|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LIGHTNING v BRUINSMay 16, 2011Guy BoucherBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Coach Guy Boucher. Q. The offensive production you've gotten out of Dominic Moore's line, has it gotten to the point where now it's expected, or is it still like bonus? COACH BOUCHER: Well, you have to watch out, because obviously you don't want to expect it, because their role has been to bring us hustling and great defensive play. I've talked to them already not just today but in previous days. I think it's important that the players understand that we need to play within our strengths as a team, but as individuals too. You don't want to start focusing on other things when you're losing your strengths. If you lose your strengths, eventually whatever you're doing in other departments is going to fade away. And it's important for the Bergenheims and the Moores and the Downies to understand that the hustling, their reliability defensively, their first on puck and the way they battle and bulldoze around the net is key to our team, not just because they score goals, but mostly because they inspire the rest of the team also. So they can not score for the next four games and still do their job, just like Stamkos, for instance, the last game blocking some shots. He didn't get a goal, but he filled his role of a guy that's trying to win. So I think that's more important. I'm always a guy that focuses on the process. The result for me is always there because of the process. Q. Steve Downie has been kind of a loose cannon in his career taking penalties and stuff, but he's seemed to have matured this year especially in the Playoffs. How did you corral him to play as effectively as he is now? COACH BOUCHER: I don't want to take any credit for changing him. He's the one doing it. He's the one that's willing to take the steps. I think I was looking on TV yesterday, they were talking about Kesler pretty much in the same way that you're talking now, that he's a guy that's got some great hockey attributes. And he was wasting a lot of energy doing other things. And you can see him now, he's a dominant hockey player, because his focus, his energy is going the right direction. And at this level I strongly believe now, I'm still a little rookie here, but there's one thing I see is that these guys are Formula 1s, and the minute there's a little thing that's off has an incredible impact on the car and the body, basically. And so if your mind's not in the right place, if your energy is just slightly off because you've wasted some in places that you shouldn't, you're not going to get the maximum out of yourself. I think Steve understood that. Now, having said that, to realize that was one thing, but to actually put it into practice, it's an everyday training. It's a mental training, and he's been great at it. He's a few times had trouble controlling his emotions, but nothing like before. Night and day from the beginning of the year. He started last year. It wasn't something he started this year. It was something he started last year. He had evolved, and now he's really sold on doing what he's doing now and the teams have tried to go at him the first and second series, and it ain't working because he knows how important he is for us on the ice. Q. We talk about Downie and Kesler and we talk - and also a lot about discipline in light of the end of the last game. Is it a point of emphasis with you that people do kind of keep their cool? And, also, have you looked at the examples of the Red Wings and their sustained excellence and how they always kind of keep those kinds of things under control? COACH BOUCHER: Well, concerning the Red Wings, obviously it's a team I've been looking at for years now, you know, with the Mike Babcock connection with McGill and also the fact that I think they're still the standard in our league right now for consistent success. Certainly I am and still am looking at what the Red Wings are doing, but ourselves, we've got Steve Yzerman, he was part of the Red Wings and he's also got an understanding of what was going on down there. But without talking about the Red Wings, I think you just look at how Steve behaves every day, and nothing will bother him to the level of getting him out of his control, and I think he's a guy that is a great example for everybody in the organization. Mr. Vinik, the owner, is the same way. And they're extremely successful people that keep their cool under pressure. And so I think it's our job as an organization to reproduce that, and our players are doing that. But it is a process and it is something that we've put a lot of emphasis on from day one in the training camp. And we're the most penalized team in the league last year, and the first speech we had was: It ain't going to happen this year. And nobody's going to get any breaks in that respect. So we're just benefitting right now from the efforts of the players in that respect. Q. When you came in this year, you had some role-type guys on hand. I'm thinking in particular Mike Lundin and Teddy Purcell. How did you get those guys, I guess, involved and what did you see in them that told you you wanted to make them part of your plan? COACH BOUCHER: Lundin and? Q. Purcell. COACH BOUCHER: They're very smart individuals. Extremely smart. And I'd say they're a bit shy in their approach to the game. And I think they've realized over the span of this year that it ain't just about names out there. It's about what you do every day. And they slowly figured out they can do it, too. And being so smart, if you pay attention to details, which they have, it builds, and it builds pretty quick. So I think Lundin, I would say for the biggest portion of the year, played against the first lines. And I don't think he was expecting that. I don't think anybody was expecting that. But he's so smart, he controls his gap very well. He reads the play, and so he compensates for probably