.
THE MODERATOR: John, what about, and feel free to jump in, guys -- it's a round table event -- John, you have a player in Daniel Alfredsson who came back from injury, and yet he is here. What is your feeling on being able to get him the necessary rest and others?
JOHN PADDOCK: Well, I think he's the perfect judge of his body. He came back and played the last two games and we probably monitored a little closer and lessened his ice time slightly. But I don't think he's planning on the event being too strenuous. He's been through them before. He'll put on his best, and whenever he wants a day off, he's more than welcome to have it when we get back to practicing.
THE MODERATOR: Oftentimes the length of the National Hockey League season is brought up in numerous discussions. The board of governors I believe have been discussing the same thing. Is it, Ronnie, when it comes down to the long season that the NHL is, and more importantly the last few years with the new competitive balance, and I know that one of the coaches in the National Hockey League said that he's been coaching in it for a long time, and now it's almost like every single night is like a playoff atmosphere. It's playoff intensity. Is that more of a wear and tear on the players? Are 82 games too much?
RON WILSON: Well, personally, I do think 82 games are too much, myself. I'd like to see a 70-game schedule, a few more breaks in there. I'd like to see around -- because the players playing off your team in the All-Star Game are your best players. They do play the most minutes. And you're giving the other guys like three or four days off to rest up. I'd like to see us have a week that we put aside and at least give the All-Stars a couple of days where they can be with their families and just rest and get away from the game.
But every game is tough. We've seen a jump in our conference this year with the number of teams improving rapidly that's made it really difficult. Chicago, St. Louis, teams like that, Phoenix in our division have really improved this year. Without a big dropoff from the Detroit -- well, San Jose, Anaheim's coming on. Every night is a difficult game no matter where you play.
THE MODERATOR: Donny, as coach and general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers, when you have been scouting and for many, many years, you've seen the elite leagues in Europe have their breaks through the course, I believe three breaks through the course of the regular season whereby the players can get away for a few days. Then they come back and they have practice time before they get back into league play. Should there be more consideration for smaller breaks within the schedule of the National Hockey League?
DON WADDELL: Well, if you could do it. The problem is our schedule is so condensed and that's where the injuries come into it. Ron just mentioned 70. And at the Board of Governors there's talk about an 84-game schedule possible. If we have to lengthen our schedule at all, we have to lengthen the amount of days in the season, which, of course, that is going to cut more into how long we play into the summer which nobody wants to do. It's got to be a fine line there.
When you're trying to play 82 games in 185, 186 days, I'm not surprised at the amount of injuries we run across. We all play three games in four nights on many occasions. It's a tough gruel for our players and a tough grind and it's something we have to be aware of and look at.
THE MODERATOR: So we go from a possible 70-game schedule to that of an 84-game schedule. Let's talk about something that I had to ask my general manager, Max McNabb way back in 1979. Max, we don't have pregame skates in junior hockey, yet it seems to work fine. Why do we have them in the National Hockey League? Why do we get our guys to drive, get up early in the morning, fight through heavy city traffic to get to the rink for a 20-minute, half-an-hour skate, turn around, shower, go all the way back through traffic again, only to have a pregame meal and a little sleep and then fight traffic back in again. Does that make any sense in this day and age? Coaches said to me when I surveyed them back some years ago, probably not. But if, in fact, we were to cancel them, then our general managers might think we're trying to get out of work and they might suggest that maybe we shouldn't have as many assistant coaches as we have. And others said it's only for the media. John, how do you feel about the pregame skates?
JOHN PADDOCK: Well, we're fortunate our players drive only ten minutes to where the rink is at. I don't think they're all necessary. We look at as the season goes on, the last, maybe starting now making them optional. I think besides the skate, you do some of your preparation to the players and who you're playing and stuff. And you like to get them out together as a group. But I think if nobody was doing them, we'd all be down in that element and things would be the same.
I think there is some benefit to it. But it is another time you could monitor the ice time.
THE MODERATOR: Mike, we all know for a lot of veteran players when they say it's an optional skate, they want to show their leadership and be there. So that sometimes becomes difficult, I know. On the other hand, how would it work, if, in fact, the media -- and you can ask the players to come to the rink at 4:30 and have a half-an-hour availability, and I'm referring somewhat to Major League Baseball -- to just avoid that extra fatigue during the course of the day. Would that help eliminate some of the fatigue, especially in January or February?
MIKE BABCOCK: I think John made a real good point, the fact that they don't all have to, you don't have to have them all the time. They can be optional. The other thing I say to you is the veteran guys, the oldest guys on the team, part of it is leadership, they've got to get the motor running. They've got to get going in the morning. Part of it is part of their life, it's part of their routine. What do you want to do all day? You want to get down there and get prepared, you want to get feeling good about your sticks and how you feel. You would be amazed how many times guys are there anyway. They just come in and want to do it.
So to me, can you wear your team out? Absolutely. You've got to monitor that they have a good feel of their own body. I think they really do that in today's age. I don't think we're wearing them out at all in the pregame skate. And depending on your environment it is a positive thing.
