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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v RED WINGS

May 25, 2009

Mike Babcock

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Practice Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mike Babcock.

Q. Mike, can you give us an update on your injured three.
MIKE BABCOCK: Who are the three? We got like five of 'em. Pick which ones you want.

Q. Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Draper.
MIKE BABCOCK: Draper won't be playing. Datsyuk and Lidstrom are day to day. And I don't have to worry about it today. We don't practice or play. So, you know, for a couple more days...
I'm hopeful to see Pav and Nik very shortly here.

Q. We've made such a big deal about the Red Wings having the experience in this series. What does experience teach you about closing a team out?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I don't know. I mean, you just got to continue to play your game and focus on yourself, understanding all the time that you've done nothing till this point. I think that's very, very clear. You're allowed to enjoy today and that, but it's gonna be hard.
As soon as you let up for one second, and the other team gets more focused, then they beat you. So you just got to stay doing what you're doing and try to make the adjustments you need to win the next game.
And I think it's really important, last year was a great example, we lost two Game 5s at home that, in the end, could have cost us the series.

Q. Talk about how important the guys on your blueline have been, your defense, how vital.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I think, you know, we spend a lot of time here talking about Nik and Raf. But Stuey and Kronner have been fantastic, the big E and Lebs, Cheli did his part for us there yesterday.
I think it's very, very important if you're gonna play the way we play, your D got to be able to move the puck, they got to be able to play real defensively. We've been able to do that. Ericsson has given us another dimension obviously. The physicality of Stuart and Kronwall is so important for our success at playoff time.

Q. Talk about the way Filppula obviously stepped up and produced.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, Fil, I think Fil probably in his own heart and his own mind thinks he should always be in that spot all year long anyway. He doesn't get that opportunity that much when we don't play Datsyuk and Zetterberg together. Fil we think is a second-line center in the NHL. He's a dynamic skater, can pass the puck. As he evolves in his career, he'll get to be able to shoot the puck. It's not that he can't shoot it, but he doesn't have confidence to shoot the puck. So as he gets a better shot, he'll be more dynamic offensively.
But I thought he made great plays last night, the Hossa, the two of them have great speed. The way Hossa played opens up room and gives Tom time to get to the net, then suddenly you have a real good line.

Q. It's not as if Nik is ready to go out to pasture. He's 39. Kronwall will succeed him as the No. 1 guy. We don't get to see him as the lead dog in big games because Lidstrom is so durable. Having watched him perform yesterday in that big game, can you talk about where he is now in his game.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I think, you know, it's interesting for me. I didn't think his regular season was up to par for him. But you could say that about a lot of us. So at crucial times, I think he knows how to play. I thought he was outstanding last year in the playoffs. I think it's been well-documented he was the best defenseman at the World Championships a few years back. So he's a real good player.
But like you say, when someone else is the lead dog, you don't get those moments. You don't get to be the poise guy under the heat making the play. I thought Kronwall did a real good job of leadership yesterday. Stuart, Rafalski, all of them. If I'm building a team in the National Hockey League, I want Kronwall on my team.

Q. Talk about how important it is for him and the team, for Hossa to have scored after several games without.
MIKE BABCOCK: That's what I said when I was driving home with Brad McCrimmon in the car yesterday. I said, it was good for him, but good for us, because we needed him to step up.
What I liked about him is he skated great. He took the puck to the net. He was physical. If you do those things, the rest of it happens.
And sometimes when you're a scorer, you're so concerned about scoring, you think the only way you play good is you score. That's the same with the Mule. That's not what makes them important.
Now, we want him to score. But what makes him important is how big they are and how they skate. Same with Cleary. How much pressure they put on the opposition. How they take the puck to the net. And the way they can be physical within the rules of the game. And they're all good defensively.
So I thought he was excellent at those things and then he scored.

