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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKSJune 8, 2010Patrick SharpJonathan ToewsPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day Q. Patrick, can you talk about what happened here when you were in Philadelphia as a player and the opportunity you got to go from Chicago? Was it just being a fourth line player on a laden team and never getting an opportunity to go into Chicago and getting a chance to play and thriving in that opportunity? PATRICK SHARP: I guess you could say that. I just think when I got traded to Chicago, they were a team that was developing in all areas and they gave me a great opportunity to play in different situations. And leaving Philadelphia I kind of understood the situation here as well. They were a first-place team. They were pushing for a championship and it was tough to break into that lineup. And I was thankful for the Flyers to trade me to a good place and gave me a chance to play. Q. Jonathan, there's going to be a trunk in the rink tomorrow night with a trophy in it. It may or may not be opened. How do you guys keep your mind on just the game and not worrying about the trophy being here? JONATHAN TOEWS: I just think we need to have that same attitude and mentality we have had all series. We knew coming in it was a long week before Game 1. And it's exciting every single day. The more time you spend away from the rink, the easier it is to think about how close you are to winning the Cup. Just by that win the other night, we knew it was just one step closer. We want to take that last and final step tomorrow night. That's all we need to focus on. Same way we always had leading up to this point. Q. You can both touch on this. Patrick, can you maybe talk about Duncan Keith, the personality. He seems pretty low-key. Plays a huge game, obviously. Huge minutes. Just personality versus the game and kind of compare them? PATRICK SHARP: Yeah, I remember being traded to Philadelphia, I'm sorry, to Chicago and thinking about how weird Duncan was the first couple of weeks I met him. He's definitely a different personality, but one of the guys that keeps the locker room together. He's a great player. Everyone knows what he can do on the ice. Off the ice he has that personality that he can crack anybody up, especially his boy Seabrook there. We're lucky to have him on and off the ice. Q. Same thing the personality and -- JONATHAN TOEWS: Yeah, he is a different bird. He's a great guy, and obviously one of those guys that brings so much to our team on and off the ice. He focuses all his energy on the right things and he's an old-school guy. He loves the game. You know, plays it smart and simple and hard. He's never been flash. He's never had the big name. . But now I think people are finally realizing what this guy can actually do. We all know it in the locker room. Like Sharpy said, we're very lucky to have him on our side. Q. Jonathan or either of you, Marian Hossa brings a lot of experience. He's been here many times before. I wonder did you talk to him with the experience of being with the Cup in this final stage and can you talk about his experience? JONATHAN TOEWS: I mean, it's -- I mean, you can ask a lot of guys and they'll all say getting to the Cup Final whether you win or not it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. For the most part. But it's not the case with Marian. I think what he can tell us or what he can bring to add an extra kick or desire to go out there and lay it all on the line. I think it's tough for him to have lost twice. But he's here now. I'm sure he has it in his heart and he believes just like the rest of us that this is it. He's been great for us all playoffs and all season. On and off the ice we've been happy to have him. He's again been a big part of our success and the reason we've come this far. Q. Jonathan, this is for you. Chris Pronger has been such a difference-maker in this series. Now he's coming off one of the worst games of his career. How do you expect him to respond in Game 6? JONATHAN TOEWS: We know he's going to come back and be better. That's what makes him a good player and why he's had such a successful career. He's not going to dwell on that game. The series isn't over. He knows that. So we worked all series to try to get on him and some of their top players. That doesn't change for us. We'll try and be just as hard on him as we were last game. Same thing with our goaltender and some of their best players. Q. Jonathan, how many times have you been at home watching the Stanley Cup presented to the captain of whatever team it happened to be, and while doing so thinking one day that's going to be me? JONATHAN TOEWS: I mean, countless times growing up. Any kid growing up in Canada, anywhere as a hockey player, that's the dream. That's the one thing you keep telling yourself, in your heart you kind of know you're going to do it some day. I think last year watching the