	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BRUINS v CANUCKS

June 6, 2011

Alain Vigneault

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Three

Boston Â– 8
Vancouver - 1

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Vigneault.

Q. Given what was at stake today, the opportunity to go up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup, were you surprised at the way your team played tonight?
COACH VIGNEAULT: Well, I really liked our first period. Obviously we had to kill off a five-minute penalty. We did a pretty good job. We had a couple of great scoring chances that, you know, I thought their goaltender made some real good saves on.
Then the game, you know, shifted in the second. On the first play or the first period we were in the draw, Alex breaks a stick, the puck seems to have eyes and finds the back of the net. Then we lost a little bit of momentum. We on their power-play, we put the puck in our own net. Then they scored on our power-play.
Obviously they took the momentum in the second and they kept it.

Q. Probably your worst game in the last series was in San Jose and your team bounced back. Do you see that happening again?
COACH VIGNEAULT: In the playoffs, a loss is a loss. You lose in OT or you lose like we did tonight, it's a loss in the loss column.
We're going to take tomorrow to analyze certain aspects of our game, then we're going to come here on Wednesday and we're going to get ready to play a good game.

Q. What was your opinion of Rome's hit on Horton?
COACH VIGNEAULT: You know, obviously you never want to see any player leave in that situation. I think our whole team and myself and the whole organization hopes that he's all right.
The hit obviously seemed to be a little bit late, so...
He got five minutes for interference and was kicked out of the game.

Q. Was it the shorthanded goal perhaps that got the wheels going on their end?
COACH VIGNEAULT: What gave them momentum tonight was our power-play, or lack of it. You know, that's been one of our biggest weapons all year long. It's kept the opposition real honest against us, especially on the road, if you look at our percentage.
Tonight obviously we weren't good enough. I'm confident that this group will be good enough come next game.

Q. The hit on Horton is one of the types of hits they've been trying to outlaw a bit. If there is a suspension of Rome, will you have a major issue with that?
COACH VIGNEAULT: Well, we'll let the League deal with that.
I mean, that hit was head-on hit, player looking at his pass. It was a little bit late. I don't think that's the hit that the League is trying to take out of the game. This is a physical game, you have big guys. Fraction of a second to decide what's happening out there.
It's very unfortunate. Again, like I said, you never want to see that. But this is a physical game.

Q. You talk about physicality in the series. We can talk about the Rome hit. What about the idea of Ryan Kesler dropping the gloves? How do you feel about him getting aggressive like that?
COACH VIGNEAULT: At the end of the game the emotions were running high on both teams. I saw a couple finger-pointings on their part. It's an emotional game. Stuff happens.

Q. How much was that Aaron Rome hit a rallying cry for the Bruins?
COACH VIGNEAULT: I can't answer that. I'm not in their shoes or in their room.

Q. Obviously Roberto allowing eight goals. He'd had quite a run before tonight. Do you give more about the play in front of him than his own play?
COACH VIGNEAULT: Yeah, there were a couple of pucks that went in there that just found their way in. I thought at 4-0, going at the beginning of the third with a power-play, we might be able to do something. That's why I kept him in. At 5-1, I asked him what he wanted to do. He said, Don't even think about taking me out, so that's what I did.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297