THE MODERATOR: Let's talk about the playoffs. Are the playoffs too long in the National Hockey League? Should they be reduced in size in order to, one, get the National Hockey League finished a little sooner, or secondly, have more gas in the tank when it comes to the ultimate being in the Stanley Cup Finals?
RON WILSON: No, I think the playoffs are fine the way they are right now. You shorten the season by shortening the regular season. But the playoffs, the 4 out of 7's, I played in the NHL when it started as a 2 out of 3 and you had all kinds of upsets early. You don't have that in other sports, but hockey's a sport where there could be upsets, where the 8th place team could beat the first place team, in our league, especially now.
But the 4 out of 7's, I think it's really exciting. That's when the players play their best. They're focused. And I wouldn't change the playoffs at all.
THE MODERATOR: Before we get off the topic about the length of the season, and pregame skates, are there any questions from the floor? And if so, please let them know so that before we --
RON WILSON: I'll add on my team when I call an optional, everybody goes on the ice. When we have a mandatory practice, I've got five or six guys who have little aches and pains who can't practice. So go figure that.
THE MODERATOR: Don, as a coach and general manager, how do you look at this? Because now you have the ultimate control. You don't have to worry about what the general manager feels as far as whether or not you give them too many optionals.
DON WADDELL: As I mentioned to Mike in Detroit up there a week ago or so, now that I've done both jobs I know one thing, coaches aren't paid enough money.
MIKE BABCOCK: I hope someone's writing that down somewhere.
DON WADDELL: These guys, it's a tough gruel for the coaches, too, preparing their players. Because not every night goes the way you want it to. So preparing what you're going to do the next day in practice, there are a lot of sleepless nights and these guys do this year around for a living. Mine's only a short term.
Certainly I think we're the same way. We try to monitor our players. When we have back-to-back games, obviously, try to stay away from the rink. And we deal with traffic issues in our city. But we're fortunate because players are allowed to stay right downtown and don't have to deal with travel and that. But I sense the same thing with our team. The older players want to come to the rink in the morning. It's funny because if you tell Bobby Holik he's going to take a day off, he doesn't like that at all. He wants to be on the rink and the ice. For some of the other guys it's probably a little easier for them to sleep in and not come to the rink. So I think it's something that you monitor as your team, and you try to judge it off what the schedule dictates.
THE MODERATOR: We're ending this section on a positive and unanimous note that the coaches in the National Hockey League should be paid more money.

Q. Just curious from the coaching perspective on players who were selected to play in this All-Star Game and have decided not to come for reasons other than injury, how you guys feel about it? Whether you think it creates a competitive imbalance? Mike, you've got a goaltender here because another goaltender decided not to come. A team that you may be playing in the playoffs in the first round; whether it bothers you, whether something should be done to try to stop this from happening, what your thoughts are?
MIKE BABCOCK: In our situation in Detroit we have Zetterberg who is hurt and would love to be here and was voted by the fans. I think it's a great opportunity for the athlete. We have another guy, Nick Lidstrom who has been ten times. He would be the easiest guy to say, "I don't want to come." But he looks at it as an opportunity to sell our great game. And that is the responsibility of being a great player. Osgood should have been here anyway, so it worked out fine.
We're talking about guys being too tired, guys being worn out. If you do it right, I think you can make this a lot of fun with your family and enjoy the experience and join the other people and get energized with it as well. So it's not going to be grueling physically. Maybe it wasn't the ski trip or the time at the beach you had planned, but I think a good opportunity.

Q. We talked to Daniel Alfredsson today about the fact that he seems to be getting better as he's getting older. He credits the system you have implemented saying it's more of an offensive system, allows them to put up more points. How much of that do you think is a factor? What do you attribute to the fact that as he's getting older his game continues to get better?
JOHN PADDOCK: I think he's an elite trainer. He trains tremendously hard. I think that is the basis of it. He's done that since he came over here. He has a tremendous set of skating legs on him. And we try to play an attacking game. But I think he's alluded to lately when the change in the rules three seasons ago that there is as much clutching and grabbing and hook and it's a little freer to skate. So for him allows him to, not stay out of the trenches, but play a game that's more of a skating game. But, yes, since the middle of the season last year he's been tremendous for us basically every game.
THE MODERATOR: Let's go to an email question out of Toronto. And let's start with you, Ron. The question is: Would you like to see your team participate in the start of the season in Europe, and how do you assume that the time difference would make an impact on your hockey club?
RON WILSON: Well, for us, the extra -- we'd be coming from the West coast. And I've seen how difficult it was for Anaheim this year to get out of the gate. I suppose I would prefer being a west coast team to be able to play a game in China or Japan.
But I'd be all for it. I played for six or seven years in Switzerland, and I've been lobbying in San Jose for a few years to have a training camp in Davos where I played, where Joe Thornton played as well. Altitude training, and I think the hockey would be good enough there to give us a challenge and prepare us through the season.

