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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v RED WINGSMay 20, 2009Andrew LaddSamuel PahlssonJoel QuennevilleCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Quenneville. Q. Joel, as you reflect on last night, would you do anything different? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: We'd certainly like a different outcome. You know, I thought we did a lot of good things in the game. You know, I just think that net-net, we improved from where we wanted to get to from Game 1 to Game 2. We needed to play a better game. I still think we want to continue to improve from the second game on, and each and every game we feel we have to be better. But I think that the trend is something we were looking for. I mean, obviously the outcome, we have to change. But, you know, we keep doing a number of things we did well in the game, build off of that, the positive things, we're heading in the right direction. Q. Did you like what you saw from Jonathan Toews last night? As far as Patrick Kane, didn't get any shots in the first game. Yesterday a little bit better. How do you get him more involved to get him more chances? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: Well, I thought both guys -- and I think collectively we improved our individual games as well as our team game. But I thought both guys had strong games. Johnny ended up on the score sheet. Kaner had a really good effort, was a threat, was dangerous every time he had the puck. If he plays like that, he'll be on the score sheet. But I thought everybody's improved their overall games. I thought they were a threat and dangerous, those two guys. Q. Unfortunately a turnover did create the winning goal for them. But you talked about having to cut down on turnovers. Up to that point, are you satisfied that they were able to clean some of that up? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: Well, I thought we were better in certain areas. I just think that's one area where we look at the three goals in the first two games where we had the puck on the point, we had pretty good possession of it, and we ended up giving three goals off of that. We certainly like to encourage plays and things like that. But they check well and their transition game off of those plays were, you know, very pivotal goals in two games. That's one area where we got to be better. Q. Joel, your team has rebounded from some tough losses this season. But this seems like it might be the toughest of them all. Do you take a different approach now with this team? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: It's certainly a tough loss. We're not happy with where we're at today. I think having an extra day here to recapture some momentum and some, I guess, excitement in our game. I think we're all disappointed exiting Detroit. The excitement of knowing what's going to be here on Friday is encouraging. So, you know, staying away today is good. Getting in another good day of practice going into Friday's game is what we're looking for. But, you know, we've been resilient in a lot of ways this year. We played, you know, games in Detroit where we could have had something out of it. But I think, you know, we could get one game here, feel good about ourselves, get ourselves right back and win. Q. Do you become a little more psychologist than coach in the next 48 hours? A lot of young players who have done amazing things this year, but now they're in a spot they probably haven't been. Do you have individual meetings with them? What is your approach? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: We'll see how we are. I think when we get into tomorrow, we'll have some meetings, go over what we need to do, kind of look back on yesterday's game. I think we got a pretty good pulse of our team. The beat of our team's been pretty consistent throughout the playoffs. We've had some highs and some lows. I think we can build on the positives of how we played yesterday, knowing that we did improve, and we're looking for that type of game from ourselves. I think if we can look to just improve off of those levels, knowing we're at home, taking advantage of the enthusiasm in the building, you know, we can get ourselves back into it. I think each and every guy still should feel pretty good about where we're at. We know we're playing the best. We got to be better, that's all. And I think our enthusiasm will be in the right places as we come together tomorrow. Q. Joel, the home crowd has energized you folks all season long. How badly do you need them in this upcoming third game? What kind of spirit of lift will that be for you folks? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: It will be fun to be back here. I think their last home game was pretty remarkable against Vancouver. We did some good things in our first two games in the series. But I think we played well here all playoffs long, all year long. The excitement in our building even gets greater and greater as we've gone along here. So we expect the enthusiasm to be at an amazing pitch. So we want to make sure that we use that in the right way. But we still should be excited about playing our next game, knowing that we're close to getting where we want to go. If we get that result, we'll feel good about where we're at in the series. Q. Joel, you're getting shots. Are you satisfied, though, with the good scoring chances, that you're getting enough of those? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: You know, I look over the course of the game, we had I'm going to say a number of scoring chances against them. You could quantify the quality as being pretty good to real grade A. I thought most of our grade A were in the first part of the game. But I still thought we had some good momentum in the latter part of the third period. So net-net, you know, it's one team where you don't get many scoring chances against or shots on net. So we feel like we're doing something right. So I think we keep trending in that direction, we'll find the back of the net a little bit more often. Q. Coach, you get obviously the last change in these next two games. I'm curious, with that in mind, do you go back to your regular lines or do you like what you saw last night and keep 'em? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: Well, we'll see. I know that, you know, their matchups, I'm not sure exactly at the end of the night which line they were really concerned about, and I know they split up their pairs on the back end with the line. But we changed our lines in games a lot of times based on how we're playing or how the matchup's going or the score of the game. We're pretty flexible in that regard. We'll see how it all plays out. But we got a day or two to sort that out and visit with it come game time. Q. Health-wise, do you feel that you need this extra day off before Game 3? