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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: KINGS v DEVILSJune 1, 2012Darryl SutterNEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Sutter. Q. I wondered what your impressions were of Rob Scuderi when you first took over? As we've gone in the playoffs, has he done things that have surprised you or particularly impressed you? COACH SUTTER: He comes from a pretty good background of winning with back‑to‑back finals with Pittsburgh losing and then winning. He's one of those old school, classic, comes to work every day, he's a good pro. I think as we went along, down the stretch in the playoffs, he's shown that even more. Q. Darryl, what were your impressions of your top guys before you took the job and has it changed since you've taken the job? COACH SUTTER: I think the impression would be the same as anybody that follows the game. You know they're skilled and you know they're really character guys that work hard. So it really hasn't changed. I think I knew that going in with them kids, and it's pretty much the same. I wasn't wrong (laughter). Q. We've discussed the Devils falling behind in each series, what they do with the Game2 approach. It's the opposite for you. Is there a difference in the approach when you have the lead and you're trying to keep this thing going or is it just a matter of it's the next game, just focus on that? COACH SUTTER: Well, it is the next game and you should focus on that because the score was 2‑1 and it could have been 2‑1 for them. I think both teams have said, you know, they had some sluggish players. So I think both teams are probably thinking the very same way. I don't think there's much of a gap or difference. Q. But as far as your approach? COACH SUTTER: We're not doing something new or different. We're not. I mean, not just 'cause we got here, let's change this or change that, that doesn't work, that does. The reason is you keep trying to do the same things. Q. How different are the Devils than the teams you faced in the first three rounds? COACH SUTTER: They're a bigger team and quicker team up front. That's what you asked, was the difference. That's the difference I've seen in one game. Q. Darryl, what does the power play need to do to improve? COACH SUTTER: We had two minutes on it last game, so hopefully we can get two plus two is four, then try to cut seconds off it. Q. Just in general during the course of the post‑season, it hasn't been very good. What's not been working on it? COACH SUTTER: Actually, it's won us some big games. If you study it, look at it, you get the packets every day, right, how many penalties our team has actually drawn. So long as we continue to do that. If you watched or were at the last game, our power play had two great opportunities. Q. Darryl, do you think the first 10 minutes that the Devils will try to wrap up the physical play? COACH SUTTER: You know, as the game went on last game, they certainly did. So, you know what, that's not going to be a surprise. That's both teams' personality. You're trying to do it between the whistles, without doing anything that becomes five on four or four on four. You know, they got a big, strong, fast group up front. So that's what they're going to try to do. That's what we're going to try and do. Q. In the first two periods of Game1, against Kovalchuk, when he was on the ice, it was a lot of Mitchell and Voynov. Then Doughty and Scuderi. Why did you go with that change? COACH SUTTER: Doesn't really matter. A lot of it is just how much guys are playing, right? And if you actually look at it and break it down, everybody thinks that's a line, that's a line, that's a line, that's a line. Actually, you look at it, it's not. There are guys, that because of their length of shifts or where the faceoff was or icing, who can be out there. So as games go on, it was a hot building the other night. Guys needed to reload, and you couldn't always have the same guys on the ice all the time. Q. It looked like you had a pretty good conversation with Jonathan Quick. Did that have to do with some of the hand offs in the first or second period? COACH SUTTER: Just as the game goes on, trying to stay with what we're trying to do. You know what, buildings are loud, ice is less than‑‑ it's below average, less than below average, so there's lots of snow. It does affect the plays you can make out there. You know what, you just try and reinforce it. Every team has not necessarily set plays, but they know where everybody is. Also as games go on, if you're defending a lead or not, you're trying to get an opportunity, it affects how we have to move the puck. Just as long as you can stay in that framework so everybody always knows what we're doing. Q. Did you feel like your left wingers did a good job of getting in there? COACH SUTTER: You know what, both teams want to forecheck. But you got to be smart. You can't have pucks go by you. You got to be on the right side of the puck. With us, it's not necessarily the position, it's more on one, two, three, trying to do it in groups of five. You have to try to be on top of the play more because if you're not, then the defensemen are allowed to move pucks, allowed to get pucks to their centermen, Zajac, Josefson, Henrique, get them guys pucks, they got some speed and skill in the middle and they're using their speed on the outside. You're just trying to make it down a little bit more. Q. Do you have a preference against that Kovalchuk line, Doughty, Scuderi? COACH SUTTER: Again, I think it's based on ice time, not so much ours. You know what, he's out there a lot. As I said, you start chasing a matchup during the game, that's kind of a dinosaur. You start chasing it, pretty soon you're just chasing the puck. You get guys tired or out of position. It's like when you talk about Robby at the start, Rob Scuderi can handle that just as well as Willie Mitchell can. Slava and Drew, they're right‑handed guys that can skate and make plays. There's not a big difference. Q. You talk about old time hockey before. Do you appreciate when a guy like Parise is in the crease, he knows he's not in going to score, he just shoves it in? COACH SUTTER: Tough guy to handle. He's got the whole package out there. I'm not saying it because we're playing him, but he is. He'll be the same player. 10 years, guaranteed, people will be sitting there saying the same thing because that's how he plays the game. Q. You were mentioning the forechecking, that you have succeeded, what the Devils have done. Do you find it's a mirror image? COACH SUTTER: You know what, there's been enough talk of that. That's what we say. That's what they say. That's what you say. You know what, we'll see at the end if we're a mirror image of each other. Before Game1, we heard it was going to be a wheel and deal, high‑scoring. That was the first question asked after: How come you didn't do this? How come you didn't do that? Well, maybe because the teams are pretty close. Q. Everyone expects the Devils to play better in Game2.  Your best games have been Game2 also. Is that a coincidence? COACH SUTTER: Just because it's playoffs, everybody doesn't always play their best game, right? The first series we played against Vancouver, the game we lost against them was clearly the best game we played. They're people. They're not machines. All of them don't always play their best game in terms of what they can bring, so... It will be the same tomorrow. We want everybody to bring their best. But, you know what, you get a bad bounce, bad call, bad change, That affects the game. That's how close the teams are. Instead of a whole goal, it's like one more chance on half a goal, so... I expect both teams will play hard tomorrow night. You can bet on that. Q. How mindful are you of the road record? How much do you use it to your advantage before a game? How much are you trying to stay away from it as far as a pregame speech? COACH SUTTER: Well, I'm a big speaker (laughter). It's going to really affect on how I do it on the road or at home. Hey, you're chasing your tail if you think it's different if you're at home or on the road. Difference in their building, they get last change. That's the way it is. That's the deal when you have home ice, right? It's like talking about playing against Kovalchuk. Well, that's the advantage they have. If they want to play him an extra two or three minutes, that's four or five shifts. That's four or five shifts you don't get the guy you want against him. It's simple, you can't chase it. Q. The record you have now on the road, how much are you aware of it or are you trying to play it down? COACH SUTTER: I'm aware of it every time you bring it up. Other than that, it's not that important. Heck, you know what, we've been here four or five days. Jesus, we would have rather played yesterday and went home, right? FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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