Q. It's been a long time for you between NHL jobs. Did you ever think during that time period when you were in the American League that you'd ever end up back here in the NHL as a head coach and now at an All-Star coaching round table?
JOHN PADDOCK: Certainly not at an All-Star Game. You dream and you think and you hope you're going to get a chance back and so forth. But to have a weekend like this with the elite players and coaches and the elite hockey of the world, you've just got to sit back and enjoy it. So I never thought that for sure.

Q. Don, I just want you to talk about Tobias Enstrom and his development; should we assume he's much further along at this point than maybe you even anticipated?
DON WADDELL: Yes, certainly, Tobias has been, for a first year player, has jumped in and done everything we've asked him to do. His composure on the ice and with the puck is extremely remarkable. Last year I watched him at the World Championships in Moscow. And I felt he could come in and make our hockey club. But I got to admit I never thought he could come in and log the most minutes of our blue line. You just watch him night in and night out. Guys hit him, try to hit him. He finds a way always to move the puck. Very rarely does he make a bad play with the puck. If it's not there in front of him, he'll turn back. Very composed for a young player. He's going to be an All-Star in this league. He's going to be a player for the next 10, 15 years. A very good player in this league.
THE MODERATOR: Let's jump to a different topic. One that might raise the hair on your arms. But it has been suggested, and not in a demanding way, but perhaps in a question form even by Paul Kelly the new head of the NHL Players Association, but many have asked the question with the style of game we play in the National Hockey League, do we have overcoaching? Is there too much coaching going on that affects the style that we have on the ice?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, you're asking the wrong guy, I think. I don't buy that for one second. I think we get paid to win hockey games. So we've got to find a way to win. I think every time you make adjustments you take up the red line. You do different things. I think coaches are paid to find a way to make their people be the best they can possibly be.
We're real fortunate in Detroit that we have a very offensive team that can really score, but we can check as well. So to me, I don't buy that for one second. I just think you have to find a way to help your team and your players be as good as they can possibly be.
THE MODERATOR: I'd like everyone's input. Ron?
RON WILSON: I don't think it's a matter of overcoaching anymore. Though I believe that coaching has improved. You have so many more resources. You see the other team playing all the time. You have coaches who break down stuff. But the improvement in the National Hockey League, and the parody that's there now has to deal with the number of quality players that are playing in our league. The athletes are so much better. They're quicker, stronger, faster, certainly a lot bigger. There's not much room on the ice. I have yet to play a team this year that I thought was poorly coached or poorly prepared. It's just an incredible league.
If you study the past of the NHL back when it was six teams, there was parity. There were top teams and bottom teams. But all the scores were 2-1, 3-2. That's the point we find ourselves now in the National Hockey League.
THE MODERATOR: What do general managers feel about this question being asked out there so many times?
DON WADDELL: I try to look at what happens. We talk about these coaches, and some teams have tried to put extra coaches. I think most NHL teams have a head coach, two assistants and probably a video coach. If you look at the number of players that they're trying to coach compared to the other professional sports, the ratio for coaches to players, we're at the bottom. NBA teams, a lot of them have shooting coaches, blocking coaches. They have seven or eight coaches for 12 players. And the NHL has 22 coaches on their staff. I don't think we're overcoached. There is a lot of responsibility when you're trying to handle 20 players on a given night of their responsibilities. I know these guys all have their assistants fully utilized. I don't think by any means we're overcoached. There are no secrets anymore. You know what every team is going to do.
THE MODERATOR: I started my National Hockey League career in 1979, I didn't have an assistant coach. I didn't have a traveling assistant. We had two trainers and that was it. So you handled the rooms -- and John, you know what I'm talking about here -- you kind of had to do it all. I'm not saying by any means that that was a good thing. I don't think it is or was. But how has coaching changed over the course of the years because there's always been good coaches in the National Hockey League. But I think the coaching level right now on all 30 teams is the highest it's ever been.
JOHN PADDOCK: I think as Ron alluded to, we have the best players, so that's where it starts in the world. I think the resources and technology that we have to break down teams, to be able to watch all games, basically home or away and prepare for them. We're just using everything that's available to us, and that's what we're supposed to do. As Mike said, we're paid to win. We're going to go to all those extremes and that's what we all want to do.
THE MODERATOR: Is that as much to the competitive balance that we have right now than salary caps? Has it been because of the extensive ability of coaches to be able to break it down and to be more competitive against the best teams if you aren't one of the best teams?
MIKE BABCOCK: I think there's no question about it is the preparation that goes into each and every game. Because you have access. I was in Detroit last night and I'm sitting around watching from five to six different games. You know what everybody does. So it's easy to prepare that way. You know all the players. Even in the East, we're in a different league, we hardly ever see them, but when you see them you're prepared because you know the players by watching it on TV and breaking it down with the computer systems that we have.