Q. You talk constantly about having skill but also the will. Their resistance to the goading sometimes goes overlooked. Talk a little bit about the mental determination, discipline your team has.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I think when you're a team built the way we are, you have to be disciplined, you just have to be. I think you got to evaluate what you got and you got to play to your strengths. That's going to do us no good. We're not going to be deterred or intimidated or backed up, not for one second.
So, you know, we like the way it's going because you get to go on the power play. Eventually our power play's got to break through.

Q. Coach, I know the first question had to do with being there before. But do you believe that your team, considering how shorthanded you were, did you send a message last night?
MIKE BABCOCK: I don't buy any of that stuff. Messages and momentum, and I talk about this. I think Jim Leland's momentum is as good as tomorrow's starter. I think hockey is the same thing: it's a new game tomorrow or the next day. I don't buy into any of that stuff.
I believe in living in the present and getting prepared for the opportunity we have. You know, we have a good opportunity. I understand that. The guys understand that. But if we don't play good, last game doesn't mean anything.

Q. Mike, over the years, in your era, so much has been made about the Red Wings talent. Talk about the physical toughness this team has, how they punish people both ends of the ice.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, what we try to do is we try to be physical. We try to be hard on the puck. We like to have the puck. Lots of nights we have the puck a lot, so you don't have as many finished checks. You finish checks when you don't have the puck.
In saying that, I think we have as good a net presence as anybody in hockey. That's a physical part of the game. I think we compete on the puck hard. That's a physical part of the game. And I think we finish more checks than people realize, as well.
We don't do it for 82 games. I try to get them to do it for about the last 22 games and then in the playoffs.

Q. When you have somebody like Kronwall that delivers spectacular hits like he has the last two years, probably more than anybody has in the playoffs, what type of weapon is that? What does that do to players on the ice?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, they know he's out there. You know, I mean, he's out there. And no one likes getting hit like that. And he doesn't hit -- I mean, I think, who does he usually get? They're usually puck guys. I think it's a great thing.

Q. Do you think he's as good an open-ice hitter as there is in the league now?
MIKE BABCOCK: I mean, Scott Stevens was incredible. Scott Stevens, you know, like Junior, he hunted you down. He's a way bigger man. Junior is not a big man, and so he has to use timing and momentum and he does a good job of that. I think Stuey and him, you know, the way they play is they're not racing around trying to get him. If they're there, they take him. If they're not there, they're not there.
But, you know, I think he's a factor. I really believe that. If you get dinged a couple of times or you see guys getting dinged, you know they're out there.

Q. To that end, outside the locker room, is Stuart a little underappreciated, do you think? Not saying from you or his teammates, but especially in this year's playoffs.
MIKE BABCOCK: I don't know about that. Stuey was a third overall pick. He's played on a number of teams. I think what happens to a guy like Stuey sometimes is if you want him to be a 1-2 puck mover, you're gonna be frustrated. If you want him to be a 3-4 guy who plays solid defense and competes hard, you're happy.
And if you got a good team, you get to be real happy because at playoff time, he's twice, maybe three times, maybe four times as good as he is in the regular season.

Q. I know you've kind of made light of it that it seems like it's not a Red Wing game if you don't give up a power play goal. Are you feeling the penalty killing is playing better now?
MIKE BABCOCK: I thought there's a couple of things that are real important to me. Game 7 in the Anaheim series, we won it on the penalty kill. This series, a number of times our penalty kill's been real good. I didn't like the goal we gave up yesterday, 'cause our D got up too high. We weren't able to collapse. They got it through. They missed the shooting lane. That's gonna happen, they're going to get it through.
The other thing I would say is the power play they have is a skilled power play. So you want to limit their opportunities.
There's been a few games in the first two games of the series, I thought we did a good job. They scored two goals. That's life. But in the last two games, we've given up power play goals where we made mistakes on. And you'd like not that to happen. So we just keep working on it, keep talking about it. Ideally it's gonna get the stops for you when you need.
But a think a huge part of the penalty killing is discipline as well, stay out of the box.

End of FastScripts

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