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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BRUINS v PENGUINSJune 2, 2013Claude JulienPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day Q. You take a win any way you can get it, but a number of players said that there are different phases of the game you have to be better in. Would you agree with that and if so where? COACH JULIEN: Of course. We always have to be better in certain areas. But bottom line is you're good enough in other areas to win a hockey game. So I thought our puck management, especially in the second period, wasn't very good, and certainly it was better in the third. So those are certain areas we have to be better at. And these guys thrive on turnovers, and we've got to minimize those. Q. What about getting off to a better start? COACH JULIEN: Well, if you're looking for [[indiscernible]], they spent a lot of time on our own end. When Krejci's line went down there, they went to the other end. So it's one thing to say you have better starts. But, remember, we're on the road here. They're the home team. They've got the fans. And, sure, you want a better start, but you also understand what you're up against. And, again, at the end of the night, it's the final score in Playoffs that matters. And we've got what we wanted, and that was a win. Q. Wondered if you had a chance to go back and look at the Cooke hit on McQuaid, your thoughts on it, and just in general what your thoughts are on players' responsibility not to put themselves in vulnerable positions where they get hurt on plays like that? COACH JULIEN: And I've said it before, and I'm certainly not going to change my mind because it happened to one of our players, but I've always said that we have to educate our players to not put themselves in vulnerable positions. And I'm not talking necessarily about last night, I'm talking about those kind of things that are happening and right now. Because the rule says you can't hit somebody from behind. Sometimes we take advantage of that rule, and it's dangerous. And in order to make our game better, I think it's gotta come from both sides. Players gotta understand that there's somebody coming and don't put yourself in vulnerable position. But the player hitting, have to be aware of it. And I've been an advocate of that a long time and I still believe in it. As far as the Cooke situation, I think the referees had to call that. And you see his head going into the boards and numbers on numbers. Had to be called. Whether it's a 2, whether it's a 5, I'm not going to dispute that. But more than that I think they had to make the call, and I don't know what the decision, whether it's been made or whether it's going to be made. I'll be honest with you, I have no issues if he's not suspended because I'm not convinced it's a suspendable thing, but I'm certainly not going to say that the referees didn't make the right decision, because I think they did in assessing the penalty. Q. Claude, I'm curious, can you point to one specific aspect of David's game that makes him so effective in the postseason when it's traditionally harder to score? COACH JULIEN: Not really. I think it's his whole game. He makes plays. He shoots more. I think it's just a situation. I think it's one of those guys that really loves the Playoffs and loves the intensity and excitement that comes with it and really gets up for those. And we often say that when there's 82 games in the season, there's guys that get bored with it. And I know it's not what people want to hear, but when I say "get bored," it's like trying to get up for 82 games is maybe unrealistic. But you always want to get the best out of your team, but when it comes to playoff hockey, every game means a lot and it creates more excitement. That's why people say playoff hockey goes up a notch from regular season. Well, that's because things mean a lot more and that's just the natural thing in players' minds. Q. Claude, I just want to ask you about in your review of the game last night, what did you see about Tuukka's play that elevated it to another level, getting his first shutout here and what in comparison with the way Tim went in this playoff run ‑ is there a comparison to be drawn there? COACH JULIEN: No, I won't compare that as far as they're two different styles. But at the end of the day we all know that with goaltenders it's about stopping pucks, whatever way you've done it. And Chris has done it in the past and Tuukka is doing it for us now. And yesterday was nothing different for Tuukka. And he was outstanding. And some days you have better days than others. But he's been good throughout the whole Playoffs, and last night he was at his best. And you need that kind of goaltending in the Playoffs to move forward. So I think it deserves a lot of credit for helping us with the game yesterday, making key saves at the right time and allowing us to establish the lead. Q. We talk a lot about Krejci performing in the Playoffs. Can you also speak a little bit to Nathan Horton, what he's been able to do? He's in the top [indiscernible] in the NHL as far as last night and wins that battle, setting up one of Krejci's goal and then scores. And what's he been able to do to elevate his game? COACH JULIEN: Same thing as David. When you look at the way guys perform it's not what they change in their game, they're the same players, it's about the excitement and intensity and everything else and being even more prepared than they are during the regular season. Like I said, there's a lot of guys that you're going to see do extremely well during the season, get in the Playoffs and they're nowhere to be seen, where you see guys that have good seasons and David Krejci to me has had a really good season this year. I think he's been as consistent as we've ever seen. But Nathan at times with some injuries and everything that set him back, took him a while to get going. But he's at the top of his game right now, and I've been saying this for the last couple of weeks, you know, in order to win the Stanley Cup you have to be playing your best hockey at this time of the year and that's what those guys are doing right now. Q. We spent probably a week dissecting the matchup between Dano and Sidney Crosby and how it's going to manifest itself. The way Crosby somewhat seemed to react to that matchup and the frustration he showed, is that kind of validation of you guys coming out ahead in that matchup last night? COACH JULIEN: I don't know. I can't tell you why he's