The bottom line is the league is so tight, you have to find an edge. What is that edge? And that is preparation a lot of times. If you feel you expect your players to prepare as a coach, you better prepare the other coaches.
THE MODERATOR: We'll take another quick break as we send it back.

Q. Just curious what you guys think of the implications or are there any for Sidney Crosby not being here? Or is this an opportunity for other great players in the league to be showcased?
DON WADDELL: I think certainly from being the host city here it's always disappointing to have arguably the best player in the league not here. But I think as you said, there is great opportunity for other players that are. I hate to call them fill-in players because then you'll look at me as a fill-in coach. But players that can step in there and not miss a beat. Obviously John lost Danny Heatley, and Marc Savard gets to come in for it, and Malkin now comes in for Crosby. It's a good opportunity. There are great players in this league. There are a few exceptional players. But this league is built on so many great players. This weekend won't miss a beat. We'll put on a good show here in Atlanta. And I think the fans are going away truly really getting excited about it.

Q. This is the first time where seven Russian players are participating in the All-Star Game. Are you planning to have a Russian five, and who is going to play on the left?
JOHN PADDOCK: I'm not sure a Russian five. I think for example Kovalchuk and Ovechkin are both left wingers that shoot right. They're big stars in this game. We've seen enough of Kovalchuk and Ovechkin this year. We're done with those teams and I'm very glad for the next couple of days.

Q. I once had a coach that said he had a player in his last year of his contract who had one great finish, actually had a great season. He said, "I wish I had every player in the last year of their contracts." We are now in a day and age of 15-year contracts, 13-year contracts, long-term contracts. What is your feelings about it? Don, you're a general manager so let's start with you?
DON WADDELL: I think there's a fit. We've got a situation, we've got a player in the last year of contract, I wish he wasn't in his last year of contract in Marian Hossa. So. Each team has to make tough decisions there. In Ovechkin's case, the owner and George McPhee felt he's their franchise guy and they're going to keep him long-term. And they've tied him up for basically his career. We all make decisions that probably some other teams wouldn't make. Whether it's four years for one guy. We all look at contracts that happen out there. I think in today's day with the salary cap, can you have two or three guys under those kind of contracts? Probably not. But certainly lock up your best player for long-term, I don't see a big problem with it.
THE MODERATOR: I want to get back to the motivational factor. We've got a question from the floor. I guess we don't. So let's get back to that question. From a motivational standpoint which coaches are responsible for, does that make it more difficult with players? I know it depends on who that player is, but do you see long-term wise that the National Hockey League went to more and more players on seven-year contracts or longer, do you see that as a potential problem? And does that make your job tougher, Mike?
MIKE BABCOCK: I think the big things here is when awe decide you're marrying one of these guys and you're going to have them there in your franchise for a long time, you better darn well know who you're getting and you better know what kind of person they are and they're not going to go to sleep on you.
I know we've got some guys on long-term deals that we're not concerned about one bit. You talk about motivation, and the coach is in charge of the motivation. I'm not sure that's truth. I think the environment you create in your room, and the kind of people you have deepens the motivation and drives your team.
When I look at our group and Nick Lidstrom who is leading the way for us, I'm not one bit concerned. When we sign a guy like Pavel Datsyuk to a long-term deal because of the drive he has and, the leadership and the atmosphere we have, that he's not going to play hard. So I think that's a big part of the decision you make.
THE MODERATOR: But that's always different depending on who the players are in your dressing room. I'll go back to the mid '70s where guys like Freddy Shero were going to coaching clinics and we had surveys of NHL coaches at that time at our NHL meetings they asked coaches that same question: How much of your job, as far as a percentage goes, is motivation? I mean, how much of that responsibility falls on you? Is it 50% of your job is a motivational factor on a daily basis? Is it 90? Is it 10? And the interesting thing that came out of it, some believed it was as much as 70 or 80. Some believed it was virtually none at all. It was the players' responsibility to motivate themselves. Has that changed at all, Don?
DON WADDELL: I think from my end we're, maybe, we lost a guy like Scott Mellanby last year who was a big part of our locker room. We have good guys in the locker room, but maybe we don't have the guy that steps up all the time. I think the coaches have to take some of that responsibility on. And we're fortunate to have Nick Lidstrom, and I was fortunate enough to be with him for one year and know what he does for your hockey team.
So it's a little bit from team to team, depending on what your chemistry is. In our circumstances right now, motivational and how you deal with the guys is a decent part of our responsibility.

Q. Should there be more than one outdoor game in a season and would you want your club involved? Donny, we're not going to start with you because you're in a pretty nice climate here most of the year. And Ronnie, your climate isn't bad at all. So let's start with John.
JOHN PADDOCK: I think it would be very neat to be involved in one. I think the atmosphere that you saw around the game in Buffalo was tremendous. So I think it would be something to be involved in. I don't know that you can have more than one a year. I don't know if you want to dim it in any way, the expectation, the build-up to it each season, but I think it's been tremendous for the game to date, and I think it would be great to be involved.