Pittsburgh Penguins come from behind and win that one last year, I think that's when it really first set in that I felt our team and myself personally -- never felt closer thinking that this is an opportunity, this is something that can really become a reality. It's been a long year, but I think we all knew all along that we can make it this far. Hopefully we can find a way to do it tomorrow. Q. For both guys, you closed out Nashville on the road at 6. Did the same thing to Vancouver. Is there an urgency playing a Game 6 on the road, knowing that you don't want to go to 7 and obviously leave a series up to chance? PATRICK SHARP: Yeah, I don't think it matters if it's Game 5, 6 or 7. If you have a chance to close out a team and advance, and in this case it's something different. We want to make sure we take advantage of it. I think, was it seven playoff series we have had in the last couple of years, we've been pretty good in those elimination games. We want to remain focused and try not to think about with a might happen or what could happen and just play the game that we're capable of. Q. Patrick, it's one thing for a rookie goalie to win in the playoffs. It's quite another for him to win when there's a Stanley Cup in the building. What have you seen from Antti Niemi that leads to you believe he'll be ready and prepared for tomorrow? PATRICK SHARP: Same thing I've seen all year. He doesn't seem to get too upset about anything. Doesn't let good or bad games affect his play. He comes to the rink every day with the same attitude that he's going to be the best goalie that he can. I think that we've answered enough questions about Antti. I think he's answered enough with his play, the way he's played throughout the season and especially in the playoffs. There's no questions from the team's standpoint how he's going to play tomorrow. Q. One for each of you. Jonathan, has the image of holding the Cup blast in your head a lot, the last 48 hours, and you try to suppress it? And Pat, for family and friends, in the last 48 hours have they stayed away from talking about it because it would be ahead of themselves? Are they superstitious about it? JONATHAN TOEWS: It's been flashing in my head since Game 1 of the playoffs. Every time you win one game, it feels like you're going all the way to the Cup. I've always said when you lose a game it feels like your season is going to be over. It's just been such a crazy ride. The last day here, it hasn't been any different. You just try and get those thoughts out of your head that get you all excited and jacked up in the middle of the afternoon. You try and save your energy, and the time to be focused and ready to go is tomorrow night when that game comes around. That's when you want to be energetic and ready to play. Q. Same question? PATRICK SHARP: As far as the family, I think my family has been enjoying the ride ever since I started playing pro hockey, and especially now in the playoffs. They've been to a lot of the games. They've been to Chicago for the majority of it. They're having just as much fun as we are as players. The Hawks do a great job of taking care of our family members and providing them with the opportunity to come to games and all that and make sure they're not a distraction. Which they're not. Q. Jonathan, can you talk about with so many leaders in the locker room, what's the difference in the messages that is you guys give pre-game? The difference between your message to the team and what Coach might say and what say a John Madden might say? JONATHAN TOEWS: It's always different. I think different guys say different things. But as a team, we've always had a pretty good conscious of what we need to do as a team in that moment, whether it's be smart with penalties or, you know, not get frustrated by calls that we disagree with or this and that. So it comes down to the individual. If you feel you have to say something, whether it's Patrick or Duncan or myself, it doesn't really matter. I think that's why we get along so well in our locker room. Guys are stepping up, and it reflects in their play. You see a lot of games we won in this series and in previous series, goal-scoring and big plays from guys all over our lineup. It's the same way in the locker room. Q. The Flyers have been pretty cool in terms of who they're going to start whether or not it's Leighton or Boucher. How much satisfaction do you guys take knowing you put them in this situation and how do you use this to your advantage coming in to Game 6? PATRICK SHARP: Don't take much satisfaction. It doesn't matter if it's Leighton or Boucher. Either one is going to give them a good effort and they're both capable goaltenders. We have to continue to do things that make us successful whoever is in net. That's getting as many pucks as we can, as many bodies going there and hopefully disrupt the goalie's vision. Goalies are so good, if they see the puck they're going to stop it. We have to stick to what we do