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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BRUINS v PENGUINSMay 31, 2013Ray SheroPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day Q. Ray, I think we talked to you right around the trade deadline and it was pretty clear, and you made it clear, that you were all in on this; you were giving the team what you put on the roster and you gave them the best possible chance to make a long run. Can you just assess, seems to be a really deep team. There are good players who are sitting out some of the games. Can you assess how the team has gotten to this point and what you expect and what you see moving forward? RAY SHERO:  I think we have gotten to the third round through, I think as you alluded to, the depth of our hockey team has really come through and I think you saw that with Game 5 of the Islanders series and inserting three players in the lineup in Vokoun, Tyler Kennedy and Joe Vitale; they made a difference in that series and helped us win that series. To get this far, you need contributions from everybody, and I still think we have got another level to get to as a hockey team, and Boston probably feels the same way about their squad so, that's why it should be a great series. But I think both teams, you know, when you get to the third round, it's been a few years since we've gotten this far and it's a great feeling as a team to get here, and to keep playing, and I think both teams are looking forward to tomorrow night and finally getting started. Q. When you made the deals late in the regular season, you knew you were getting good players, and those guys also came with reputations for being wonderful in the locker room. A couple of months later, can you speak of what you've seen from those guys on the ice and also the dynamic of the change in the locker room? RAY SHERO: True professionals, all of them, the four that we picked up before the deadline. They have done exactly what we have thought and hoped they could do for us on the ice, most importantly. They fit into the locker room and with the team in a seamless (ph) role. They have come in and we have got a good group of guys, a good group of players, a good group of leaders and each one of those players that we acquired at the deadline brings a leadership quality but bring it in a different way than they have with their former team. It's been a good fit. Good people are joining good people and that combination usually works out well. Off the ice and on the ice, again, they have all fit the role we hoped they would and they have all done good jobs for us. Q. With all these moves being made and clearly being successful on the ice thus far, do you still feel the pressure that if this does not end in a Stanley Cup Championship, a little bit amiss? RAY SHERO: I think any time you get to the third round, you have hopes to continue playing to the finals and knowing that without getting too far ahead of ourselves and the pressure that you seem to put on yourself. I think in the first round, you talk about underdogs and things like that, and you have a one versus eight seed, and that series was a very difficult series for us, and whether it's the outside pressure and the combination of the pressure and the expectations and playing a really good hockey team, which we knew going in, I think you have that pressure and the expectation; and to win that in six in overtime and get through the second round in five games, you know, to get here, our goal, like Boston, like L.A., like Chicago right now is to win four more games. And I'm not going to look further than that, past this series, I guess at the end of our season whenever that is, I can look back and reflect and say, was that a great experience for us, was it successful, was it a disappointment. Right now, I've learned through a few years here, as I said before, we have not been here in a few years. I'm not going to look too far down the road. I'm going to enjoy it while we are here and look forward to tomorrow night. Q. Having said that, how much of your time is spent taking this in and being part of what's happening right now and actually as a GM and having to plan ahead and planning ahead for what lies beyond whenever the season ends. RAY SHERO: I think you're one of four teams still playing, it's a great thing. It's great for your fans. It's great for your organization. It's great for your players, your ownership. So you definitely want to enjoy it, and part of being a manager, you're always worrying about things like that. But I don't know, why would I be worried today when I'm playing; worried about traffic getting to the office I guess. But I just think where we are right now, I think one of those things is we are trying to enjoy it as a team and as a group and spending time with your coaches and your scouts, but again, part of the job as a general manager going through this, when you don't make the playoffs, or you lose in the first round, you have six weeks of miserable planning in terms of next year, in terms of the draft, in terms of free agency. And now, luckily, fortunately, the teams that are still playing, other managers are not calling you. You're not calling other managers to talk about trades and talk about things. I'm not up at the Combine this week for the NFL Draft. Our focus here is on the team. But part of the job, Jason Botterill and I spent a few hours just the other day going over there is, part of our team for next year what do we look like, and we do this every year. And a lot of things change between now and the end of the season, now and July 5, and now and the Draft. But part of it is trying to plan and that's part of the job, but not getting too far ahead of ourselves. Q. Again, because of what you were able to get done around the trade deadline, do you personally feel differently about this team? Are