THE MODERATOR: There have been some suggestions that a number of teams now want to do it even though it wouldn't be a National League event. Mike, your feelings on it?
MIKE BABCOCK: I agree with that totally. I think it would be a great thing for Michigan and for hockey in Detroit. And I think we have the perfect place to have it with Michigan and Michigan State there. We could have a doubleheader or even a hockey weekend. I think it would be just great. I was so impressed with the atmosphere, I thought the snow really helped. But I thought the way the game was projected across the country, I thought the players did a great job and embraced it. I thought it showed good passion, and I thought it was a great seller of the game.
THE MODERATOR: It is interesting, great numbers on television for that game. Likewise in the NFL with a crazy, wintry-type game with Green Bay, some of their best numbers ever. Maybe it's that desire to be cold. That could be it.
Let's deal with the culture of hockey here. There have been some members of the media that have suggested that we don't have in the National Hockey League anymore, whether it be from coaching, whether it be through league intervention or maybe just the overall culture of the game from the time the kids start at the very youngest age of 6 and 7 as to how they are trained. But we don't have show boats, call them hot dogs, call them personalities, call them entertainers, call them what you will. Is that something to do with coaching? Have we curtailed that? Have we stopped that type of entertainment for the fans and from a media standpoint to perhaps promote the game better as some are suggesting?
RON WILSON: I don't think that comes from the coaches. I think that is part of the hockey culture. The players police themselves with regards to people who showboat. That's certainly, for example, this year I haven't said anything to Jeremy Roenick who is maybe the last guy standing from that point of view. Listening to J.R.'s quotes in the past, it was always great entertainment, but you always wondered, "Do I really want a guy like that on my team and what's he going to be like?" I've had them on my teams, National Teams and things like that for a short period of time and you can handle that. But this year I read one article in ESPN magazine, "When is He Going to Wear Out His Welcome?" So I say that to him every day, "J.R., you're wearing out your welcome." We laugh about it. But he's a great guy, a leader on our team.
I don't think it comes from coaching, to be honest with you. I think that's been part of hockey's culture. I don't know if we need that. I watch NFL games or NBA games, and I don't know if we need that, personally.
THE MODERATOR: Maybe we don't. But maybe also by the time that they get to the National Hockey League, coaches at lower levels have taken that out of them. And I'm offering that as a suggestion. Because you think back to the days of the great Eddie Shack, the entertainer of all. You think of Tiger Williams riding his stick at center ice, Jaromir Jagr not long ago having his salute; have we lost some of that though, and do we as coaches, knowing full well we're in the entertainment business, would we perhaps allow players or suggest that there's nothing wrong with showing those type of emotions or would we prefer to keep them all on a lower key basis? Because we all know there have been situations in hockey, I'll refer to Alexander Daige in the World Juniors where he ended up doing his famous shootout type of move where he came down on both knees and shot the other team and they almost came back and beat them. Because we all know that adds fuel to the fire. So over the course of years have we told them to stay away from that.
RON WILSON: I know at our level with the threat of being beaten up for showing up somebody, as long as we have fighting in the game, that kind of gets policed out, right there.
THE MODERATOR: Let me ask you this about coaches. I think back to some of the unbelievable, Scotty Bowman and Mark Crawford going at it, Jacque Demers and John Brophy, and Roger Nielsen waving the towel. Coaches throwing the sticks and how many times that was replayed over all of the televisions. But now has that been, because of suspensions, has that been, through league intervention, have we taken that out of the coaches as well from an entertainment standpoint? Some look at it as entertainment, some might not.
JOHN PADDOCK: I think it's frowned upon enough if you're careful. Last year we had a game where Brian and Lindy, it was very heated, very entertaining and the emotions ran high in the game. It's there, it just happens seldom.
DON WADDELL: I don't know about the coaching as much as we've seen it over the years. We have a player, Ilya Kovalchuk, that some people thought was a little bit of a hot dog when he scored goals and stuff. And I think players at a young age when they first, as Ron says, players start to police that themselves, as players get mature in their game, they learn that what they can do and can't do. I've seen players over the last few years, not Ilya, but some players kissing their stick when they score a goal. Those things you don't see them too often anymore. I don't know, I'm probably different than Ron. I don't even know if it's bad to have the other guy show some emotions sometimes. Sometimes that emotion helps. These guys are all fortunate, they're right on top of the leagues. So sometimes when you're in the middle, you're trying to get something going for your team, you know, get some reasons for your hockey club to be followed. You need some of these guys to maybe show some more emotion.
THE MODERATOR: The question from our email was is there a difference in personalities with minor league players, that of National Hockey League players, and do you have to adjust to that as a coach?
RON WILSON: I'm not sure I understand. Is this the people that you bring up?
THE MODERATOR: The people you bring up. The guys that may have been the best in the American Hockey League. Now they bring, you know the old saying is do what got you here or got you there, and now you bring them into the National Hockey League, often times it's first liners, maybe goal scorers, and I think that's maybe where our emailer was going to, they are the star of their team, and now you bring them in and they are fourth-liners and they are potentially getting a few minutes of ice time and they're not playing with the best players on your hockey club. Is there something to that and how do you coach those players?