his lack of size and maybe his lack of speed and strength. And when you look at the package, he becomes a guy that's kind of a mistake-free player. It was weird, the other day he fell on that goal and it was really uncharacteristic of him. And basically that's good, because that's his mistake of the month. So we'll take it at that. And then I think a guy like Teddy Purcell, extremely skilled, very smart, but needed to learn the intensity level of this league and needed to see that he could be doing what he used to be doing in the ranks in the American League and college before. And I think he's realized that now. So there's a question of fractions of seconds they need to learn to precipitate their play a little bit at the beginning. But after a while their legs are moving and their minds are calm. And I think that's where both these guys are right now. Q. They always talk about the team that loses is going to come out, they're going to come out stronger, come out tougher, the same talk. But you guys don't worry about what the other team's going to do; you worry about what you do. What is it the Lightning coming out at in Game 2? Talk about that. COACH BOUCHER: Well, I think we were a little rusted first game. And I know we've won, but for us we feel that we didn't. We played a good game. Didn't play a great game. I really didn't like our defensive zone coverage at all. That was one thing that had been really good the last two series and it was just okay, average at best, the last game. So we worked on that. And we know that defense comes first. And it's really paid off for our team. So yesterday the whole day was just about our defensive zone coverage. So we weren't happy about that. The other thing, too, is I didn't like our attitude in the last six, seven minutes of the game. We slacked off a little bit once we got that fourth and fifth goal. We can't give the opponent any moment because they can capitalize and they can get confidence off of it, and that's something we want to avoid in the next game for sure. We're certainly far from being great or perfect. And so we have to be a lot better next game, a lot better. Q. After Game 1 you said you wouldn't be surprised if Patrice Bergeron was back in the lineup. He practiced with the team today. Just your thoughts on if he comes back for Game 2 or Game 3, how do you guys prepare for that? COACH BOUCHER: We've prepared for him playing for the first game. So we're preparing for him just like we did with Pittsburgh. We told the players Sidney was going to play every game, and that's the way we approach it. If they're not there, and we don't add on something, we take out something. And so I think that Bergeron, we know how important he is to the team. He's a great player. He's a great individual. And that usually has a tendency to uplift your team in terms of confidence, and we know the impact he's got on the faceoff. So obviously his team's going to start with the puck a lot more often. It changes a lot of things in terms of the way the game is going to develop. So we're expecting him to be there for the opening faceoff, and if he's not, which I highly doubt, I think he's going to be there. It just makes it way harder. So they said they're coming out with their A game and they're coming out with him. I'm sure Tim Thomas is going to be at his best, and right now we're expecting Boston to come out flawless. So if we don't play a flawless game, forget it. Q. Marc-Andre Bergeron scored a power play goal the last couple of games. I know you had mentioned he was a little frustrated the last month and a half of the year; he wasn't getting those kind of goals that you brought him in for. What have you seen different in him in the Playoffs since he's turned his line up and what kind of weapon can he be in the power play? COACH BOUCHER: He's obviously a weapon. What was happening before he was trying to get the puck through the net and the board and the stands and right down to the parking lot. That has a tendency to miss the net more often. That's what was happening with him. So he went back to having a heads up. Because he's one of those shoe guys that can actually move and have heads up and shooting at the same time without looking at his puck. Very few guys can do it. That's why he's got records in Junior and that's why last year he was in the top three goal scorers of defensivemen in the league. Went back to having more poise with his shot and looking rather than forcing it. And it's paid off for him. Q. Can you comment on Eric Brewer's transition into your system and his transition into the team in the Playoffs? COACH BOUCHER: Eric, first of all, he's jack-of-all-trades. That's what he's been for us. I know he's had injuries in the last years, and it's probably impaired him a little bit in terms of the number of things, the quality of things maybe that he was used to doing. And now we're lucky we get him healthy. We get him playing on a power play penalty kill. Play against the top lines, pressure situation. His size is something that's helped us, because he's got tremendous reach. He's also physical. He's had some incredible body checks that really turned some games around, and they can come at any moment. He's got incredible leadership. Very assertive guy. He's not afraid to talk in meetings, and sometimes when you pass by the coach and you hear guys like that taking a hold of a portion of your room or groups, you know, that your leadership corps has grown with a guy like that. Him coupled with Roloson, it's really -- it's definitely had an impact on our team. And sometimes it's not Xs and Os at all, it's just the presence and the confidence, the experience, and we needed that. That was a void that we had even though we were first in our division at some point. We knew what our weaknesses were, and he filled a lot of those weaknesses. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
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
|