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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BRUINS v CANUCKSMay 31, 2011Kevin BieksaVANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA: Practice Day Q. Can you talk about the atmosphere here? Is this all sinking in now? KEVIN BIEKSA: Yeah, I think so. Obviously, after Game 5, it was a little surreal we were going to the Stanley Cup final. Had a couple days to let it all sink in. Now we're getting ready for a big series with all the preparation. This is the final stage before we get on the ice and play. Q. (No microphone.) KEVIN BIEKSA: Not worried about it. Obviously this is what it means to play in the Stanley Cup final. There's a lot of excitement around it, being a Canadian team probably magnified a little bit. We're enjoying it as much as possible. We're focused on a big series. Q. (No microphone.) KEVIN BIEKSA: Obviously, there's similarities with the media day and all that. Again, its being in a Canadian market, it's magnified. I don't think we'd trade it for anything. Q. (Question regarding both team styles.) KEVIN BIEKSA: Yeah, we like to call ourselves a complete team. I think we can adapt to any style. Obviously in the first series with Chicago, it was a little bit more offensive. We can play that game. Nashville, everybody saw that series, very offensive, not a lot of room out there, you have to be patient. We did well in that series. San Jose was a little bit more like the first one. We can play any style. The style that suits us best is playing our own style. Q. (No microphone.) KEVIN BIEKSA: Well, that's just the way we play. We've been doing it all year long. One of our main things is to play the same way every night, not change our game. Whether we're on the road, at home, on a three-game winning streak, whether we're going to be eliminated from the playoffs, we've been playing the same way. It's worked well for us. Q. Can you talk about the Winnipeg franchise going to the NHL. KEVIN BIEKSA: Very excited for the city and for the ownership. Mark Chipman I think is going to be a very good owner, very passionate about the game. Seems like he's going to do everything it takes to make that franchise succeed. Fans were passionate about getting a team back seven years ago when I was there and will do a good job of supporting it. Q. (No microphone.) KEVIN BIEKSA: Look, I think they'll like it. There's tradeoffs. You're going from Atlanta, nice weather, one of the southern states where it's probably a little bit nicer to live. The tradeoff is going to be the passion from the city and the fans. They're going to like playing in the Canadian market a lot. They're going to be a big deal in the city. Everyone is going to cater to them. They're going to enjoy it. Q. (No microphone.) KEVIN BIEKSA: You want to play in the biggest market possible where the fans really understand the game and every Canadian city gives you that. Even for a lot of the role players, guys like that, there's no better place to be appreciated than the Canadian market where the fans understand the details of the game. Q. (Question regarding Chara.) KEVIN BIEKSA: He's a big guy. There's going to be a lot of effort to try to move him. He's going to try to let him stay there, control his stick, do the best we can. Hopefully all those pucks are hitting him because he's so big. Most of his body is going to be over the crossbar anyway. He'll definitely be a challenge for us. We've handled big guys before in front of the net. I think we know how to play him. Q. A lot about the styles between the two goalies. With Louis particularly, as teammates, do you take it personally when Louis doesn't get the money he should get? KEVIN BIEKSA: I don't think anybody takes it personally. In our room, Louis is a big part of this team, he won this country a gold medal this year. He's done everything asked of him. He's a big-time goalie. He shows up for the big games, the big series, and we have full confidence in him. Q. (No microphone.) KEVIN BIEKSA: Yeah, excited, anxious. It's been a long break, but a good break though. It's allowed us to get rested, refocused and everything. We're going to take care of today and get ready to play a game tomorrow, which is exciting. Feels like it's been a long time since we've been in a game-type atmosphere. We're anxious. Q. (No microphone.) KEVIN BIEKSA: Absolutely. It's a blast. I love answering these questions over and over again. If I get to the Stanley Cup every year, you can ask me these questions a hundred times over. Obviously, I would take that any day. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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