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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: PENGUINS v RED WINGSJune 3, 2009Sidney CrosbyBill GuerinPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day Q. Same dynamic as last year, lose two, win one. What is different in your mind about where you guys are at now heading into Game 4 this year compared to last? SIDNEY CROSBY: I think we're a lot happier with the way we've played. You know, last year first two games I look back on those and we weren't happy at all. We knew we had a lot of work to do. We hadn't found our game yet. But I feel like at this point we know what it takes. We know what makes us successful, and we've been pretty consistent at doing that with exception to the second period in the last game. Q. Can you talk about the contributions that Talbot brings to this team both in the locker room and on the ice? He seems like a real character-type of player, and both meaning both ways, and he continues to score big goals for you guys in the Playoffs. SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, off the ice, you know, in the room he's a guy who keeps things pretty loose. Brings a lot of energy to a room. You know, he's been like that since he got here, and he's felt comfortable. You know, it's nice to have that. On the ice he's been known to score big goals not only in the NHL but throughout his whole career. I played junior against him, and he was a big game player. He was always known for that in junior, and he's brought that to the NHL. So he's played a lot of different roles and showed how important he is to our team. There's not a lot of guys that can play as a check error penalty killer and then play in the top line like he has. Especially in these circumstances, so he's done a great job. Q. Evgeni Malkin was just up here a little while ago and he had the room in stitches cracking jokes. Is that something that maybe happens in the room that people outside don't get to see? Is he a funny guy in the room? BILL GUERIN: From what Gonch and Fedotenko tell me, yes. He's extremely funny. But he is a funny guy. And it's kind of obvious when he's going to carve somebody because he goes right from English right into Russian, so you can't understand it. But that's one side that I don't really think people understand. I think people think he's kind of a quiet guy. But he's got a great sense of humor to him, yeah. Q. Can you talk about the differences in Geno on the ice from the Finals a year ago to the Finals so far to this point? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, I think it's just probably, if anything, energy. He looks like he's full of it out there. And this time of the year that's always a big challenge. Especially for a guy that's going to get keyed on like him, there's not a lot of space. And, you know, to have that extra energy, that's so important. You need that. So to have your battle level where it needs to be and things like that, it's totally there, and it's shown with his game. Q. A lot of the talk about the comparisons from last year to this year. Can you tell the difference in the team since you got here when the playoffs were a question mark at that time to where you are now? BILL GUERIN: Well, I think we've established the way that we know we have to play. You know, I'm sure there's a big transition. I think I got here three weeks after Dan took the job over, and there was still kind of you know the question of how we were going to play. I think over the course of time we realized what makes us successful and what doesn't. And I think that's probably the biggest thing is that we can always rely on our system and get back to that if things aren't going our way. I think last night was pretty evident that the second period wasn't the way we wanted to play. We got away from our game. But came back in the third and we were able to get right back into it. So I think that's probably the biggest thing. Q. Is there any advantage, do you think, to your team to have some kind of relatively fresh understanding of what Hossa brings and what he likes to do? SIDNEY CROSBY: Maybe a bit. I think at this point though most teams know their opponent pretty well. Whether you played with them or not with video and things like that. With guys that have played against them consistently over a lot of years, there's not too much you can do out there that's going to surprise a lot of people with the way teams do their homework. So it helps a bit, but I think at this point you're always as prepared as you can be. Q. You're getting a pretty healthy dose of Zetterberg, Rafalski, Lidstrom. Is there any level of frustration? How do you approach knowing that those guys are going to be all over you? SIDNEY CROSBY: It's a challenge for sure. We realize that. Personally it's probably about being a little bit more patient than anything. You know, finding ways to create chances. And when you get them, taking advantage of them. I thought last game, you know, myself and I think our line, we kind of got away from that in the second period. We got back to being a little more patient and just making sure we work for our chances. We've seen some better results. So you don't want to accept not generating things, but at the same time you've got to play the right way and trust that. Q. You haven't had a ton of power plays in this series, and I guess maybe the question is how do you try to generate more? How do you draw more penalties against a team that doesn't take many? SIDNEY CROSBY: Well, it starts with their game. And as long as we get our speed through the neutral zone as much as we can, get pucks deep. And force them to hold us up. I think it was Cookie that drew that one last night that got us that power play for the third goal. So when you put teams back on their heels they're chasing. And they have to take penalties. The more often we can get puck possession and things like that, that's going to draw more penalties. We've just got to do more of that. Q. After the Game 2 in Detroit the other night, several of us tried to get you to talk about the apparently desperate situation your team was in down 2-0 to the Red Wings. And you didn't bite. You were completely unfazed or at least it seemed by that deficit. Did you sense that was the attitude of the entire team coming into Game 3? BILL GUERIN: Well, I mean, we weren't happy with where we were, obviously, so we were phased a bit. And we still are, because we're not where we want to be. But you have to keep your composure. You have to realize which way your game is headed. And within our locker room, we felt our game had gotten better in Game 2 than Game 1. We wanted to play better in Game 3 than Game 2, and we wanted to keep getting better as the series goes along. So we wanted to keep our confidence, keep our composure, and just come back to Pittsburgh and have our best game. Q. There's been a lot of talk about Zetterberg defending against you. But there hasn't been much emphasis on what's happening at the other end of the rink and the offensive things that he can do, and what your role is defensively against him. I wonder if you can speak to how because he's concentrating so much on defending you, if you noticed that that's taking away from his offense? Or do you still find yourself doing as much defensively as you ever would against somebody doing what he can do offensively? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, it probably goes both ways. The way he played didn't seem to hurt him last night, so he still found ways to create chances. But that's a challenge. That's a battle. That's what you expect this time of year. So there's no surprise there. When I play against him I expect to be tightly checked. But I also realize when I go back to my own end, I have to make sure I'm responsible, too. So that's not always the case with every guy you play in that type of role. But with him, you know, that's the way it is. He's got "D" also that are making sure there is not a lot of space. So it's a challenge. It's a match-up, but these are the battles that you have to find ways to win. Q. When Geno's playing well, like he is right now, does that ease the burden on you at all? Does that relieve some pressure? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, maybe a bit. I think all the time I feel like we have support. Not only with Geno, but with everyone. But certainly when he's out there, I think if anything you just want to follow it up. It doesn't make you change your game or doesn't take maybe pressure off you. It just probably motivated you even more to go out there and follow it up and knowing that he's doing his part and you want to do yours. So I would say that is probably the result. End of FastScripts |
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