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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKS

May 27, 2010

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day

JAMEY HORAN: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the United Center and the media availability of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final. With us today is the Flyers' general manager Paul Holmgren and head coach Peter Laviolette. We'll take questions from the audience. Please raise your hand and wait for the microphone and address your question to either gentleman.

Q. It's a question for Paul. When you guys decided to go after Chris Pronger last year, did you envision this type of impact it would have right away? There were a lot of people who thought you gave up a lot of assets. Is it certainly well worth it?
PAUL HOLMGREN: Well, I'll start with the back half first. It was a lot we gave up for Chris Pronger. But we felt that at the time the impact player that Chris was and is and has been for a our team this year, we believe it was worth it. And, you know, we'll know more down the road here.
But he's a game-changer-type player. That's what we were looking for. And he's brought that for us.

Q. A couple for Peter on two Hawk players. Your thoughts and memories of Andrew Ladd when you had him, obviously. It doesn't seem like a lot of players have given a ton of credit to Dustin Byfuglien in the last series. Toews and Kane have a lot of respect. Buff has done a lot and your thoughts on him and what he has done in the middle.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Andrew Ladd was a really good player for us in Carolina. He was a young player working his way in during the regular season. When it came to Playoffs, he was - seemed to be fitted for Playoff-Type hockey. He's a rugged player that gets to the front of the net, and he played well. He was on the third line at the time. He was effective for us during the Playoffs.
As far as Byfuglien goes, we've got a lot of respect for what he does in front of the net. He's certainly proven he can score goals. I don't think he gets the attention that the other two get. He's not - probably not quite as flashy as those other two, but certainly effective in what he does.

Q. Both Peter and Paul, if you can talk about Michael Leighton, what he's had to fight for in his career, and how that sets him up to be thrown into what he's thrown into in the last round and really just take the ball and run with it.
PAUL HOLMGREN: Well, we had the good fortune of having Michael for a little while a few years ago. He played a couple of games for us. We lost him on waivers to Montreal. So we got to know him a little bit then.
I think our organization, because of Norfolk, Chicago's farm team at the time was in our conference, we got to see Michael a lot over the years. He's obviously developed his skills. He's got sort of an unflappable demeanor about him right now. Which I think has been good since he's been with us. Nothing seems to bother him. It just kind of rolls off him, whether good, bad or indifferent. Rolls off him. I think Jeff Reese, our goalie coach, has had a very positive impact on Michael, and he's worked hard. He's worked extremely hard since he's been with our organization this time around.
To his credit, that's I think put him in the position he's in now.

Q. Two questions, one for each of you. Peter, first off, are you looking forward to the collision that might take place in front of the net with Byfuglien and Pronger?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I don't know if we look forward to that. It's certainly something that's going to have to happen. He does a good job in front of the net. Our defense has done a really good job, not just Chris, but our defense in general. Our defensemen in front of our net and our team defense has been very good in the Playoffs.
So certainly when you get somebody of his size, and Chicago has done a good job of creating havoc in front of the oppositions net, there's been lots of tipped pucks, second opportunities, rebound goals. So certainly it presents a challenge for us.

Q. Paul, Bobby Clarke came out today to our station and praised Richards and said Game 5 heroics were some of the best things he's seen in the history of the Flyers' organization. Being that both of those captains were 25 years old, and Bobby won it 35 years ago, can you compare the two captains for me, please?
PAUL HOLMGREN: Well, I think there's a lot of similarities in the way they - not only the way they play, but the way they go about their business as captain. Clarke, what I remember, was not the most vocal guy in the locker room. He's sort of shunned any media attention.
Mike's similar in that respect as well. He wants to just play hockey. He wants to let his play do the talking. He would rather not have to face anyone in the media. He just wants to be with his teammates and hang out in the locker room and get out and play.
Those are probably the similarities that I can recall. But, obviously, Mike has been a big part of our little run here that we have had, and we look forward to that continuing for us.

Q. Paul, this year you made a key trade for Ville Leino in the middle of the season, sort of went quiet at the time, and he didn't play for a while if the lineup, but has turned into this major player for the team in the Playoffs. What was it that you saw, and when you made that trade, what was your thought process?
PAUL HOLMGREN: We thought our scouting staff at the time really thought that Ville could bring an offensive mind-set if he got the opportunity to play with like players. You know, we got a chance to play with Danny Briere or Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, guys that have offensive instincts like Ville, he could help us.
Unfortunately for Ville, he had to work his way into the coach's good graces before he got a chance to play. He spent a lot of time as a healthy scratch for a our team initially. To Ville's credit, he never made waves. He showed up at the rink with a positive attitude, and he worked hard off the ice and on the ice to be ready for his opportunity. Up to this point, he seizes that opportunity. So it's encouraging to see.)
Q. Paul, just wanting for yourself personally the journey to this Cup Final taking over for a legend like Bobby Clarke and being an interim GM at first and seemingly having to prove your stove Mr. Snider, any vindication yet for you in this journey to this team and the moves you've made to get this team here?
PAUL HOLMGREN: This has been a lot of fun here this last 45 days or whatever. It's sort of magical the way we've - first of all the way we got into the Playoffs. Something that I find hard to believe will ever happen again, where the two teams playing, one gets to go into the tournament and the other team has to go home.
It's incredible. It's just been it seems like a year, the Playoffs. We're excited about Saturday night. We can't wait to get going.

