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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v SHARKS

May 15, 2010

Todd McLellan

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day

SCHULYER BAEHMAN: First question, please.

Q. Long practices the last couple days. Something you need to keep the edge with the long layoff?
COACH McLELLAN: Not necessarily long. We got through them fairly quick. Got through some of the work we needed to do.
When you look at the week we were faced with, we won not knowing whether we were going to play, so we had to make some decisions based on uncertainty. We revved it up for a couple of days after winning. We took it back down on Wednesday, now we've taken it up for a couple days. I'd like to think that will prepare us.
I'm sure if we come out and play well tomorrow, we've done the right thing. If we don't, there will be some second-guessing on how to plan. But you never know. You have to go with your gut and that's what we've done.

Q. With Joe Thornton's round stepping up in the second round, do you have a sense of what the Hawks will do with Seabrook and Keith? Do you live with the fact if they're on one, have you the other line freed up a bit?
COACH McLELLAN: Well, their checking line of Bolland does a good line, Bolland, Versteeg, and Ladd do a good job. I'm sure they'll look at doing something in that form against one of our two top lines. We'll have to deal with that. Seabrook and Keith played together in the Olympics. They've been a dynamic pair throughout the past few years. They're very good.
After that, they're getting some pretty good contributions from their defensemen, three through six. But it's nothing that Jumbo, Patty, Heater haven't played against for probably 50 of the 82 games this season, throughout the Olympics. You know, they've had some success. If it's not going well, we'll have a plan.

Q. It's seven against eight on the other side. Is it possible to keep your mind from wandering over there?
COACH McLELLAN: It's essential we keep our mind from wandering over there. As soon as you get into somebody else's business, you're not taking care of your own. It could be fatal.
I haven't heard any of our players walking around the locker room having coffee or anything like that talking about what's going on in the other conference. Obviously, the Game 7 situation they talked about. The fact that seven and eight are still in that playoff over there, I don't think means a lot to us right now. All we're doing is looking for the opportunity to play against Chicago and see what we can do there.

Q. What were your thoughts about Game 7?
COACH McLELLAN: The pressure that teams are under is immense. I really feel for the Bruins, the organization, the players, the coaches obviously. On the other hand, you have to really tip your hat to what Philadelphia did. They were persistent, they overcame, were resilient, all those adjectives you want to use to describe a team. They came up with and found a way to do it.
There are some lessons to be learned there maybe for our team. You're never really out of it and you're never really in control of it until it's done.

Q. Doesn't affect you maybe for more attention, obviously you're the series in the spotlight. You get NBC tomorrow. Is that a good thing to have your players put them out there under the big, big spotlight?
COACH McLELLAN: Well, they've been there. Our big players have been there. They played in front of 35 million people in Canada that had no interest in anything else other than watching that game.
They're trying to get to a bigger stage even yet. We're only in the final four. There should be some attention on both series. It really gets cranked up if you're lucky enough to get to the next one and that's what their goal is.

Q. What is your gut feeling tomorrow about how quick these teams are going to be able to get up to speed after the long layoff? Going to be a while in the first period before that happens?
COACH McLELLAN: I think we might see it a little bit earlier. We're not talking about -- again going back to yesterday, we're not talking about playing game 63 in the middle of February on a seven-game road trip. You've had some time to rest. There's some excitement. There's a lot of energy in the building. There's energy around the teams.
For as much as we're concerned about being rusty, I may be a little bit concerned about us being a little bit too overzealous or a little bit edgy. When that happens, your execution is just as poor as if you're rusty.
We have to find that happy medium, get our legs underneath us. I'm sure Chicago and Joel will be telling his players the same thing.

Q. Dan Boyle was saying it's kind of overstated with the rules since the lockout. If you have guys like Blake, Murray, Huskins, does that give you a little more confidence you can counter with what Byfuglien did against Vancouver?
COACH McLELLAN: I believe we can find a way to handle it. We're not going to eliminate it. He's a very big man, he's a very good player. You have to give him that.
Part of it is your goaltender putting up with it and looking through it. In my opinion, I don't think there's anybody better in the league than Holmstrom is in Detroit. Franzen and Cleary, you know, Bertuzzi, we just faced a team full of players that were happy to go and stand in the blue paint, drive the goalie bananas. We found a way to fight through it.
Dustin does an extremely good job. He's becoming one of the best in the league after it. But we just experienced, as I said, a team full that are happy to go there.
SCHULYER BAEHMAN: Thanks a lot, coach.
COACH McLELLAN: Thanks.

End of FastScripts

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