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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKSJune 1, 2010Simon GagneMichael LeightonMike RichardsPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day Q. Simon, you guys have been in this situation before, you know. Is there a carry-over you can take from being there before? SIMON GAGNE: We've been there before. We've been down 2-0. Even 3-0. So it's not like it's a new situation for us. We went through it. The good thing now is we have a chance to come back here in Philly and play the next two games, but no, we have to focus on the game tomorrow. It's going to be the biggest game of the season for us, and we're going to start with this one. Q. Question for Mike Richards. Just coming back home, how much of a boost does that give you? You guys have talked about improving your play. That little bit of boost from the home crowd. MIKE RICHARDS: Hopefully. I think we've done a great job all year of bouncing back after losses, and I think with the crowd we fed off their energy. We know it's going to be loud in here. It's something that hopefully we can kind of push through and feed off them and play consistently throughout the game a little bit better than we have. Q. Mike, you have been around Pronger all year. He's enjoying the moment, playing around with you guys. What has it been like to have him always smiling and positive and really enjoying the experience? And how has that helped keep you guys relaxed in the process? MIKE RICHARDS: Like I said a couple of days ago, he's always in control. He seems like there's a sense of calmness about him in any situation. Whether it's on the ice or a minute left or just being around the dressing room. He has a sense of calmness. I think with a young group like we have, an inexperienced group like we have, I think that calmness about him rubs off on different people. It's definitely helped out a lot of the younger people. Q. It looks like you guys may be having some trouble getting the space you need. How frustrating has it been to not be able to get good shots from the (Indiscernible)? SIMON GAGNE: After Game 1, I think both teams were not too happy about the way they played defensively. Same thing on their side. We're kind of expecting them to play a bit better in their zone and tighten things up in their net. That might be why we didn't have too many scoring chances in the first. It was really tight defense, I think, on both sides. But I thought we were able to find a way to get the puck at the net a little bit more in the third, but the goalie was pretty good. They have good defense. So it's something that we are going to have to dig in a little harder around their net. We know that the goalie makes the first save, the defensemen are there for rebounds, which is what we have be a bit more desperate. Try to look for maybe not the second rebound but maybe the third rebound is going to go in. We have to be a bit more hungry around their net for a second, and it's an opportunity for us. Q. You guys have done such a great job shutting down the top line, and you find yourself down two. How frustrating is that? MIKE RICHARDS: I mean, obviously, it's a key for us to shut them down. But we knew coming into the Series that they had a lot of depth and they play well as a team and get contributions from everybody. We had a little bit of a meeting and we were reminded of the Boston Series were we played well and did a lot of good things. We found ourselves down 0-2. It's not the time to get discouraged. It's not the time to try to do different things on the ice. I think if we keep plugging along the way we have been playing, and doing the things we have been doing, I think the results are going to come. Q. Question for Michael. I know it wasn't the result you wanted, but how much better do you feel about your own personal game after Game 2? MICHAEL LEIGHTON: Obviously, I wanted to kind of respond from the last game being pulled. So I knew I had to be good early, and obviously gain some confidence back in the team. I'm happy the way I played, but obviously we lost. I'm not too happy. We played a lot better game defensively and we did a lot of good things in front of me. That's definitely a positive. We have to carry that over to the next game. Q. Mike, last night Chris Pronger talked about grabbing the puck at the end of the game and people calling it a psychological warfare. I wonder what your feeling is about it doing that, things like that have an effect? MIKE RICHARDS: I don't have a problem with it. If he wants to grab the puck, let him have the puck. You can tell him not to take it, if you want. Q. Your physical play was excellent in the Boston Series (Indiscernible) the net effect of the whole thing. Does it start to show up on the other side (Indiscernible) maybe a little more than on the road? MIKE RICHARDS: What do you mean? Q. The check against the boards, they let it go. MIKE RICHARDS: I don't know. I mean, I think as a team we're physical. We've been playing physical. Like you said, it takes its toll later on in the Series. It