Q. Peter and Paul, the teams that made the Playoffs, two of the top three in terms of Canadien content your club and the Hawks. I guess that's probably a coincidence. I wonder what it means or if it means - will that change the intensity perhaps because there's more Canucks? Were you looking for more Canadien players? Get a sense of what the dynamic of having so many Canadiens, three-quarters of the players are Canadien, what that does to the series.
PAUL HOLMGREN: I'm not really sure - I think it's more coincidence than anything. Hockey is a global sport for sure, and I don't want to speak for the other 29 teams, but you're looking for good hockey players wherever they come from, it doesn't really matter.
It just so happens that we do have a good share of Canadiens on our team this year. That's just the way it is. I haven't even counted up how many guys on Chicago are Canadiens. I don't think any of us even spent time thinking about it, to be honest with you.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: That was going to be my answer. I haven't spent any time thinking about it. I'm not sure I have one.

Q. Peter, this is question for you, having coached in the Stanley Cup Finals, how much of a benefit do you think that can be for you having that experience? And how much of a benefit can it also be helping some of the younger guys understand what it is exactly that they're getting into?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think any experience you can draw on from a coach. Whether the good ones, and certainly that was a positive one. I think you can utilize those to your advantage to talk to the players. We've only got, I think, two players that have been here before in Chris Pronger and Ville Leino.
So we don't have a lot of experience in the Finals. I think - I always think talking about things is a good thing and having those experiences when things are going well and when things aren't going well. Because it always seems to be a roller coaster ride when you're in the moment.
When you can reflect and draw on those experiences, I think that's a positive thing.

Q. Peter, two questions for you. A lot of people, I know you've answered this, I'm sure, but maybe it's different after a couple of days. A lot of people would like to know was there a galvanizing moment or sequence that turned the corner since being down in Boston to allow you to go 8-1? Do you have to guard against this team subconsciously being satisfied to be here after overcoming so much and letting up a little bit or whatever?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: It seems like our team has had to have galvanizing moments since about Christmastime. On the ice there's always been something. When there was a setback, whether it was a couple of games or five games, it seemed devastating at the time, because we were very far down in the standings. I think through all the trials and tribulations we went through, we've become a very strong team.
It's actually probably our greatest strength right now are the guys in the room and what they believe in and their belief in each other.
I think it's not necessarily because there's been so many - there's been so many times when we've been down and out and we fought back and we pushed back. It's not really about one moment that's turned us around. I think it's just about a series of events that's made us really strong and allowed us to be here in this opportunity. I don't think we'll be overwhelmed by it. I think we've been through too much.

Q. Peter, I wonder if you can recall the day or the moment that Paul reached out to you early in the year to come and coach this team, and what you've learned since then about being part of this pretty unique franchise, the Philadelphia Flyers?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: We had a couple of conversations. I got the opportunity to work with Paul in USA Hockey a few times. We had a couple of conversations. It was a day that I was working up in TSN in Canada. I'm fortunate I was out of work for a year. I mean, more than anything, I'm grateful to Paul and grateful for the opportunity because there's not a lot of jobs. There's only 30 of them. There's so many coaches out there. When you're out, you wonder if you'll ever get back in. When you do get back in, you certainly are appreciative of the opportunity.
I get to come to work for an organization that is a world-class organization. It's great ownership. Tremendous ownership, tremendous management. We have players that have proven they can be successful. For all of that, I'm grateful.

Q. Peter, could you just talk about the role of the captain going into the Finals and this role that Mike Richards has been on?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think Paul touched on Mike and his demeanor a little bit. He's a guy I think that leads by example on the ice. For me, the best example if you are wondering what he's all about, you just had to tune into that Game 5 against Montreal. He was a tough, tough player out there. I mean, he willed it to get done. The plays that he made, the goal, the assists, the second efforts, the third efforts on pucks, that's what Mike Richards is all about; and certainly I think when you get into a Finals like the Stanley Cup, you want guys like Mike Richards on your side.

Q. Paul, regardless of how the Stanley Cup Finals turns out, have you seen enough in Michael's regular season and now in the postseason to where you feel good about investing in him long-term?
PAUL HOLMGREN: That's sort of an unfair question, John. Obviously, we like Michael a lot. We're not going to bother with any of that other stuff right now until we're done. We'll have plenty of time to talk about those things once we're finished here.

Q. Two questions. Question number one, what do the Blackhawks pose in terms of problems you might not have seen in terms of the Playoffs so far? And question two, what's your take on two goalies who are basically backup entry the last month of the season leading their teams to the Stanley Cup Finals?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: As far as Chicago goes, they have a real dynamic team. They move up and down the ice. They're quick with transition. We certainly have to take care of the puck on our end of things. They've gotten to this point, I think, because they have had success the entire year. They have a lot of confidence in what they do, in their system and they play it well.
I feel like we put ourselves in a position we're ready for the Chicago Blackhawks, and it should be a great series. As far as the goaltenders go, people have said it, nobody would have predicted the two starting goaltenders. Our goaltending has been by committee. Ray Emery had done an excellent job when he was healthy in the net. Brian Boucher had the best numbers after the first round against New Jersey. His numbers were outstanding, and he's getting healthier.
And Michael Leighton, in the regular season when we first picked him up, his numbers were tremendous. We really needed to win hockey games when he first came on board. And he gave us a chance to do that. It seems like after coming back from the injury, and we have had a lot of them in goal, when he came back from the injury, it was just in time. And he jumped back in for Brian when Brian got hurt. It seems like he hasn't missed a beat.
JAMEY HORAN: Thank you, gentlemen.

End of FastScripts

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