|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKSJune 8, 2010Tomas KopeckyAndrew LaddJohn MaddenPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day JAMEY HORAN: Questions for Tomas, Andrew or John. Please direct your question to the individual player. Q. John, you've been in this situation before. Yesterday Joel was saying let's get the guys away from the rink. Let's get them -- not focused on hockey. Is that possible to do when you're one win away from the Stanley Cup? JOHN MADDEN: I don't think it's entirely possible. There are definitely moments on the day off that you weren't thinking about hockey. You are doing other things. For the most part, you think about it. But maybe not until the depth that you would if you were around the arena or being tackled by media or something like that. Q. Just all three of you. Being Cup winners, and I don't know if it's coincidence that you're all up at the same time, but maybe if you could give us your experience having won the Cup and what it might feel like to win another one possibly tomorrow night. TOMAS KOPECKY: Obviously, it's a thrill. That's why you play hockey growing up, to win the Stanley Cup. When I was with Detroit, the memories that stay with you for the rest of your life. That feeling, it's unbelievable. ANDREW LADD: Yeah, I mean, same thing. It's what we play the game for. The group that we have and the players we have in the room and persons just makes the whole ride fun. It's really been fun the whole way. If you can cap it off at the end by winning, it's just a special feeling you can't really describe. JOHN MADDEN: For me, it was no better feeling in hockey. That's for sure. The look on your teammate's face when you've all come together and accomplished your goals. There have been some trials and tribulations, so to speak. You've been able to overcome a lot. It's a real nice feeling to have. Q. John, could you talk a little bit about Game 6 and how tricky that game can be? You've been through two of them in Colorado. You lost that game, and then Game 7 didn't work out the way you wanted. I know that was very disappointing. Then it worked out the other way if Anaheim. Can you talk about how tricky this game can be being up 3-2? JOHN MADDEN: I've been in the situation -- it is my fourth time being in it. All three times have been different. Different scenarios, different buildings. Obviously, different teams. But as far as being tricky, you know you want to take care of business when you can. You don't want to leave the chance for a Game 7. We have an opportunity tomorrow. All I can say is we have to be focused on that opportunity and not look at having another game to go to. You have to take care of business and treat it like it's an elimination game. Q. Tomas, you were in and out of the lineup to start the playoffs. But now you've got a spot. You're locked in. Can you talk about what this experience has been like for you not knowing if you were going to be playing every night to now being a contributing factor playing on a key line with Hossa and Toews? TOMAS KOPECKY: It's obviously, it's a dream come true to play in the Stanley Cup Finals. Any other player can tell you it's something you play hockey for when you were growing up, when you were as a kid. That's what you were dreaming of. Right now we have a great chance, and for me it was still the same. I had to work hard no matter what and to how much is given and how much is expected. So I don't take this opportunity any lightly. I'm in the lineup. I'm going to do my best to help the team to win. Q. John, what were your impressions, or what did you know about Duncan Keith and the caliber of his game before you got here and played with him regularly? What maybe surprised you or took you about him after you were here for a bit? JOHN MADDEN: I didn't know much about Duncan before I got here. Having played against him maybe once or twice that I recall, I remember he was a great skater. He liked to move the puck, liked to join the rush. Real quickly, I found out a lot more about Duncan, obviously, being in the dressing room with him and just talking to him and getting to know him. He's an unbelievable competitive person. He's a great hockey player. This season alone he's been fantastic for us. Anybody that has watched him play, you would be really impressed with everything he does in the game. So he's been a pleasure to play with. And we've been awful lucky to have him play for our team. Q. Tomas, after not meddling in the Olympics, does getting this far in the Stanley Cup, is that any kind of consolation, and does one mean more than the other? TOMAS KOPECKY: Yeah, it's totally different story. The Olympics went by so fast, and it's only two weeks and this season, it's eight to nine months with this group we have right now, you are together for the whole nine months. You just realizing how lucky you are, especially coming through the first, second and third round in the playoffs. It's obviously a thrill. But Olympics are over. I have a great memories and everything, but it's past. And right now I'm focused on the next game. Q. I have a question for all three of you and a follow-up for John if that's okay. Going back to your memories of clinching the Cup and being on the eve of that experience, how do you handle that mentally and what did you learn from that you might do the same or differently? TOMAS KOPECKY: I'm just going to prepare the same way I prepare for every other game, and maybe pay a little more attention to the details. The first shift, you have to go shift by shift. You can't look ahead way too much in front of you. Just focus on the little things and the little battles. That's when the big things are going to come. ANDREW LADD: Yeah, I think it's just not getting ahead of yourself. Staying in the moment. I don't think you prepare any differently. You played over 100 games this year now. I think you want to stick to your -- what you do best and how you prepare for games. Obviously, it's a big opportunity. JOHN MADDEN: I think the biggest part is just sticking to our game plan as a team. Even though it's a game where we can