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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKS

June 9, 2010

Peter Laviolette

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game SIx

COACH LAVIOLETTE: Good morning.

Q. Peter, Laperriere just said that one of his jobs tonight is to settle everybody down and make sure that they've got their nerves under control. Some of your players said you were too keyed up the last game. Is that part of your message too with these guys, just try to relax them?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think if you're nervous and you go on the ice, you probably won't be effective. In saying that, there will be a lot of energy in the building, and we'll certainly need a lot of energy. I think they had us in the skating and -- they're on their toes a little bit more, a little bit quicker than we were.
We need to harness that energy. It's a fine line, I think, between energy and nerves. Certainly you don't want to go out there and be nervous and play that way. You want to grab the energy in your building and play at highest tempo possible.

Q. I understand, I know from talking to some of the players and hearing that you're big into motivation, and different things, including videos. I understand you may have a video for the guys today. How important are those sorts of elements to get your club prepared?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think motivation is a part of it. You have to -- I think guys need to go out on the ice in the right frame of mind, but motivation, I think, is part of the coach's job.

Q. Coach, you talked about the resiliency of this team since December, all through the playoffs. Have you seen enough from them this morning and today to know that a there's enough left for them to go down into that well two more times and reach enough for two more wins?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I definitely think there's enough to go two more. We can go more if we had to. It's not -- it's not the position that we want to be in. I'm sure everybody would rather be up 3-0 or 3-1 and looking at a game where we could close out in Game 6 in our building.
That's just not the path we've taken this series. We find ourselves with our back against the wall. I say comfortable. I believe that we are comfortable here, because this is our sixth time facing elimination.
Still, you would rather be in a different position, but we're not. We'll be ready to play hockey tonight. We have had a lot of success at home here and in our building. That energy that I talked about earlier, we've been able to grab it and play a real strong game. That will be needed tonight.

Q. Peter, Simon Gagne said he was excited for tonight's game. Does that surprise you that emotion, and is that a good sign in your view?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: You know, everybody should be excited. I know it's hard -- like I said, It's a fine line that you're walking between grabbing the energy and excitement and nerves. I mean it's the Finals. There's only two games left. We got to win a hockey game tonight in order to reach that second game.
So the only objective that we have tonight is to make sure we win one game. You don't want to -- you don't want to carry that pressure with you, because if you do, you won't allow yourself to be great. If my players are saying they are excited, then those are good words. Excitement. They should be excited. They worked hard to get to this point. They should be excited.

Q. Peter, the Blackhawks have had to answer questions like how long have you imagined winning the Cup and how close you are and they have had two days to think about it. Is that an advantage for you guys that you can play the game without having to deal with that?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I don't know how the Blackhawks will -- can't tell what another team is going to do. For us, our objective is, like I said earlier, what we've talked about is winning just one hockey game.
If you keep it in the simplest of terms, we're playing the Blackhawks tonight in our building. We played them here three times this year and we've beaten them. Can we beat the Chicago Blackhawks tonight on our ice? It's that simple for our group.

Q. Peter, can you maybe just describe in your eyes what your leadership group maybe does on a day like today, the different mix of leaders you have like veterans like Laperriere or the younger guys like Richards, the way it all mixes together to prepare for a game like this?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Those guys you are talking about, and Ian mentioned it, I haven't had a meeting with the players yet. Ian mentioned what he was going to try to do. We have a calm group in there. A group that has experience in big games and played in big situations, and I'm sure it will have that calming influence over the players that will allow us to go out and do our thing.
You're talking about Mike Richards who has done an excellent job leading this team, Chris Pronger and his experience and Lappy and his experience. Guys that have played a lot of playoff games like Simon and Danny Briere. We've got some guys with experience, and I think we'll be able to handle that pressure tonight.

Q. Coach, the year you won it, you were in a place where the Cup was in the building, you had a chance to win it and you lost that opportunity. Were your players maybe distracted by knowing that opportunity was there, and did you maybe use that to your advantage tonight, because Chicago is in that same situation where they're focused on winning the Cup?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Again, I don't know where Chicago will be. We can't win the Cup tonight. We need to win one hockey game. I think it's important we keep our eye on the ball. That's the game, the minutes that are being played, every stride that's accounted for.
I think what's really important is our preparation to how we play tonight. And if we focus solely on that, then I like our team. I'm confident in our team's ability to win a game.
JAMEY HORAN: Thank you, Coach.
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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