|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKSJune 5, 2010Joel QuennevilleCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day SCHUYLER BAEHMAN: We will start with questions for the coach. Q. Joel, based on your expectations of your team game, where do you think you are for the first four games of the Series? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think we have had stretches in there where we know we can be better. I thought the first game was one of those games where there's a Finals jittery-type of game. But I thought we progressed in the second game. Had some good stretches in Games 3 and 4. But not to the level we need to be effective. I think there's another level for us to get to. And I think it starts more in the battle areas and having the puck more. Q. Joel, you spent some time in the third period mixing up your lines. It seemed to have some positive effects. You generated some offense and skated well. Will you go that way early in Game 5? COACH QUENNEVILLE: We'll look at the line combinations as we go into tomorrow's game. We might make some adjustments as far as who is who. Q. Coach, would you like to see this team get back to playing with the kind of altitude they had in Game 2, 3, 4 against Vancouver? Kind of more brash in your face type of thing? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think that is kind of what I just said about the battle areas. I think we can be more tenacious in there, and I know we've been taking more than our share of penalties. It doesn't mean we have to be undisciplined by being more competitive in the puck areas and winning more of our puck battles. I think that goes with why they are a little more effective in having more power-plays than us. But certainly I think we have to draw penalties by how competitive we are in the puck areas. Q. Joel, Antti Niemi told me he's actually trying to be the quietest guy in the room. What can you tell me about his demeanor? What's he like off the ice, and why has he been so successful in these Playoffs? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think that's his demeanor. He quietly goes about his business, worries about what he has to worry about, stopping the next puck or getting ready for the next game and not bringing too much attention to himself. That's just the way he is. He's a very likable teammate. Fun guy to have around the team and as a teammate. It's a situation where you have to commend him how he's approached going into these Playoffs and how he has progressed and how he's handling the Finals. Q. Would it be a mistake to think of a couple of the turnovers by Hjalmarsson or whatever are isolated incidents and flukes? Or there's reasons behind it because of the way the Flyers play and you have to adjust? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, I think in the first period I thought generous would probably be a way of describing all three goals. You can say all four goals in the game against us were uncharacteristic of the type of goals we give up all year. So it was -- you look at those isolated incidents and it's like a big factor in the way the game is being played and the outcome at the end. It's things that obviously we have to be stronger in those areas. We have to improve off them and learn off of them as well. But it's something we haven't seen. Q. Coach, did you split up Kane and Toews to try to get one away from Pronger or the other, and did you like how it worked in the end? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I thought there was more pressure in their zone. Whether it's a difference of them being concerned with a couple of different lines, that might be something we'll be looking at. But I thought it was a little more effective in the third period. Q. Joel, do you think going into Game 5, your concern is more strategically or psychologically with the guys in the room? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think technically adjustments we'll look at. Going into every game there's some variances in all areas of what we're trying to do. All zones. All zones. But I think the excitement of the game, the motivation that's in place, the excitement of being in the United Center tomorrow is in place. I don't think we have to tweak that too much. But I just think we know it's a battle going forward. And we have to raise that level. Q. As a coach, making lineup changes, are you a patient guy? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, when things are -- when you're winning, I think I'm very patient. When you come off a couple of games like that, you look at doing different things. I think as we've gone along all year we're not afraid to mix it up. We have a lot of options you are looking at our forward options. A lot of guys can play with each other and it gives you some versatility as well. You always want your top guys being out there in key situations. But I think guys have played with each other at some point throughout the year. Q. Joel, he's not the only one struggling right now, but with Kane, what's your approach with him in terms of sitting down with him today or do you leave him alone? How do you usually deal with him when he's struggling a bit? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think with Kaner, you have a pretty good sense of him how he's approaching in between game days and in the morning skates and going into games. I think we have a good rapport as a staff and with him as well making sure he's ready and getting the most out of him as we can. I think he's a competitive guy and he wants to be the best he can be. We expect him to move forward in this Series and welcome the challenge. And we'll see how the timing and how that plays itself out. Q. Joel, the start of the Series a lot of talk about Byfuglien and Pronger. He's gone from being the dominant player to looking like a timid guy. I don't want to say intimidated, but timid compared to the last Series. What advice can you give him? What is he supposed to do differently against a guy like Pronger in the Series, because so far it hasn't gone well. COACH QUENNEVILLE: Whether it's Buff against Pronger, whoever is against Pronger, I think that's something we'll see if that will be a matchup going forward. I still think we have some versatility as far as who is going to be against him or something they have to consider as well. But I think we still want to be hard against him. We still want to make him turn and make him play defensive and make him play from the back end. He's what he is. We have to be more physical and we have to be harder on him and make it tougher. Q. Joel, can you talk about the decision to play Nick Boynton and why you went there and what he brings to the team? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Nicky, we liked his arrival to our team. He gives us some bite, he gives us some personality. Nick his positioning is strong. His anticipation is high end. I thought he played a very good game in watching several games. Great off the bat in the Finals, he looked like he belongs. I think going forward, Nick took advantage of a great situation and we just like the way he practices and waiting and waiting and all of a sudden he got his chance and did a good job. Q. Joel, in each of the last two games you gave up a goal shortly after scoring a goal and losing the momentum. Is there anything you can do differently in the way of focus on those shifts? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, I think the critical goal yesterday was the third goal. Make it 2-1 last minute of the period. You can't give up that type of goal at that time in the situation. So certainly it's something we address, key shifts in games, be it last minute periods, after goals. Especially that type of goal. Last two games is exactly what you're talking about. Could have been the factor in winning or losing the game. Certainly in Game 3, last night, you could argue. Those are we should all welcome being out on that ice, take pride in it and getting the job done. Throughout the year that's something that we've been very effective at. Q. Joel, when you talk to the ref supervisors before games, do you talk about the clutching and grabbing, or you don't want to go there with them and you prefer to maybe see your team taking a page out of their book? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I don't want to go there with them with you. Q. Maybe in French? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think everybody has a job to do, and there's ways to get our point across. Certainly we just got to have more battle in those areas and maybe we'll get some power-plays. Q. Joel, I realize he plays limited minutes, but the team is 13-2 with Burish in the lineup in the Playoffs. 1-4 without him. Is that telling in any way to you? And does that impact you going forward knowing that? COACH QUENNEVILLE: It's tough to measure something like that. Burish is a big part of our team. He's a big part of the group as far as bringing some excitement and energy to our game. He's a factor. Obviously, you have to make tough decisions. Laddy coming back, I thought he played a good game watching these Finals, all of a sudden he's up to speed. You could argue for every single guy, but I think at the end of the day we always make all the considerations what gives us our best chance. We'll visit with whatever we have to do to get the best lineup. Q. Getting back to that third goal, do you want your defensemen chasing that high -- I know you say it's a critical goal and all that kind of stuff. Do you want your defenseman chasing that high? Or is that the forwards? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think it could have started in the offensive zone. Whether we pressure the guy in the neutral zone, pressure him in our zone. I think that's where it all began. We got caught late in the shift as well. There's a lot of different things that developed that you could start at with the beginning of it all. 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
|