RON WILSON: When you are doing call-ups for injuries and things like that, you're taking not necessarily a first-line player, a guy who just scores, you're bringing somebody in who has a little bit more of a complete game. I know when I've coached and you bring somebody up and you understand that he is a goal scorer, I try to avoid playing them on the fourth line. He'll get an opportunity in San Jose to play with a Joe Thornton or Patty Marleau. And we try to make him feel as comfortable as possible and enhance his skills as soon as possible.
But the guys when we send them down there are told we're not so much worried -- you don't have many guys playing in the minors who are going to be first and second-line players in the National Hockey League. They may think so, but you've already got your core people up front and you're looking. They've got to learn the game defensively. They've got to learn to be accountable. And that is the number one priority when we send people down.
When you get called up, you don't want to be a liability. You don't want to let your teammates down, and you want the opportunity to play. If you can't play on your own end, I don't think you're going to play on any one of the teams that are coached by the guys in this round table, I think that's pretty universal now.
THE MODERATOR: Before we get away from this question, John, because you coached in the American hockey league as well as the National Hockey League, oftentimes I've heard from American Hockey League coaches they have that disappointment too. The players played so well. They kind of pushed the general manager to get them up there, get them a chance, and then they get up there and play on the fourth line or get limited ice time. Have you been in those situations and how did you feel?
JOHN PADDOCK: Well, I think it happens like that for whatever reason. But it depends on the organization and how you set up and your call-ups.
We called up a young fellow for a game last week in Washington, Ilya Zubov, he's an offensive player. He's not putting up big numbers on the team. We played him with Alfredsson and Spezza the whole game. That's the kind of player he is. I don't know if he'll be the second line player in the NHL. But as Ron said, you've got to be essentially fair to them, but you've got to put them in positions where they have a possibility to succeed or else they're wasting your time and yours.
THE MODERATOR: We're going to take a break. And when we come back we'll question whether or not the media scrutiny around the National Hockey League impedes the coaches' jobs.
Welcome back to Atlanta. We're here with the NHL All-Star coaches. And we have a question from the floor.

Q. You guys had the 0-6 start and made the move to come down on the bench. And here we are sitting at the All-Star Game and you're going to be behind the All-Star bench. Have you stopped to think how much of a whirl wind this season has been for you and from that 0-6 start you're in the hunt for the playoff chase?
DON WADDELL: Never did we imagine starting 0-6. We just didn't feel like we were going in any direction. And we've had to make a change. We've battled. Our guys have done a great job. Since then we've played four or five games over .500. The whirlwind hasn't started because we're going to be sitting here. This weekend will take in a lot. It will be a lot of fun being the host, being part of this. We're fortunate this year because we're in a division right now that nobody's run away with it. We truly believe we can win our division. We sit here today two or three points out. We had a great stretch coming out of the break, six for seven at home, and an opportunity to hopefully make some hay.
THE MODERATOR: Let's get back to the question at hand in this section of questioning, the National Hockey League coaches, and that is that do we have now too much involvement by the media as far as with the team? Do they impede your jobs in any way, because let's face it, 20 years ago we were dealing with the newspapers, we were dealing with television, and we were dealing with terrestrial radio. And now we have, as we all know, just massive amounts of media sources from bloggers onwards. It's a good thing for promotion of the National Hockey League. How difficult does that make your job on a daily basis dealing with it all? And I'll use an example. Let's say that 25 years ago there are probably, if they were 30 teams in the National Hockey League as they stand right now, I would doubt that people in Dallas or Florida would probably know that there was a bit of a goaltending controversy going on in Ottawa.
JOHN PADDOCK: They probably wouldn't. Everybody knows in Ottawa, and they don't need a lot of media to know it.
THE MODERATOR: They know it around the National Hockey League. They read it on a daily basis.
JOHN PADDOCK: I think it's the coaching, the technology and resources that are there. We need to use to showcase the game as much as possible. And get it in as many markets and venues and different ways as possible. I think sometimes you're, whatever, you feel your time restraints are a little much with having to do with media for us, especially in Canada, but overall you have to understand it's part of the job, part of the game. It's an important part to put positive spins on it. And we're fortunate our team is a good team, and we get lots of positive press. But it's just part of it. I think that we have to revel in it and use it as best we can.
THE MODERATOR: As a player in the National Hockey League and long time coach in the National Hockey League, you've seen the big difference. We have commentators now between the benches. We've got a commentator on the bench asking coaches questions. Has that been hard for you to adjust to?