frustrated. You'll have to answer that question. But for us it's like we didn't change our lines. So about matchups, we try and put the lines so he can do the job and he didn't always have the same line. You don't get perfect matchups. But I think the most important thing is having the right mindset when you're out there against those kind of guys and no matter who is out there, our players have been warned that you gotta do the job. I trust in all of our players that we dress, and that's why we roll four lines and we have six teams playing all the time. But it's about having faith in your system and what needs to be done and our guys have done a great job of that. Q. What did you like about the [indiscernible] game without the puck, obviously he wins faceoffs, but overall how did you feel about his defensive game? COACH JULIEN: Good, actually. I know he took a penalty on Malkin there, but he probably also might have saved a goal. But he's so reliable and dependable in those kind of situations. Not only does he want to try and produce, but at the end of the night he wants to make sure defensively he's done his job. And that's why I've considered him one of the best two‑way players in the league. He does a good job. And in order to do a good job you have to have pride in it, and he takes a lot of pride in his two‑way game. Q. How do you feel the psychology of being able to win faceoffs the way your team does impacts a series as it plays out? COACH JULIEN: Well, I know I get asked this at every series about our team, because we've been a good face off team, and we practice it all the time. Doug Jarvis was a really good faceoff guy in his day and centerman and this year I used to do that work with our centerman. But he was the guy that I felt this year would help us a lot in that area. And there's certain players that were maybe average that are better than average now because he's gone in there and worked with those guys. But we work on faceoffs a lot with our centermen and take a lot of pride in that. I said it and I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but start with the puck, you're a better puck possession team than if you have to chase it. Q. So picking up on this Jarvis angle, could you share with us maybe some of what Bob Krensa says about Tuukka. You said earlier in the week or last week that what stands out is he's a normal guy, regular guy, but I wonder from a structural or structural standpoint what's Bob shared with you that will be the underpinning of his success? COACH JULIEN: I don't think it's anything that really needs to be shared more than when you look at Tuukka when he's at his best he's straight to the puck. Tim is more of a battler. Timmy it wasn't about style, it was about battle. And as I said at the end of the night it's not making saves. You respect the Dominic Hasak back in the day as much as you respect the guy who is like Patrick Roy, great beautiful goaltender and those two guys had different styles but at the end of the day you take any one of them so we're in that same situation right now where we had Timmy make the save when you had to make the saves and didn't matter how he made them as long as he did, and Tuukka probably technically a little bit more, I don't know if I want to say stable, but he's more of a guy that will follow the puck getting him square it most of the time. Q. (Off microphone)? COACH JULIEN: I told you the other day he's normal. Tuukka's normal, really. And you know what I'm not going to get into Timmy. But I know that, I'm just saying Tuukka is normal like when I say normal as I've ever seen in a goaltender, Mike could talk to him during periods and go talk to him about a couple of things. I wouldn't dare do that with any other goaltender I've had in the past. They're in their bubble. But with him he listens and it's no problem, so on and so forth. So that's Tuukka. Very relaxed but you've seen the other side of him when things don't go his way, he's got a temper. That to me is normal. Q. Claude, with the availing opinion on the ice that the extracurricular stuff, physical stuff after the whistle is being initiated by the Bruins, but can you say how much Pittsburgh is also maybe instigating some of the stuff? COACH JULIEN: Matt, to be honest with you, I don't think I even want to get into that. I think no matter what I say here, everybody will have their opinion. If you're a Pittsburgh fan, it's the Bruins fault. If you're a Bruins fan, it's Penguin's fault. It is up to people to judge what they see, and I'm sure people who are neutral will see it for what it is. And for me it's taking care of my team and I haven't seen us be dirty, if that's what you want to call it. But we're just out there playing our game trying to win a hockey game. So it really doesn't matter what my answer is on that. People will make their own opinions. Q. You talked about puck management. How much of that is on the D, the onus on the defense? COACH JULIEN: Not so much on the D. Although I thought we turned over a lot of pucks in the second period just outside the offensive blue line or just inside and above top of the circle. They're a great counter team, when you turn pucks over, they'll get going on the offense. I thought we got caught in the run and gun game because of that in the second period, and we needed to be a little bit better. And, like I said, I thought our third period was a lot better in regards to that. I thought we made a great adjustment there, players adjusted well and we were a better team because of it. Q. Claude, you were talking earlier about having guys at the top of their game in the postseason. In your eyes at least what sort of challenges have faced Tyler that have prevented him from producing at the level he has at points? COACH JULIEN: I'll say maybe he hasn't produced it at the level that he'd like to and maybe we'd like to. But I thought he played a real good game yesterday. I thought not only with the puck, without the puck he was good. Through some checks, puck pursuit was good, and that line to me was much better line than we've seen him in the first two rounds. And I thought they had some chances and I was encouraged by the way they played yesterday, and then as far as Tyler's concerned, seems to be extremely focused and wants to be a better player and has a coach that's all you need to see and at one point he's going to bust out and give us the production that we're looking for. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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