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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKS

June 1, 2010

Joel Quenneville

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day

Q. Nine years ago you took a good St. Louis team into the Playoffs late against Colorado Avalanche, and opposing Coach Hartley was pretty rough on the goaltender, targeting him with a psychological attack and Roman Turek played increasingly poorly. Now Peter Laviolette talked about a rookie goalie, in the Stanley Cup Finals. What did you learn from the previous experience and how do you counsel and shield your goalie if he's the focus of an attack?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: One thing about Antti -- I won't address the other part of that question. I'll just address our goaltender. One thing about Antti, you have to appreciate the way he approaches games. The way he moves in games and following shots. His demeanor is the way you'd like it to be in any type of situation.
But goaltenders are sometimes a little more higher strung. Antti is as laid back as I've ever met or seen, and I think his disposition enables him just to move on to the next situation and the next challenge and the next puck. And I think that makes him effective. He's a student of the game as well, so he just seems to move on seamlessly and look for the next challenge.

Q. You may have been asked a couple times about home ice advantage or playing Chicago or other places that you've played. When you've played, was there ever a barn that you absolutely honestly hated to go into and maybe were even mildly fearful?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, I used to play in here when it was no fun back in the day. Whether it was Toronto or Colorado or whatever the teams I was on, they had tough teams. It was one of those nights you knew you could be in for a long night, but that's part of the game.
I think certain games you welcome that challenge. But I think tomorrow we expect a very competitive game. I think discipline is something that we stress going into every game no matter where we're at in this playoff season, and I think tomorrow's going to be the toughest challenge we've had all Playoffs. I think being smart about how we go into it and playing with energy is what we're all about.

Q. Do you have any update about (Indiscernible) Ladd's availability?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: We'll address that tomorrow. Same status as he's had in the Playoffs.

Q. And you've had seven different players (Indiscernible), is it a depth of talent or something the Flyers are doing that have allowed those guys to score?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: We've got some depth in our lineup. We've had some guys that when we make up lines, we feel a lot of guys can play with anybody. I think we have a lot of interchangeable parts. We've got a lot of high-end players that can make plays and have patience with the puck.
Some guys have maybe a little more skill level than others, but I think they're all able to score. I think that's what you see in a lot of playoff Series. The guys that get most of the attention sometimes aren't the guys that are being productive. I think a guy like Hossa all year, we were talking about him throughout the Playoffs and his production, but his effectiveness is what we appreciate, his contribution to our team game. Now he's all of a sudden on the score sheet, but he does a lot of things to enhance our game.
The thing that we like about it going into games is we don't care who scores, but there's a lot of options. We feel all four lines can score.

Q. With that said though, how necessary is it to get Kane and Toews on the score sheet going forward to try to win this Cup? Is there anything you can do to get them going?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, two-thirds of that line was on the ice when we scored the winning goal, so we'll look at that as a positive. They had some threats around the net. Some nights they don't go in. In fact, they're more effective and useful than they were in the first game.
I think it's a bit of a trend. I think, throughout playoffs and the history of Playoffs, it's not always the top line that gets it done as far as the goal scoring. By committee or by a team, there's a lot of different areas. Your defense can even complement our scoring as well.

Q. Can you just talk about John Madden a little bit and how positive an influence he's been on younger guys like Toews and Kane?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Yeah, I think Johnny Madden's experience is a key factor to our team. As far as how he is in the locker room and on the ice in practice, he knows how to have fun at the right times. His approach is just what you look for. Critical in face-offs for us, useful in that area.
The one area immediately this year that we're looking to be improved upon in our team game was our penalty killing. I think he really enhanced it. We moved up from being one of the lower tiered teams last year to one of the top teams this year. I think he's been a pivotal part of that team.
I think at this time of the year his experience is huge for us. The young guys particularly, guys that haven't played at this time of the year, it's the little things that he can say or do that is noted.

Q. If you don't mind, take us back there again. What was it like coming in here in '74 or '75?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: I'm not that old (laughing).

Q. But the old Spectrum and this team?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: I would say that there were some nights -- I started in '78. It was a tough building. They had a lot of guys that some nights, depending on the score, would get ugly. It got ugly a few times. But back in the day, I mean, there were a lot of nights where there were long nights. When I say long nights there could have been five-on-fives or bench-clearing brawls, but that's a thing of the past.

Q. When teams are ahead 2-0 do coaches warn teams you're only halfway, 2 out of 4? Is that message driven even harder knowing the propensity for the Flyers to come back and win?
COACH QUENNEVILLE: Our focus is on one game. Tomorrow's going to be our toughest game, and they're going to be ready. We're looking for the perfect road game. We have to play the best game we've played all Playoffs.
We feel we can still move up in the first two games levels. That's our focus and our mindset. We don't want to get further than that and looking past tomorrow's game. Our mindset is we want to win that game like we have to win.

End of FastScripts

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