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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKSJune 7, 2010Peter LaviolettePHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day Q. Peter, are you sticking with Michael in goal? COACH LAVIOLETTE: I don't comment on lineups. Q. I'm wondering what you remember of Game 5, the Pittsburgh-Detroit series last year, as a partial observer? What you thought at the end of that game in that maybe what happened in those two games? What surprised you, the dominance of Detroit -- (Indiscernible)? COACH LAVIOLETTE: Let me go back on that first question. Unless I want to. (Indiscernible) so I want you to know that. As far as -- that one -- I think you're always familiar with things that -- you've lived more than you've watched. For me, I lived it in 2006. We went up to Edmonton in Game 6 and really got outplayed. It was a similar game to last night. They were quicker than us and had more opportunities at the net. You know, I think what it does is it makes you remember that there's just one game -- they're just one game parts of a series. And you really have to remember that, whether it's good or bad. You try -- when things are good, you win a couple of games. You want to try and separate that, so you don't feel too good about things, you don't get too high. Because there's a good chance the other team just got more desperate. They got a little bit more desperate and things didn't go our way last night. But, again, you have to make sure that you are ready for the next game, that you put this one behind you. Because they're all separate. Just from my experience in 2006, we had a lousy game in 6. We had probably the best game of the year in Game 7. Q. Did you say anything? I'm wondering after Game 6 in '06, did you get a sense from the room that your guys got it? That it was just one game and that they weren't going to -- (Indiscernible)? COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think that when you get to this point there's a tremendous amount of confidence in your team to win hockey games. They get it and they understand it. If any team gets it, this team gets it, because we've been here so many times. Again, to have our back against the wall, we'll be comfortable with this tomorrow. I have no question that our team will respond in a manner in which it should so that we can be successful. Q. The Flyers seem to have the edge when it came to special teams. Coming into last night, a couple of goals on the power-play for the Hawks, can you maybe explain what happened and adjustments that you might make coming into tomorrow night's game? COACH LAVIOLETTE: A lot of times -- a lot of times you can go to certain aspects of the game and they are a reflection of where your team is at and where the other team is at and how the game is being played. Face-offs is one, specialty teams is another. When you're losing those battles, the little parts of the game, there's a good chance that you're getting outdone in that game. We've been good in specialty teams. Our game has been -- I've liked the first four games. I didn't like the score in the first two, but I thought that we competed well and our chances were better than -- and last night was the opposite. Again, so you have to take it as it's one game, and we'll be better as a team in our game of hockey. And with that will come better special teams, better face-offs. A lot of times it's a reflection of your game. Q. Peter, just wondering what your message is to the guys on a day like today. Do you just have them get away from the rink, spend time with their families? COACH LAVIOLETTE: Our guys are getting away today. We'll do work tomorrow. We're meeting for lunch and that's it. Q. Can I go back to question number one? COACH LAVIOLETTE: Number one, sure. Absolutely. Q. What goes into your thinking with this? Have you already decided -- COACH LAVIOLETTE: Yes. Q. And have you told your goaltender? COACH LAVIOLETTE: I haven't seen my players. Q. Is that the reason that you're deciding -- COACH LAVIOLETTE: A lot of times it is the reason. Yeah, I don't like to put things out before I talk to my team and talk to my players. I want to make sure I do it at the right time and when I want to do it. I reserve the right to say when and where. Q. In a case like that, do you think most about the team or the goaltender in a situation like this? COACH LAVIOLETTE: Both. Are you talking about announcing it or -- Q. In making that decision. COACH LAVIOLETTE: Both. Whatever is best for the team and whatever is going to give us the best chance to win one hockey game. Q. Wondering if there's any further update on Danny Briere with the eye? Is there any risk he would possibly miss Game 6? COACH LAVIOLETTE: All injuries -- all injuries come from Paul Holmgren. Q. I'm not sure if you were asked this last night. Do you think that was a penalty? And were you ever given an explanation? Usually when there's a cut like that, that is looked