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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: DEVILS v RANGERSMay 15, 2012Dan GirardiNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Practice Day Q. Dan, can you talk about the collective effort you guys take in blocking shots? DAN GIRARDI: Like you said, that's the identity of our team. And everyone's buying into it. And it's kind of our defensive philosophy. When we're in our own end, we want to keep everything tight, and once we get to the point we like to get in shot lanes and try to prevent shots that way. And when there's a breakdown, guys are diving in front of shots and I think it's our game now. Everyone's just doing it and no one's really thinking about it. It's kind of our first reaction. Q. Is that something that Tortorella has to tell you to do before games or is it something that you guys take enough pride in that you take it upon yourself? DAN GIRARDI: I think we take a pride in it. I think everyone's doing it, especially this time of year. Everyone's automatically going into the shot lane, going down when they have to. And that's kind of what he tried to get us to buy into from the time he came. And sort of this year everyone's been doing it. Guys that haven't blocked shots before are doing it, too, and it's great to see. Q. Can you describe the price you paid, not counting anything right now, just over your career here, just big injuries, little bruises, anything? DAN GIRARDI: Obviously everyone has different stuff going on throughout their career and stuff they have to battle through. And that's the style I play, the hits and the blocking shots, there's going to be bumps and bruises. But all that doesn't really matter, especially this time of year. You're going into every game feeling good, and I think that's just part of being a hockey player, having cuts and bruises and different kinds of injuries. Q. What's the worst injury youÂ’ve ever had blocking a shot? DAN GIRARDI: Well, back in Junior I ruptured‑ or lacerated my spleen, I think 2001. That held me off for pretty much the whole year. And obviously a cut here, a finger last year at the end of Playoffs was pretty bad. But it's just part of the game. Q. Just blocking a shot you lacerated your spleen? DAN GIRARDI: No, I got hit into the boards. Q. I meant like the worst you got from blocking a shot... DAN GIRARDI: Oh. I didn't hear that part of the question. Sorry. Just a bruise and just some welts on my body, but that's about it. Q. Talking when you were a little kid, Midget hockey, Pee‑Wee hockey, did you ever look at blocking shots and said, boy, that's the stupidest thing I've ever seen? DAN GIRARDI: To be honest, even in Junior I didn't do much of it until I really got to Hartford when Schoeny was coaching down there, and I think they started to want to do that a little bit with the guys. Not until maybe a couple of years ago it was really a staple in my game. I've probably been doing it the last five years now, but the last couple of years I tried to get in front of every shot I can and make it hard for the shooters. Q. Is there a technique you have to learn? DAN GIRARDI: I don't know. It's more‑ it's kind of the timing and making sure you're in line with the guy's stick instead of his body. When you're in line with the stick, he has to shoot it through you, but when you're in line with his body, the stick's out to the side and he can shoot around you that way. I think it's just more your positioning and timing when the shots come. Q. John (Tortorella) was saying earlier that he had no idea how it would work out with you and McDonagh, it was out of necessity that you played together. What were your thoughts and why do you think it's worked so well? DAN GIRARDI: Well, obviously it's easy to play with Mack (McDonagh) on the ice. He's such a good skater it makes my job pretty easy out there. And I think just kind of our mix. I'm more kind of stay at home and get the puck up to the forwards and get it moving, and he likes to get it in the rush. And I get in the rush here and there. But I think he takes care of that for the most part. And it happened in the beginning of the year obviously Staalsy being out and me and Mack got paired together, and I think sometimes it works between guys and sometimes it doesn't. And it just seemed to gel. I really couldn't tell you why. I think it's just kind of read off each other from the beginning and talking on and off the ice about different things we could do, and it's been good so far. Q. Does that change your relationship because you played so much? Do you spend a lot more time together on the road? Is that relationship different now since you played together so much? DAN GIRARDI: Maybe a little different. On the road we were always going to dinners and stuff. It was always a big group of guys anyway, but he was always there. Especially this year he's coming over to my house a little bit more, playing with my son and stuff like that. And I think that's kind of part of why we're doing well. We're good friends off the ice, and it makes our job easier on the ice. Q. How long does it take to trust each other? DAN GIRARDI: I think right away. I think if there's a grace period like that, you're not going to be very successful. Especially starting the year in Europe and kind of got together there, and it was just had to have trust in the guy right away. Q. On the Parise play last night, do you worry that he wasn't going to be able to get back, or did you trust that it was going to happen? DAN GIRARDI: I'm lucky he's such a good skater. I think I just got a little bit ‑ maybe to slow him down, and Mack made a couple of good plays right off the bat. And I had a couple of tough plays right off the start. And I think Mack did a good job of covering for me and making some good solid plays, and that helped me get past a couple of things. Q. How do you look the next game as kind of an opportunity to give yourselves a little bit of a push into the series? DAN GIRARDI: Yeah, the last couple of series it's been win one, lose one. Especially at this stage try to get a 2‑0 lead and build it up from there. I think we're going to have to have a better first two periods for us to be successful tomorrow night, and just starts with a hard start and making sure you're not turning pucks over and making sure we're playing into their hash marks. Q. One last question. Considering what it takes to throw your body into the puck, does it bother you when people compare it to the passive‑aggressive trapping and looking and hoping, that kind of thing? DAN GIRARDI: I don't think so. I don't know. It's really hard to say. I think shot blocking's actually a big part of the game right now. A lot of teams are doing it. Washington is good at it. And New Jersey is good in the shot lanes. So I think that's really creeped into a lot of teams' games. It really deters guys from shooting, they're thinking about it when the guy's coming at them, and I think it's just a really big part of the game now. And teams are willing to block shots, it's a lot harder to get chances on it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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