you closer to it or do you feel more responsible for it? And is it your best team? RAY SHERO: I think it's our deepest team. In '09, we won the Stanley Cup Championship, so that's our best team right now. I don't think I feel any closer to this team versus the team, most of the team I inherited from Craig Patrick in '06‑'07 when we lost in five games in Ottawa that went to the finals. As a manager, I think you somewhat keep your distance from some players and that's the way it has to be, that relationship. But I think I have a good relationship with the players, and there's a respect factor there that I have for them and the job they have to do. Part of being the manager is, spending that time with your coaches and enjoying that. So every team, I've been here seven years, every team that I've been part of here, it's a great job to have, and I've really‑‑ you know, we have had some real good years and we've had some disappointing years. You know, last year was very disappointing. But we had a great group of guys last year, and you know, some of those guys aren't here, but, I really appreciate their efforts and friendships and their families and all those things. So you try to take every team that you have; there's always something good coming out of it and whether you're going to win, there's only one team going to win, we know. But trying to take those relationships‑‑ and I go back to '06‑'07, that first season, I just got an e‑mail from Jarkko Ruutu, those kind of relationships you kind of build and team in touch with guys and it's nice to see. That's a by‑product of having good people. Q. So is Jarkko looking for a job? RAY SHERO: Jarkko is still playing. He's got a year left on his contract over in Finland. Q. Okay. You had great knowledge of Thomas Vokoun before. Wondering what made you look to him to bring him in with the potential expectation that he was going to be, or could be in the role that he's in now, and maybe if there are things that have surprised you about him during the season, during this playoff run. RAY SHERO: I don't think anything's really surprised me. I think it had been a few years since I was with Thomas. I was in Nashville with him for a few years, and Tom Fitzgerald who works with us was in Nashville at the time, and so we knew him as a person and as a goaltender. Might be somewhat surprising for some people I guess that he's doing well for himself, but he's been one of the better goaltenders for in the National Hockey League. Just happened to be playing in Nashville and Florida for a long time and not really in the media spotlight but I think everybody respects the fact of what Thomas Vokoun has done over the last seven, eight years in the league save percentage, goals against, shutouts. He had a shutout this year and right after the game, someone said it's his 50th career shutout. I didn't even know that. That's incredible. Fifty career shutouts is quite a mark and I think that says a lot about him as a goaltender and what he's done in the league here. And one of the things coming in for us, what he's done is he's been a great partner with Marc‑André, and Marc's a great guy to get along with and I think they push each the other, and we made the trade for Thomas, I said at the time, I hope it's going to make Marc‑André a better goaltender, support him and I think that's done that. Without having a Thomas Vokoun to go to in Game 5 in the islanders series, I'm not sure what happens, I'm not sure we don't win, but I'm not sure we do. But again, that takes the pressure off Marc‑André for that point in time, and Marc's game is back right now through his practice and so forth, but Thomas has done a very good job for us. But it's not surprising in terms of his goaltending ability. Having been away from him for a few years, just to see, again, the person, professional that he is, he's been a great fit. We talked about the other guys at the deadline, we have these veteran guys; Thomas fits right into that, even hoe he was acquired last May or June, just been very, very professional and he's been a very good fit for our hockey team. Q. On Jarome Iginla, you say you bring in high, All‑Star talent, you never know right away if they are going to fit in, and it's a short season, you have 13 games to play till the end of the year. Are you surprised how well he fit in when it comes to Iginla? And it you acquire him, did it have anything to do with the fact that he had not won a Cup at 35 and maybe the burning desire, to be extra competitive? RAY SHERO: After we acquired him, I like at that I guess and say that's part of the motivation. But when Jarome Iginla, when it was apparent they were going to try to move him and regain assets for him, it was certainly someone we wanted to try to get, and potentially because we still had cap space, to try to acquire that level of player, no different than a Jaromir Jagr, these guys are future Hall of Fame players. And to add those type of people, players, to your locker room to, your lineup, if you have a chance to do that and you have the cap space or assets, it's hard to pass up on, where these two particular teams are. So he's been a very, very good fit for us off the ice. I didn't know him before he came here, very, very impressed in terms of a person. You know, talked to a couple of our players before we acquired him a couple days before, because again, I never met Jarome before he game here, and in terms of what a wonderful person he is, we all know what a competitor he is, and you know, no different than a Brandon Moreau or Doug Murray or Thomas Vokoun; every team has got these guys, there's only so many players that won Stanley Cups. That's a positive I think that they are chasing that, and that's their goal, and they have come in here and they have accepted the role that, you know, they have been asked to do, and they have done it