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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CANADIENS v FLYERS

May 19, 2010

Peter Laviolette

MONTREAL, QUEBEC: Practice Day

Q. You look happy.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I do?

Q. You don't?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Oh, well.

Q. Pete, tomorrow's obviously a big night for Simon and Danny Briere. Do you have to talk to them to make sure they maintain their level of composure and not get too excited about playing here?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I hope they're excited. I hope they play great. Lots of energy, and execution, and I'm sure they're excited coming back here to play. The focus is on the win, I guess.

Q. After the last two games, we're saying to ourselves it's not the same level of desperation we saw in the Bruins series. You've talked about your starts and how you want them to improve. How do you get them to go back to that as if they were behind 0-2 in the series? How do you figure that out?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I don't think you can just make that up. When you're in those situations it's because you're actually in them. The first period, I think, in the first game I think we needed to be better. The second and third period we were better, and our scoring chances were greater and thought we deserved to win the game. So we shouldn't get confused by that.
The first period last night was not good for us. We need to be a whole lot better than what we were; and like I said, we can't roll those dice. The second and third periods were much better. Shots went in our favor, scoring chances went heavily in our favor. If you really want the bottom line of it, the first period last night was not good.
ItÂ’s not that we weren't desperate and we didn't play hard. We did. In the second and third period, there wasn't anything at all out there for them. So I'm looking for consistency, I guess. Really, if you want to point it out even more specific than that, it's the first period last night out of the six periods we've played so far.

Q. Is there one guy on this team that you feel can give you that kind of --
COACH LAVIOLETTE: We're not a one-guy type of team.

Q. I know that, but --
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I know that. But we're not a one-guy type of team. Michael Leighton gave it to us last night and kept us in the game, so there's your answer. But that's not going to win us hockey games. We're not a one-guy type of team. We're a 20-guy type of team. That's when we have our success, when your fourth line is as good as our first line.

Q. Would it surprise you, Jacques Martin held a 45-minute meeting with his players going over a lot of things, especially how to score and beat Michael Leighton, and of course it's traffic in front of the net. Are you expecting that to happen?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Well, every coach talks about traffic.

Q. Sure.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: We scored nine goals, and I still don't think we're getting enough. So that's just common talk. If there are other changes -- I mean, there were things that he changed that we had to adapt to last night as the game was going on, in the neutral zone, on their forecheck. And if other things are changed, we'll make those adjustments as well.

Q. Why do you think your defensemen have been so good, adept at allowing Michael to see a lot of shots and clearing -- and all your defenders have been capable and so adept at clearing those rebounds?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: You know, defensively I think we've done a good job as a team. But certainly we have the right personnel there as well. That's why Chris Pronger was brought here. He was brought here to make sure that we play good defense, and Kimmo, Coburn, Matty Carle, Lukas and Ryan, they've all done a good job. Defensively as a team I think our forwards have done a good job with pressuring pucks, so you want to eliminate as many chances as you can, and hold their chances to a minimum.

Q. Do you guys have a decisive edge physically, do you think, in this series?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I don't think so. I don't think so. We need to stay away from the after the whistle. You know, it's discipline. I think we've been able to go on the power play and take advantage of that, of their going to the box. We can still be better at staying out of the box.

Q. You've got guys like Danny Briere and Mike Richards on your team, Patrick Kane in Chicago, and Gionta and Cammalleri here, who are having a lot of success during these Playoffs. Do you think as we go along here post-lockout and the game sort of evolves, do you think there is more of a place for a smaller scale guy to be able to have an impact on the game and to be able to play in this league?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: You mean like Marty St. Louis?

Q. Kind of like him, yeah?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: That was pre-lockout though, so. I think that the gifted, talented players in the league have always been here. Their size, you know, they might get a little bit of a break because you can't sled it anymore, you can't hook, and you can't tie up and you can't beat somebody to death in front of the net. Those days are gone. I think that helps the smaller players.
But there are players that have gotten even pre-lockout, there are players that have torn it up in the Playoffs, so...

Q. But now it seems there's less battle to get to the puck for those guys. It's not as much of a chore.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Yeah, it's different. The game's always changing. Now you see these knockout hits and the board hits. The game's faster, and the speed, and it seems to keep getting faster and faster. So I think through time things always change. There's different hazards out there, so.

Q. Montreal we know a lot about Simon and Daniel and Pronger's been in the league for a while. But Mike Richards is a player that we know less. Can you talk a little about what he brings?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Well, he's a -- I think he's one of the top two-way centermen in the league. He's very gifted offensively, but he is somebody that is responsible enough to play against other teams' best players. He's been an excellent leader on our team. Seems the bigger the game, the bigger the situation, the bigger his performance.

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