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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: KINGS v DEVILSMay 29, 2012Peter DeBoerNEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Pete DeBoer. COACH DeBOER: ‑‑ the goalie outdoor being down a goal. We've backed off his penalty killing. Even through the first rounds, he was killing penalties. I was trying to manage his minutes with the games we've been playing. Q. Anything he needs to improve? COACH DeBOER: Sure, every player needs to improve different things. I think with our group, it's a constant learning process, little things we can get better at. I think our systems are in place. Everyone understands where they should be, what they should be doing. There's details every game guys have to improve at and he's no different than anybody else. Q. (No microphone.) COACH DeBOER: It will be interesting to see. We had a little bit of a layoff after the Philly series before the Rangers series. I thought we handled it well. I mean, our first period in Philly, even though we lost that game, I thought was great. It's always a danger when you're off for a while. But we've been here before. I think we know how to map it out and handle it the right way. I think we'll be ready. Q. (No microphone.) COACH DeBOER: Not just on the road, but everywhere. They've made some very good teams ‑ Vancouver, St.Louis, Phoenix ‑ look very average at home and on the road. They're impressive on tape. I'm looking forward to seeing them live and seeing exactly what we're dealing with. Q. (No microphone.) COACH DeBOER: I love Richy. You know, we won together. He grew up in the organization I was running. He's a great kid. He's one of those guys you want in the foxhole with you if you're going to war. I also know we have some of those guys on our team, too. It will be a great battle. Q. Can you talk about what your impressions were of Martin Brodeur before you got here and now that you've had him? COACH DeBOER: Impressions before was just what everyone else's impression was of him. Arguably best goaltender of all time, has won everywhere he's been. When you're around him every day, I think you realize what separates him. It's not sheer talent. It's talent combined with a real knowledge of the game and a mental toughness and composure at stressful times that I haven't seen before. It separates him from other guys. Q. (No microphone.) COACH DeBOER: Well, with Tallinder going down, we needed a top‑two defenseman. Minutes‑wise we needed a right‑handed shot for the power play, and also so that we could have three lefts and three rights on the back end, and a guy that could compete defensively against other teams' best players. That's a big shopping list to throw at Lou going into the trade deadline. Get me one of these guys that can do basically everything. He fit the bill across the board. Lou paid a heavy price to go and get him. For me, he's been worth every cent. Q. Talk about the decision when you came in to make Zach captain. COACH DeBOER: I think his reputation preceded him with how hard he works and what a pro he is. It only took me a week being around him to see for me he exuded everything we needed out of that position. He walked the walk. He was humble. He let his play do the talking for him. He had the respect of everybody in the room. We had other candidates, obvious, Elias, Kovalchuk, all the guys wearing the As. I felt very comfortable with what Zach represented and I also felt comfortable he had a very good group around him that would help him with the position, with Elias, Brodeur, Kovalchuk, Salvador, Tallinder, those guys. Q. (No microphone.) COACH DeBOER: I'll let you know tomorrow night. I don't know. You know what, I don't know. I mean, I know L.A. has a very deep group. I don't know the answer to that. We'll find out. Q. (No microphone.) COACH DeBOER: No, no. You know, you go in with the systems you believe in. We looked at the personnel when we were putting the systems in place at the beginning of the year and felt it would work. The thought of changing it, if it wasn't working, backing off, doing something else, wasn't an option. Q. (No microphone.) COACH DeBOER: I don't know if you wait. You look at the personnel. The strength of this team is the forwards. You know, we wanted to use that and pursue the puck. It was that simple. Q. (No microphone.) COACH DeBOER: Yeah, yeah, sure. You know, I don't think it's an accident that the teams that are rolling four lines and six D are still playing. I think if you talk to Darryl and I both, I would bet he would say the same thing. It's been critical. You don't play 20, 25 playoff games, the grind, the emotion, the battle without having depth, you just can't.  I think that's why we're both still playing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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