well. Again, I go back to no different than Thomas Vokoun accepting that role when he came in here. A little different than he had in the past obviously being the No.1 guy playing 65 games a here, comes in here, accepts his role and becomes part of the team and helps the team win. Q. When you look at this past week from a manager's standpoint, what has this meant to the team? Is this a team that could have used a week? RAY SHERO: Yeah, I guess a lot of the talk is about the time off here for both teams, and you know, I know one thing, when you have six or seven days off, you complain about that; if you only have two days off, you complain about that. Where we have been the last few years, I'm not complaining about anything because we are still playing. It gives you more time to enjoy it, and guys on both sides get to rest up a little bit and them winning in five games‑‑ is it five games, I think? I don't know what they won, five games‑‑ to win in five games, they deserve that right to rest up. I know they had a few guys banged up, and this time of year, give the coaches some preparation time and so forth. But I look at it as, again, a positive we are still playing, and whenever they tell us to play, we are going to play. Q. Forgive me if you've already answered this question earlier this week, but with Sidney playing so well, coming back off his latest injury, is there a part of that you wished that he could keep the lower part of his helmet on? RAY SHERO: No, I don't think so. I think he's played great with it. I understand the question. I haven't answered that yet, but I do know it's not as comfortable as playing without it. He's certainly past the point of the safety factor with his jaw, so that's great news. And the other thing being, I know he's got getter vision; he can see the puck at his feet better without it, even though it's hard to see when you see him playing because he's playing so well. But I think, again, he preferred to play without it, and fortunately through doctors that gave him the go‑ahead to remove that, he's got five or six days here of practice without it, so he'll be ready to go on Saturday and I think he's going to feel more comfortable with it anyway. Q. In the future, years from now, do you see that becoming a discussion? RAY SHERO: No, I don't think so. I think more and more of the grabbed fathering the visors in would be much more of a discussion. If we get rid of it at that point, I think that would be a place that we should certainly looking to go but further than that, in terms of what Sidney was wearing, no. I think from the college game, with the full cages and so forth, I think that's great. It's been in for a long time since the late 70s, but NHL came in back in the late 70s with grandfathering the helmets in and if they ever grandfather the visors in, it would be a great step, as well. Q. Peter Chiarelli said this week, with the moves you made at the deadline, he felt would you have to go through your team at some point; do you have similar feelings about Boston? RAY SHERO: Yeah, I think if we were going to go deep in the playoffs, we felt Boston is the team we were potentially going to have to play and I think it sets up well. I think, you know, Peter's been in Boston for seven years, I've been here seven years. Teams have been good. They have won a Cup; we have won a Cup. We have never played each other in the playoffs and Pittsburgh, Boston has not played since '92 and I really think that's the way it should be. You know, I'm looking forward to the series. It should be a great series. You know, they are a really good team, formidable team, well coached. I think we know all about Boston. And it's probably good for the sport. It's good, there's a great match‑up in the West and there's a really good match up in the East. It makes for a great story line. And you know, when we make some of the deals‑‑ I remember a few years ago, I remember in '08 we traded for Hal Gill. At back of my mind, I'm thinking, we might play Washington, Alex Ovechkin, and Hal Gill as always played well against Ovechkin and he was playing well that year for Toronto against them when he played against Washington. Of course, this is the way it works; we didn't play them in the playoffs that year but we played them the next year and Hal obviously did a great job, we won in seven games against Washington. I always tell Hal when I see him that him and rob did such a great job shutting him down that Alex only had 13 points in the seven games; no one seemed to remember that. But, you try to make these moves and sometimes you're not going to play these teams. It just happens to be the case that we are playing Boston and we will need all hands on deck starting Saturday. Q. Could you talk about the fact that the four teams left are all Stanley Cup champions and how competitive that is for the NHL? RAY SHERO: Yeah, as I said I think it makes for a great story line, the remaining four teams. You know, I look back to '07, or '08,09, and to see Detroit and Pittsburgh back‑to‑back in the finals, which that's hard to do. And now, you know, you've got a situation with L.A. has got a chance to go back‑to‑back to the finals, and it says a lot about where they are as a team and an organization. It's difficult to do. It's difficult to win, you know, with the salary cap now, and Kenny Holland has spoken a lot about this and he's been through it a lot more than most of us. Again I think it's great for the sport. More importantly, it's great for the Penguins, so we're here and we're happy to be here and get ready to go Saturday. Again it makes for great story lines, and six, seven days off, it's a lot to talk about and a lot to speculate on, and so it should be a great series in the East and the West. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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