RON WILSON: Not really, what we do as coaches isn't exactly rocket science. I've done the -- put the head phones on and talked while the action's going on live. I might have made -- it was actually a mistake. I didn't intend to do that. It was supposed to be taped and they did it live, and I didn't want to like throw the microphone away. So we went with it. And now it's become pretty standard. There are a few teams that came up with the idea of having a reporter come during timeouts. I think the Kings were the first team to do that. And we picked up on that. There are cameras, it seems everywhere. I think you get used to it. I'm sure I'm not any different than anybody else; resisted it in the beginning, but if it helps sell the game, makes your team more accessible, you're willing to do all those things.
For ourselves and San Jose, we only have one beat reporter and the television stations rarely come by other than Fox Sports Net doing our games. So I'm not really inundated with media, fortunately. I'm able to kind of do my job in the dark as opposed to these two guys on the outside in the markets that they're in.
THE MODERATOR: I want to get to Mike in a moment, because you are in Hockey Town U.S.A., but Don, as a general manager and coach and someone who is trying to grow the game of hockey here in Atlanta, is there any such thing as too much? It may be something where we need to get inside more. We are dealing in a day and age of reality television. We are dealing in a day and age when we walk down streets in major cities and there are cameras watching us do everything. Is it something that you would object to more?
DON WADDELL: No, we're always looking for new avenues to get our word out. We're in a market and we compete with a lot of things in this marketplace. The only thing that bothers me about media is when you deal with all the speculations of the rumors, you know. Let's deal with facts. We spend probably half our time, and I know these guys do, coaches, and I know the GM's answering calls about these fake trade rumors that these guys in Ottawa make up. Not John, but...
THE MODERATOR: I thought John made a few of them up himself.
DON WADDELL: But that's what happens in the world. We're in that world where somebody blogs something, and we dealt with a big issue last week. Somebody blogs something, it becomes the Bible, and then you have to deal with it. You spend a whole day putting out all the fires of where there is no truth. That's the frustrating part. We're always looking for more avenues to get the word out about not only our players and hockey in Atlanta.
THE MODERATOR: What about you, Mike?
MIKE BABCOCK: I think the media is so very important. We have to give as much access as we can. Kenny Holland's mandate in Detroit was much more that way. It was more of a circus than I expected when I arrived. And the players are good at handling it. I think the media can get in the way. What I mean by that when I was an American League coach just like Don's team, we started 0-6. No one knew, we just buckled down, got going, and ended up winning the pennant. Sometimes the media can get in the way because they make the little issues bigger than they actually are. If you're bunkered down in saying that, the positives outweigh the negative so much. When you look at fans in our game, all they want to do is touch and feel and smell and get to know who the players are. And there is only one way to do that. Let the media help you with that process. Because we have the glass around our game and you have to for protection of the fans. It's not like going to a basketball game or baseball game where they can be right there. Or even you watch the players jumping in the stands with their fans, that is something that is really special. So access is so important. The only way they get that is by the media getting involved as much of as they possibly can. So we have to be cognizant of that fact and open our arms to it and embrace it.

Q. Should in order to increase interest in the United States, should the NHL find new ways to increase scoring? We've heard this one a few times. I don't know. There's been a few games, Donny, I think you were involved with one last Friday night, where you didn't have any problems in Buffalo seeing too much scoring going on. Maybe you did have a problem with that. But is that a problem? You've been involved with the U.S. National Team before. In U.S. hockey do we need more scoring?
DON WADDELL: I think it goes from team to team. If you watch our team you know there are going to be a lot of goals scored either way. If you take the combination of goals for or goals against, we're near the top. It's probably not a good thing. A team like Detroit that scores a lot of goals but doesn't give up a lot of goals. We're up almost a goal a game more than most teams because of the brand that we play. We try to outscore teams. If we go into games and score five, we might only give up four. So that will get us the win. But I think it's different in every market.
THE MODERATOR: I guess people kind of bring this question up again because they see the overall statistics. But if you look at the games right now, I can't believe that anyone can look at our games the way that they played since the new rules, after the collective bargaining agreement and the lockout and say we don't have a more entertaining game. I don't think people could say we don't have more scoring opportunities in the course of the game, even though as coaches you try to limit those scoring opportunities from the opposition. But don't you think we've got a more offensive game, John?
JOHN PADDOCK: I think it's an entertaining game most nights.
THE MODERATOR: More entertaining than before the lockout?
JOHN PADDOCK: Yes, I think it is. As long as you can keep physical play in, and the stars are allowed to strut their stuff as they do, it's not necessarily goals, it's chances and the entertainment that come with them. With stars like Crosby and Ovechkin and Kovalchuk, there are not too many nights I don't think people are entertained.
THE MODERATOR: Do you see a problem with a lack of offense in the National Hockey League? Your team is leading the Western Conference, of course. Offensively. Maybe you're not the right guy to ask.
MIKE BABCOCK: I think there are lots of scoring chances. Teams have skilled people that can generate offense. I think the goalies are flat out too good. I believe when you go back and look at the classic games over the years and you look at the whole picture, to me the biggest change in the game is the goaltending, the size of the people, the athleticism, and how well they're coached and how they stop the puck.