at. COACH LAVIOLETTE: I thought it was a penalty. At first glance, I almost thought it was intentional. The puck wasn't even around. Looking at it again, it should have been a four-minute penalty. You have to be in control of your stick out there. Dangerously close to a severe eye injury. They told me that it was a follow-through on the puck. I'm not sure I understood the call. I thought it should have been a four-minute penalty. Q. With Chicago splitting up their top couple of lines, what challenge does that pose to you guys defensively? COACH LAVIOLETTE: Well, we get -- again, when you look at a game last night, we need to be better in all aspects of the game. They had the opportunity for the last change. That comes back in our favor this game here. We can take a look at those things today, the changes that they made, and formulate a game plan on what we want to do against that. Q. Peter, are you surprised or disappointed in the way your team played? I think a lot of people who have seen your team didn't expect that kind of a game in that kind of a situation. And if so, how do you get that back again? COACH LAVIOLETTE: I have no question that we'll respond. It was not a good game for us. Again, there's -- you don't want to make excuses for it. There's no reason to have a game like that, certainly not under the circumstances. Chicago ramped up their game. It comes down to that first period. They scored three goals. They took advantage of us in the first period, and got on the board. We didn't respond to it. They came out in their building, they had the home-ice advantage. They had the last change. They had a lot of things going for them. They took advantage of us. I thought we came out in the second period. We scored a goal. I thought we could have tied it up. I really do. There was a couple of opportunities for empty nets and back-door empty nets and we missed them. Even in the first period, Danny Briere had one on the side of the net on the power-play. It was an empty net. He just shot it off the side. Again, maybe just a reflection of how things were going for us last night. But it goes back to -- you go back to the Montreal series, where in Game 3, I think we have had a couple of tough games in these entire playoffs. I stated such. I haven't sugarcoated it. Montreal Game 3 was a tough game for us. So the question is, how could you possibly respond after that game like that? Well, we did. That's why I have a lot of confidence in our group that we will respond tomorrow night appropriately. And last night, those are the two games out of -- wherever we're at, 22, that as a group none of us are probably happy with the way we played in those two games. Q. Sort of specific to that, it seems that if there's a guy who can ride out a minus 5 game, a game that was on the ice for 6, it's Chris Pronger. He sort of had joked with it a little bit last night. Is he a guy that your guys will look to essentially to establish that tone of moving forward after that? COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think if we look just for Chris Pronger to do it, nobody else will be in trouble. We are a team, that by all accounts, we win together and usually it's a team effort. And when we lose, well, we do it as a team. Everybody could have been a little bit better last night. I'm sure Chris will have a big game and lead the way. But others -- we need to make sure that we have all hands on deck. Q. Peter, obviously Jeff Carter's play, the fact he's even back is a testament to what he's able to accomplish. How restrained is he by injury, and how difficult is it for him, because obviously this series has not been for your leading goal scorer from the regular season what you've grown accustomed to seeing from him? COACH LAVIOLETTE: Yeah, it felt like -- he has battled a lot. He has two one-month injuries or more than that in the last two-and-a-half months to three months. He doesn't have a lot of time under his belt. I think he was taking strides up until last night, and without specifically talking about Jeff in general, we weren't good enough as a team. And it didn't seem like anybody brought their best game. We've got to get back as a team and make sure we're ready to play our brand of hockey, our style of hockey in our building with our fans tomorrow night. We have to make sure we're ready to win one hockey game. You have to give the Blackhawks credit. They played a good hockey game last night. They came out. They had the jump on us. Again, it's one game. If you look at the Finals, it's like a novel. And there could be seven chapters in it, and each chapter is its own story. Last night in chapter 5, they were probably happy with what they did, and we were not. It moves on to another day and another chapter. Our team will be ready to give it. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. COACH LAVIOLETTE: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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