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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CANADIENS v FLYERS

May 24, 2010

Ian Laperriere

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Five

Q. You want to get on the PK tonight? I mean, you had some shifts, but not that much?
IAN LAPERRIERE: Yeah, I had one shift. But like I told Peter and the coaching staff, if they need it, I should be out there. I'll be out there. I'm here to help in whatever they feel I can help, I'll be ready.

Q. Maybe the better question would have been, when you've taken a shot like you did in the face --
IAN LAPERRIERE: Which one (laughing)?

Q. The one that put you down.
IAN LAPERRIERE: The other one put me down too.

Q. Is there any trepidation about doing that again?
IAN LAPERRIERE: No. Trust me, it's like if I got a chance to go down, I'll go down again. If I'm afraid of that, I might as well retire because I won't be effective. It's the same thing, there are people asking why are you coming back this year, why not wait for next year? Well, if I'm clear this year, why wait next year. If I can't come back now, I might as well not come back at all. That's why I'm back.

Q. Similar question I asked Jeff about what would it mean to you to win tonight, but I had talked to you personally and you said you didn't expect to be in a situation where you could even be back. It's kind of more dramatic for you. What would it mean on the home ice to win tonight?
IAN LAPERRIERE: It would be great. As a team, like Jeff said, we've been through a lot this year, ups and downs. But we're going to need our best game of the Playoffs tonight, because I know those guys are going to come hard. They've been there before. They're comfortable in that situation. They know they can win, and these are dangerous teams to play against. We're going to need our best game to beat them tonight. If we do, it's going to be a great feeling, and we'll see. Ask me that question after we win.

Q. You've had three shutouts against Montreal, couple of those lopsided wins. How much do you think you've figured out this team going into this game?
IAN LAPERRIERE: I don't figure it out. I don't know. It's just one of those like Leights has been hot. He took a lot of heat after that third game, but he came back strong. It just showed how much character that guy has. You read French, most of those people don't read French, but back home those guys were all over him. Maybe they found his weakness, but he showed the hockey world he might be okay one game, but he'll come back stronger. It's one guy who has been through a lot in his career. If you look throughout the course of his career, he's been waived three times, got picked up, and that's tough for a guy. But at the end of the day, it makes you stronger. And that's paying off right now. You've seen it all. He touched the bottom a couple times in the minors for a while, now he's got a chance to shine, and nothing fazes him. He's out there and playing great like he did last game, just keep improving every game. It's good news for us.

Q. About two and a half weeks ago they showed a video of you on the scoreboard here, and you got a pretty nice ovation from the fans. At that time you weren't even sure if you'd ever play again during the Playoffs. What does it mean for you to come back here in an elimination game in front of the fans to play this game?
IAN LAPERRIERE: You don't play for that, but when it does happen, it's kind of neat, to tell you the truth. It's something I'll never forget the rest of my life. I've been here seven months, and I told a story, Zack our PR guy goes to me, yeah, you'll have an ovation. They love you, and I was like come on. I've been here seven months, come on, give me a break. When everybody started going, I was like, that's pretty neat. When they told me I had a chance to come back, I was like well, that would be nice to play in front of our fans at this time of the year with the crowd going. I've seen them from up there. Been driving me crazy just watching from the press box, and watching the games, knowing that I could help and be out there with my teammates, but I can't because of my injuries. When that great news happened, I was just happy to be able to play in front of our fans.

Q. You mentioned after what happened in New Jersey that you're going to play with a shield from now on to protect your head?
IAN LAPERRIERE: Yeah, not a big one like that, but this one's the rest of the year.

Q. Exactly. With this full face shield how much -- obviously just playing the one game -- but how much do you dislike it considering?
IAN LAPERRIERE: My vision?

Q. Well, I know you want to protect your vision, but the mentality of having that on. It doesn't really -- you know, you have the warrior personality, and the fact that that's not really --
IAN LAPERRIERE: Trust me, that injury kind of made me forget about the warrior personality. I'm like, you know, after that first one in November, the puck I took to the face, Craig Berube, one of the toughest guys to ever play the game, said maybe you should wear a shield. After that first one in November, I was like no, no, I have that mentality, like I'm tough, I want to play tough, I want to look tough. After that second one, never even crossed my mind. I'm wearing a shield next year. Not a big one like that, but, yeah, next year I'll come back with a shield. But the deal with the doctors were like you can come back this year, but you've got to wear a full mask, and I'm like that's a pretty easy deal, I'm taking that one.

End of FastScripts

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