|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v SHARKSMay 21, 2010Patrick KaneJonathan ToewsCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Game Three SCHUYLER BAEHMAN: Questions for Jonathan. Q. Describe your emotions right now. One game to go here. Excited? JONATHAN TOEWS: Very excited. You know, it was exactly the type of game we wanted to play in front of our crowd. We kept it simple. Obviously got in a little bit of penalty trouble. We need to be smarter about that. We stuck with it. Unfortunately we had to give up that second goal there late in the third. I think we knew in our hearts, amongst each other, someone was going to pull through and we were going to find a way to win that game. I think we understood how important it was to them. But we wanted to treat that as a Game 7 for ourselves as well. Really distance ourselves in this series. Q. I know you still have to play. You're up 3-0. Do you get the sense now that your team just simply can't be stopped? JONATHAN TOEWS: No. I mean, you're not going to get too high on yourself or too full of yourself like that. You got to do the right things and play the right way if you're going to have success. We've done that. There's nothing about us that says we're unbeatable. As soon as we get away from playing our game, you know, we're a mediocre, average team. We got to go out there, work hard, stick to our guns, stick to how we learned to play this year. That way we're going to be tough to beat. Q. Patrick, you've talked about your dreams as a hockey player. One game away from the Stanley Cup finals. What does that feel like? PATRICK KANE: Yeah, it's practically cool. I think tonight was a huge win, especially after they tied it up. Seemed like they had some momentum there in overtime. Big goal by Buff. It's pretty exciting right now. I think the crowd was awesome tonight. You know, hopefully it's like that Sunday, too. It's pretty exciting. It's an exciting time of year. I think everyone is looking forward to see what we can do next game. Obviously want to close it out here at home. Q. Can you both talk about Buff. JONATHAN TOEWS: He's keeping his game simple. You know, he's getting open. He's working hard in the corners. He's going to the net. When you do that, he's got a great shot, a great set of hands, you're going to get chances playing with some good players. Bolland made a great play at the end and Buff was in the right spot. He seems to find the open space lately. That's why he's scoring goals. He's going to the tough areas. Great shot by him. Just had to put it on the net. It's nice to see him get another big one for us. He's on a heck of a tear. He's playing very confident. But, you know, he's not making it out to be anything more than that. We're expecting he's going to keep it up. Q. Patrick, last year you would say it could be a special year. This year you haven't said that. What's the approach to game to game and not looking too far ahead now that you're a win away from the Stanley Cup finals? PATRICK KANE: I think probably the biggest thing would be expectations, expectations from who we have in that dressing room, our teammates, ourselves, the organization, the fans, the people in the City of Chicago. It seems like those expectations from the beginning of the year, everyone expected us to get to this point. We did ourselves, too. I think last year, it was almost like we were in the situation where, you know, we felt good to be there, it was exciting. It was almost like it wasn't supposed to happen for such a young team. Everyone was making us out to be such a young team. I think this area we gained some experience from what we had last year. You know, we've been on a pretty good roll. We don't want it to end soon, that's for sure. Q. Can you talk about Jonathan's consecutive game-scoring streak, how impressive it is to you? PATRICK KANE: He's been on fire. Couple really good plays tonight that helped us out with our first two goals. I think it's pretty exciting to see him playing like this, especially in playoff time. It just seems like he's a big-game performer. Kind of sick of pumping his tires to you guys. But you guys keep asking me the questions, I'll keep doing it (smiling). Q. Jonathan, you said you played the way you wanted to in front of the home crowd. Did you feel like you survived a little bit in the third? JONATHAN TOEWS: Well, we know we're going to have to battle through some tough times against this team. The series shows it's 3-0. We didn't get here to this point for nothing. We worked hard. Even in our own building, I think they understood how important this game was and they were going to lay it all out there. Both teams played like it was already Game 7 tonight. So we definitely had to battle some adversity to get to this point in the series. Didn't just cruise to three victories in a row. So we'll keep battling through those tough moments. They're a team that's going to throw a lot at you. I think we play the most consistent we have so far throughout the playoffs in this series. You know, even though you're playing good hockey, there's still going to be moments where they're going to come at you and you're going to have to survive some tough shifts in your own zone. Q. Are you going to have to sell your condos and move to a hotel? JONATHAN TOEWS: Looks like it. Q. Does it help focus you at all? JONATHAN TOEWS: You know, not really. I mean, I don't think we're superstitious as a group or anything like that. Definitely the more time we spend together, the more we're focused on our job collectively as a team. We're not bailing out on each other. We're sticking together. As tough as it's going to get, we're playing for the guy next to you. You know, when you're in the hotel or you're spending more time together on the bus, we're not getting away from that. We're not thinking about other things that may be going on away from the rink. It's been good for our focus. Regardless, we want to come to the rink with that same attitude no matter what situation we're in. Q. You broke Stanley Mikita's record one day after his birthday. Tell us about your feeling about the streak. JONATHAN TOEWS: I said it before. You know, if it was something that happened during the regular season, I would be willing to comment on it, talk about it a little bit more. But I think it's a good feeling to be in company of a great player and a great person like Stan Mikita. Especially when it's in the post-season, when these games matter the most. It's a cool thing. You got to give as much credit as you can to your teammates and your team. I just tried to show up and play as good as I can every single game. Kind of have a lot of things go right for you to accomplish something like that. It's just a small thing that's nice to enjoy. But we're inching closer as a team to where we want to be. SCHUYLER BAEHMAN: Thanks a lot, guys. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|