We've got guys that can't score in practice, and we have good players. So when you're under pressure in the game and there are people playing sound there is no time and space. And the goalies are outstanding. You know, we played Atlanta not that long ago.
I mean Lehtinen's got 48 shots or something like that. He was absolutely fantastic. It's not because we didn't have point-blank quality chances. We ended up with one goal that night. I thought it was entertaining. They scored too many, so that part wasn't entertaining for me. But the reality is we had opportunities, and the goalie was too good.
THE MODERATOR: We only have a couple left. I want to jump from the offense to that of the toughness of the game. The instigator rule, oftentimes also gets brought up. Do we need the instigator rule in the game? Donnie, you're a general manager.
DON WADDELL: I'm in favor of the instigator rule staying in the game. I think the players are smart enough to know. I think most of the time it's tough guys fighting tough guys. There are so few instigator penalties called. Maybe you'd have more fights if you took it out. Maybe people want that. But I believe it should stay in.
JOHN PADDOCK: I don't think it's being really used as a deterrent that much. There's just not enough. But I would like to see it go back. Take it out and see if there is a little more protection by the teams for their players and so forth. But I don't think it's a big thing in our game that's causing a problem.
THE MODERATOR: Ron?
RON WILSON: I agree 100% with Donnie. I think the instigator rule is fine, not only from my point of view, but from just watching all of the games. I would hate to see us take that away and open it up. Because you would have some teams that would load up to try and level the playing field. And you'd have that nuclear arms race often going with the Broad Street Bullies. You know, Anaheim kind of created a little bit of that last year, and they won the Stanley Cup and I think a few teams have tried to toughen up. Whether that's the way to go or that's what fans want or that's what is entertaining remains to be seen. But I think the rules are fine the way they are.
THE MODERATOR: The instigator rule was put in for a reason a number of years ago. Mike, do you think right now if there is something that happens in that game that that's stopping one of your tough guys from going after him? Is he thinking no, I can't do that because of the instigator rule?
MIKE BABCOCK: Not a chance. You'll kill that good penalty every single time. It's not like a too-many-men on the ice penalty. You don't have to worry about that. I don't think it has to change one bit. I think our game, as much as everyone talks about the toughness factor in the game, I think it's as tough as it's ever been as far as how hard it is to play. How quick they are, how strong you have to be to protect the puck. How hard it is to get to the net. They said it would be easy to get to the net. And I watch it night in night out. I don't see it happening that much.
To me the game is at a real, real good point. We have so many bright young stars that are so dynamic offensively. I just think the game gets better and better.
THE MODERATOR: They've asked us if we can come back with a few more questions before we let you go. So we'll break and come back to Atlanta in just a few moments.
Welcome back to Atlanta. We have four very esteemed coaches that have been good enough to give us their time. We've been discussing topics in the National Hockey League. We're going to wrap things up here.
Discuss really your thoughts, your individual thoughts on the All-Star Game ahead, the All-Star format from the last few years and what you like or maybe would suggest something that would make it better?
JOHN PADDOCK: I don't know about making it better, but I think with given the fans' the opportunity to choose the starters is a great way to start the game and get their choices for the stars to participate. I think representatives from each team, I think they'll put on quite a show. I think despite what we talked about, about them not being so much entertainers, I think they are entertainers, given the venue where the win-loss isn't near as drastic as in the regular season. So I think it should be an outstanding spectacle.
MIKE BABCOCK: I'm excited about it. Hockey fans are as well. We're real fortunate in Detroit, we have some of the best players playing in the world each and every night. But you come here and get them all together and you see how dynamic they are. And dynamic as people as well as players. And you see them let their skill come out. It should be a lot of fun. I find as a coach any time you're around the best players in the whorl, you have a chance to learn a lot, should be fun.
RON WILSON: This is my first All-Star Game and I'm 52 years old, and it could be my last All-Star Game. So I want to enjoy being around everybody. My family's going to be in. My granddaughter. It will be something that she can talk about.
But I don't think there's anything we can do to improve the game. I think it's a celebration of hockey, and we're all here to enjoy that.
THE MODERATOR: I thought you told me you were looking forward to the barbecue afterwards at Don's place, because you are the host, and this is your home, Don. Your thoughts as to how the All-Star Game festivities, the overall event has not only grown in number of days over the years, but has really become such a tremendous showcase for the National Hockey League.
DON WADDELL: We've been waiting for this day. We were awarded it in 04-05, and we had the lockout. This has been a long time coming for us. The city is excited about it, the fans are excited about it. And when you have the opportunity to take the best players in the world and put them under one roof, what a great opportunity for our fans to see that.
I've been joking in the last few days that all of these players are going to become free agents some day. So have an opportunity to talk in their ear once in a while and showcase your facility and your city, that may be a plus some day.
THE MODERATOR: We won't charge you for tampering on Saturday or Sunday for sure. Once again, thank you very much for joining us. And truly, enjoy the All-Star experience over the next few days. We look forward to seeing you.

End of FastScripts

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