best. Q. You have won those series on the road, you can win this on the road. Is it tough to bounce the emotion of maybe wanting to celebrate one of these series on your home ice with just getting the job done and taking care of business? JONATHAN TOEWS: Really, I mean, I think that's just icing on the cake, I think. But really it doesn't matter to us. We want it more than anything. Whether it's on the road or at home, to us it doesn't matter. We know we got to be better in this building especially. So we're ready to do that. We know our fans have been great. They've helped us in the last three games. But we're just looking forward to playing our best game of the series tomorrow night. Q. For either or both of you, Madden was brought here in part because of his experience. What type of leadership has he brought? And how did he fit in right from the beginning up until this point? PATRICK SHARP: Madden has been great. Right from day one, he's -- I don't know if accepted is the right word, because he stepped into the locker room and guys flock to him right away. He's someone that for a young team we all kind of look to. He's been through the battle a few times. He's not the type of leader that stands up and barks in the room a whole lot. When he does say something, he's definitely got our attention. So you take a look at what he's done this year. He's a huge part of the team on and off the ice. To add his leadership in the room and what he can bring to us in different parts of the game. Whether it's taking a face-off, playing well defensively, killing the penalty. Those aren't always the things people like to write and talk about, but really valuable to our team. Q. Jonathan, you have had the chance to play with Tomas Kopecky the last game-and-a-half. He's a guy who wasn't in the lineup during the regular season, during the playoffs. He's gotten a chance and made the most of it. Can you talk about with a he's brought to the team? JONATHAN TOEWS: I mean, to us, as a team, I think those are the guys that are making the biggest contributions and the biggest sacrifices. Other guys that are playing low minutes or the guys a like Kopey or Nick Boynton, the guys who all of a sudden have to come into a pressure situation like that. They've both played great. The same thing with Tomas. I can't imagine how tough that is playing on a line with him and Marian last game. I think we did a lot of good things. Kopey was right in there in a lot of those offensive plays. Good to see him having that success. We're happy for him. Q. Patrick, obviously the Flyers are going to be a desperate team tomorrow. They've been resilient all year. How tough will it be to finish them off, especially in this building? PATRICK SHARP: It's going to be tough. I think that's expected. You've seen what they've done all season long. Especially this series, no lead is safe. Every game is close. It comes right down to the wire. I know we expect no difference going into tomorrow. It doesn't matter if it's elimination game or not, it's going to be a tough game. Especially in this building. That's what I'm expecting. I'm sure it's going to be a tough one. Q. Jonathan, with you and Patrick Kane coming in the same year, do you ever remember a particular time where you talked about the possibility of what's happening now, and has it come up at all between you now that it's right there? JONATHAN TOEWS: Yeah, several times. But you can't plan on something like this happening so quickly. I mean, since the day we both came in as rookies, so much has gone well for us. And we understand than -- the way the opportunities were given, the players we're playing with, the guys in the locker room we're surrounded with, everything was set up for us to have success and have fun playing hockey. You definitely don't expect to be playing for a Stanley Cup in your third season as a pro. So we've been very lucky from day one. It's one a heck of a ride. We're just enjoying the moment whatever happens, whether it's the Winter Classic or -- everything that's been going on in Chicago for our organization has just been a lot of fun, and we're enjoying this one as well. Q. Question for Patrick. Jonathan could be the youngest captain ever to raise the Cup. You've played with a lot of leaders over your time. How mature is this guy? From where we sit it's pretty phenomenal. What's it been like and how mature is he as a captain? PATRICK SHARP: We still have to check the birth certificate and make sure he's only 21 or 22, whatever he is. From day one he entered the League, he hasn't changed until he is now, on or off the ice. Maybe he's lightened up a little bit it now. Takes things seriously. He prepares to play just as hard as anybody else. He cares about the game and winning. It's been great to see over the years. We'll see what happens tomorrow. But he's a great leader if he wins or not. JAMEY HORAN: Thank you, gentlemen. End of FastScripts |
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