clinch, it doesn't change anything for us. We have to play the same way we did in Game 5, with the same mentality and be ready to play. Because this game tonight is going to be, or tomorrow night, is going to be a lot faster paced than we have had before. It just has different ramifications about it. So you have to be more prepared than you were in the last five games. Q. Coming into the team this year, being new, how did you feel like you would transition into a leadership role? Is it something you embraced right away? How do you feel? JOHN MADDEN: I think I'm still feeling my way around. There's so much leadership in the room. The guys are young, but way beyond their years in terms of the way they handle themselves. Speaking from Jonathan Toews and Dunks and Sharpy, those guys are our captains, Seabrook as well. There are lots of leaders in the room that do a lot of things. It's been easy to come in and play hockey and not worry about all the other things that go on. Q. Tomas, you're playing with your countrymen now on the same line. Do you talk about the 2008 Final when you were on different sides and about being in the Cup Final, winning the Cup, and in Marian's case, not winning the Cup. Do you talk about that? TOMAS KOPECKY: No, not really. It's a past and it's past for him and it's past for me. I don't really like to look at the past. Just trying to enjoy the moment right now. With the situation we're in right now. Not really talking about what happened. Q. For John, how much of a psychological boost was it that you guys had the success in Game 5 when Chris Pronger was out on the ice scoring the goals when he was out there, and kind of also being on the giving side of some of those hits instead of the receiving side? JOHN MADDEN: That's a good question. The one thing about that everybody keeps forgetting is we did that in Game 5. We have to go out and do it in Game 6. I think that's the part of refocusing and getting ready for our next game. We had a lot of success. We did a lot of good things in Game 5, but it's over with. We have to start all over. It starts tomorrow night. Q. A little bit of a follow-up for that, John. You're a little bit of a coach on the bench. Your line didn't change from Game 4 to 5. A little bit of a debate since last game. Do you think the line changes energized the team, or did an energized team make the line changes look good? JOHN MADDEN: I just think it gave everybody, Philly a different look. If they were trying to match lines or against Toews or Kaner, when you split them up, it gives a different look. I think the guys in general were just ready to play. And maybe that was lift we were looking for. Anytime you change lines, it helps a little bit. Obviously, it looked great because we won the game. But still comes down to the individual and wanting to play. Q. Andrew, you were in a Cup-clinching situation on the road in Edmonton with Peter Laviolette. What were the feelings after that game when you knew the Cup was in the building? You weren't able to grab it and just kind of what can you learn from that and take into tomorrow night's game? ANDREW LADD: Same kind of -- Game 6 in Edmonton. It was probably the longest flight I've ever been on heading back to Carolina. I just remember feeling that heading into Game 7 that no one was going to beat us; that we were going to put our best effort out there. I guess having lost that opportunity in Game 6; it just made you want it that much more. Q. Andrew, kind of a follow-up to that. It sounds like Laviolette is a really good motivator in situations like that. Do you have an idea of what he's going to do tomorrow -- tonight and tomorrow to get his team going? ANDREW LADD: I don't know. Like you said, he's a great motivator. He's great with words. Seems to get the most out of his players, like he did with us in our run. He sets up a great game plan and gives every opportunity for the guys to succeed. That's what why we're expecting them to come out hard tomorrow, and we have to be ready to match that. Q. John, you played against Patrick Sharp when he was a young player in Philadelphia. Now you're playing with him. Can you talk about where he's developed as a player and what he means to this team? JOHN MADDEN: That's a good question. I remember Sharpy was -- I don't know, he was really an offensive player when he was in Philadelphia. And I just remember him always on the go and always trying to score goals. Now that I see him in the role that he's in now, he's a great two-way player. He's still offensive. He's great like that. But he's a great leader. He's grown up a lot in terms of how he approaches the games. I can tell that you already by being around him. It's fun to play with him. He's done a lot of good things for our hockey club this year. Like I said before, he's a great player. Q. John, since so many people say you're a coach in the making, two-part question here. Number one, Pat Sharp said when do you speak, you don't speak very often, but when you do you get everyone's attention. When you talk to the team, is it more emotional, analytical, technical? And can you compare how Joel Quenneville has handled this quest for the Cup as opposed to the other coaches you've had in this situation? JOHN MADDEN: I think what Sharpy is getting at is, I tend to say things in the dressing room when things aren't going so well. So I've had very little to say this year. But I think it's just technical about what's going on in the game, and what we need to do better. Maybe to relax a little bit. Don't be so uptight. Let's loosen the grip on our stick and play some hockey. That's when I feel our team is at our best. As far as Joel goes, I think he's been great. I think he's handled it no different from the beginning up to this point. He's handled us the same way. Practices have been great. Our game preparation has been great. Both coaches with PP, PK, I think he's handled it like he's been here a few times. It's very reassuring knowing your coach feels that calm. It's easy to play when you have faith in him. JAMEY HORAN: Thank you, gentlemen. 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
|