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: No. I think we're a younger team. I don't know if we need the extra time off going into the games. But that's the way this round is, is a couple extra games inserted here, a couple extra days in between, I should say. But, you know, I think guys don't mind the extra day to get ready for the in next game. I think it helps us, not having the momentum, to recapture some of it. Q. Did you see the reaction from your guys after the game, the way that you wanted to see them? A disappointing loss, but did you see the way they handled it immediately after the way you wanted them to? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: I don't think there's a great response after an emotional and tough loss. I think we should all be disappointed. And I think that anger that's probably with you right then is going to be around a little longer. And I don't think that's a bad thing. Q. Joel, if you look at it, you have to win four out of five against Detroit. Do you believe in your heart you can win four out of five against the best team in hockey? JOEL QUENNEVILLE: I believe we have to win the next game. That's what we're looking at. That's what we're looking forward to. We get some momentum. Let's play it one game at a time. THE MODERATOR: Thanks very much, coach. JOEL QUENNEVILLE: Thank you. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andrew. Q. Are you mad after last night's finish? Are you feeling like that was the wrong kind of finish to that game, angry about it? ANDREW LADD: Obviously I would have liked to have come out on the other end of it. But at the same time I think there's a lot of positives we can take out of that game, move towards a Game 3. Really just focus on winning that one game. Q. It's a tough task obviously, beating this team four out of the next five, but confident that you can do it? ANDREW LADD: I think so. I think this group has handled adversity well throughout the year. Every time we've come up with a challenge, we've really responded well. So, you know, we're really looking forward to the challenge at hand. We know it's gonna be tough. But, like I said, all you can do is take it one game at a time and go from there. Q. Do you think you've shown them close to your best hockey yet? ANDREW LADD: No, I think there's still another level to go. You know, we're still a young team. I think the first game we weren't very good at all. The second game we took steps in the right direction. We still, you know, got some little things we need to improve on. But I thought we got a lot better in Game 2. Q. Andrew, as one of the three Hawks who have won a Cup, do you now try to step up and calm this team down? Do you say anything to become more vocal at this point? ANDREW LADD: I just think you don't want to panic. You know, I think every team that goes through runs, they have a little adversity they have to face. I know in Carolina, our first round against Montréal the year we won, we lost our first two games at home and ended up winning that series in six. You know, like I said, all you can do is focus on the Game 3. I guess that's the message we're going to try to get across, is, you know, obviously the importance of that game. We're coming home in front of a great crowd, try to use that to our advantage. Q. It seems like in both games early on you had the tempo up. Can you keep that tempo going for a longer period on Friday night than perhaps you did on Sunday and also in Game 1? ANDREW LADD: Yeah, I think that's kind of an area we can improve on, you know, keeping our foot on the gas throughout the whole game. You know, they're very good at sticking to their game plan. They're very good at staying the course. And we got to make sure that, you know, we're sticking with our game plan throughout the whole 60 minutes and not deterring from that. Q. What do you think of the scheduling, a couple days off? They're the older team. Would you have liked to have had a traditional one off between games? ANDREW LADD: I don't think so. I mean, I think you go through playoffs, there's always, you know, guys with bumps and bruises. Anytime you can get an extra day or two here and there, you know, we'll take. We'll take the energy we can get from that and try to use it in the right way. Q. What is your attitude right now, I guess, after last night's loss, coming in this morning? How are you guys feeling? ANDREW LADD: Well, you know, to be honest, it's fine. I think, you know, you have to let that go. Last night, it's a tough loss. But still seven-game series and you got to win four games. And right now, you know, there's still a long way to go. So I think there's positives we can take out of that game. And I think our team has been good all year of really coming back after tough losses and coming out with a good effort. So, you know, like I said, I think we're just excited to get to Game 3. Q. Guarantee a win? ANDREW LADD: No, but I can guarantee a very good effort from us (laughter). THE MODERATOR: We have Sammy Pahlsson. Q. From your past experience playing Detroit in the playoffs, do you see things maybe you guys can still take advantage of with them that maybe you did before? SAMMY PAHLSSON: Well, it's a completely different team I'm on now, different organization. But think you can beat every team out there. We're in a little bit of a hole now, but I think we can put it together and play really good on Friday. We have a chance to come back a little bit. Q. Sammy, as one of the three guys to have won a Stanley Cup, do you become now more vocal yourself, talk to some of these players, tell them it's a long journey, use some of your experience? SAMMY PAHLSSON: Well, I try to use my experience all the time. I think everyone on the team tries to help out in their way. I try to do what I can. I don't think we have to calm down the team. We have a good feeling on the team. We know we still have a chance, even though we're down 2-0. We have a little bit of a hill to climb, but it's not over yet. I think we all know that. Q. Everybody talks about how great Detroit is, and they are. But it doesn't seem from watching the first two games like the Blackhawks are in awe of them; almost as if you were their equal. SAMMY PAHLSSON: Well, we know they're a great team. They're the defending champs. They played really good this season, too, so we know that. But we have a good team. We played good. We had a great season. I think we can play with them. We didn't win any of the first games, even though we wanted to. But we have a chance. Q. After the game last night, did you look and talk to guys and sort of see their reaction, what kind of reaction they had? Was it what you would look for as a veteran player? SAMMY PAHLSSON: Yeah, I think so. We all thought we played a lot better in the second game. We obviously made it to overtime, were really close to winning that game. We think we played a lot better than the first one. So that's what we wanted. We didn't get the result we wanted, but we did what we wanted. We played a lot better and we got a chance to win. Guys were obviously not happy with losing, but we have to put it behind us and get ready for the next game. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Sammy. End of FastScripts |
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