might not have an effect on Game 1 or 2, but as the Series goes on, I think the physical play that we bring to the table, I think it affects you later on in the Series. And, obviously, it wears on you. I don't think getting away with different things at home, I think the refs are going to call -- they're obviously the best two, being in the situation they are in to. I think they're going to call it the same. At home, obviously, you have a little bit more energy maybe from the crowd and feed off them a little bit more. You might be more physical. But I thought we had a great -- did a great job in the first two games. I think we can be a little more physical on the forecheck and turn more pucks over in that way. I think they've been two pretty good physical games on both ends, I think. Both teams. Q. Mike Richards, last night there was a goal from Hossa who had not been producing for them during the Playoffs. Did you guys do anything different in Game 3? You got the depth. You can play him at all. A great player. Plays better defense or (Indiscernible)? MIKE RICHARDS: I don't know how to answer that. He's going to score. He's a talented player. He's obviously a proven goal-scorer in the league. We're aware of him on the ice at all times. He's a guy that was obviously a key for them, just as Toews is or Kane too. I don't think he's going under the radar on the ice. I think we're aware of him out there. We know he's out there. I don't think we have to change anything. He got one goal. Obviously, he's capable of getting more. I think we have to play the same physical edge against him that we do against everybody else. Q. Mike, a follow-up to a question earlier. Toews, nothing he does -- calculated objective. Do you think the focus was taken away from the game -- MIKE RICHARDS: I don't know what his reasoning for it was. I'm not going to make wild comments about something that I don't think really has too much effect on hockey games. He probably just did because it was there, maybe. I don't know. I'm not going to make any comments about him. Q. Michael, a couple of things, not many teams have come back from 0-2, but one did last year. Do you take any inspiration or direction from that? And second, at the same time, last year against Boston, Peter stressed you can't win two games in one night. You have to focus on the next game and that first period, so kind of in the same situation where you have to think short-term, you can't think about trying to overcome an 0-2. MICHAEL LEIGHTON: Yeah, and we did a great job against Boston, just focusing on the one game at a time mindset and not look forward at the big picture. Like you said, not too many people have done it, buy not too many people have come back from 0-3 either. We're obviously a confident group. A situation that's familiar with us that we're in right now, and it's unfortunate that we're in the situation. But it's something that I think we have to play the cards we're dealt right now and move on. Q. Simon, you've been here 11 years, you've seen the Phillies win the World Series, first Stanley Cup Final since your tenure. You've seen the crowd go crazy for other sporting events. What do you think it's going to be like when you walk out there tomorrow? SIMON GAGNE: I think it's going to be fun. We're glad that we -- we're back home now. Sure, we're not really happy the way things went in Chicago. We're down 2-0. But it's a good thing the next game is in Philly. We're a confident group here in their building, and we know our fans are going to be crazy about this game. It's going to be loud. Tomorrow is going to be the biggest game for us in the season. We're going to be ready. I think our fans are going to be ready. We're going to try to get the energy from them and try to put that early on in the game and try to get the momentum early on in the game. Q. Michael Leighton, the work that you've done in relationship with the Coach Jeff Reese is something that helped you this season, can you talk a little bit about that? Could you tell us, after Game 1 what you like about Jeff Reese, more the psychological (Indiscernible)? MICHAEL LEIGHTON: Obviously, I talked about it quite a bit, changed my style a little bit when I came here. Changed my positioning. He's done a great job. I think the last game he kind of just took me aside. We went over what was good and what was bad. Some of it was negative, and that's fine. You have to look at that and kind of learn from it and adjust a little bit. And there's a few shots that I was a little bit deep on. I've been playing deeper this year. There was a few that I was too deep, maybe, anticipating a pass or for whatever reason. So I just tried to be a little more aggressive yesterday. Come out on the shooter a little bit more. It worked out a little better. I felt more comfortable. We went over video today and he was happy with the way things went last night. Again, we didn't win. He's done a great job. That's all I can say. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. End of FastScripts |
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