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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BRUINS v PENGUINSJune 6, 2013Claude JulienBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day Q. The news of Greg being out for the rest of the season, as you look at him, that being a nutshell of a play last night, the things he brings to the table, all those things wrapped up in that kind of play? COACH JULIEN: Yeah, absolutely. You get that from him every game. That's the kind of player he is. He's a real dedicated individual to his work and to his game, from off ice, to on ice, to taking care of himself, demeanor, everything else. What he did yesterday surprised a lot of people but it didn't surprise us because that's just who he is, stay in there and make sure he finishes his shifts. As a coach you probably wish he would have stayed down, but that's not his job. Q. A couple years back in the Finals Nathan Horton went down and it was a rallying call. Do you see the team doing that now, what Greg means to the team, all the little things he does? COACH JULIEN: I think our team wants to do it for all the right reasons, and that's one of them. When you see a guy go down like that and the way he went down and what he did‑‑ what he's done for the team and what he did last night to block that shot, the guys are going to want to rally around that. But it's also got to be more than that, but he's certainly part of that equation. Q. What you were saying last night, everyone is buying in, what does that mean as you define it, and how has that been building for the last several years? Is that part of the team culture here? COACH JULIEN: I think so. You don't have to look any further than Jags. He's played a certain way his whole career, and now he sees a team that plays a certain way and he's bought into it and gets rewarded the last couple of games with some pretty important shifts. But our guys believe in what we're trying to do here as a group. We've won that way, and it doesn't matter who comes in, eventually those guys realize how strong a belief we have in that dressing room and they just jump in. It's a credit to the players for believing in what we do and what we preach, and going out there and executing it. Q. Now that Greg is out what are your options? COACH JULIEN: Well, we've got lots of options. Q. Would you like to expand on that a little bit? COACH JULIEN: No, just lots of options and we'll look at it closer today and make a decision tomorrow. Q. Campbell's injury kind of means the end of the Merlot Line as we've known it this season. With whatever you do, how important is it to still be able to get that production out of the fourth line? COACH JULIEN: Well, we've just got to make sure we get something out of all of our lines right now. I think that's the most important thing for us, and that's where decisions are going to have to be made and how do we make it work so that we continue to have four lines. Q. Can you talk about how good Tuukka was last night, the whole playoffs and talk about him being normal and what your definition of that is? COACH JULIEN: Well, he's just been very focused and very confident and seems to be building all the time. It's nice to see that yesterday. Like I said, first period wasn't a bad period. It was pretty even. But the second and third is where he really came up big for us and continues to do that, and that's how we continue to win games. Q. What's your philosophy on what you tell the guys going into tomorrow's game with what's at stake? Do you even remind them one win away from playing for it all? COACH JULIEN: Well, we've been through it with the Rangers, we were up 3‑0 and we know how hard that last game was to win. That has to continue to be our belief, and the one thing we do know is we've got to play a better game than we did last night. We might have won the game, but we're certainly not pleased with the way we played. We know they played better but I don't think we did, and we've got to make sure we're at the top of our game tomorrow. Q. In regards to the Boston Marathon bombing two months ago, a lot of people's lives were turned upside down. What does it mean to you to be the rallying point and making a lot of people in the city happy right now? COACH JULIEN: Well, anything we can do to try and ease that pain a little bit, like I said, it affected all of us, and that includes us as a team, as individuals, and we try to get over that and it takes time, but at the same time we also know as a team that the better we do, the better it is for this city, and it deserves it. Q. I think a lot of the attention from the start of the series right through until now has been about Pittsburgh, what they might do. Do you think there is a sense in your room that maybe what your team is about has been a little bit overlooked in this series? COACH JULIEN: Not really. We're not a group that needs the limelight, let's put it that way. We're a group that wants results, and you just have to look back at how we are handling this. It doesn't matter to us. What matters to us is what we accomplish as a group, and we'll go about our business and gain respect from winning games, winning series and ultimately winning Cups, and that's our goal, to continue to play well and give ourselves a chance. Q. Have you spoken to Gregory last night and how is he doing? COACH JULIEN: I spoke to him after the game and again this morning, and it's tough, it's really tough to say anything to a player who's put so much into the game and commitment and everything else and what he means to our team. To me he's been as fierce as he could be despite what's happened to him, and he's one of those guys that really wants our team to do well, and he's certainly not going to let guys down by feeling sorry for himself. He's been really good. I've loved his demeanor so far, and there's no doubt, you never have to question Soupy about what he wants. He wants to play and he wants to play bad. You wish he could be there, but at the same time I think he overlooks that to know what's best for him and his team. Q. What's today like as far as recovery emotionally and physically and how do you make sure everyone gets ready today for tomorrow? COACH JULIEN: You do the best you can as far as psychologically. We have a talk with those guys and make sure they get their rest. We address things from yesterday. That's why we have a training staff, to take care of the bodies and of their recovery part of it, as well. I mean, there's two teams that have to feel the same way. When you look at Pittsburgh, they worked just as hard as we did last night and maybe even harder. But it's one of those things that this is a tough sport, and when you look at a game like last night, you really learn to appreciate the athletes. We finished today, and to come back right the next day and be ready and willing to do it all over again tomorrow is pretty impressive. I think hockey players deserve a lot of credit for their conditioning, their commitment and everything else that goes with it. Q. What is it about Jagr that allows him at his age to not only keep up in a sport that gets faster every year it seems but be a factor? COACH JULIEN: Well, you've got to give a lot of credit to his commitment to conditioning, and we all know at that age if you're not a well‑conditioned athlete you're not going to survive. He really does a lot of extra work, and I remember hearing that from the time he was in Philadelphia a few years ago where he was doing that kind of stuff and doing the extra work. I know a lot of people laugh at all the different things he does after a game and going out late and shooting pucks in weight belts and everything else, but he's committed and dedicated to the conditioning part of his game, and that's what's allowed him to stay on top of his game as much as he can for a guy that age. Q. The success in the Playoffs this year and in the past is you use everybody that dresses for your games. When you look at your options for tomorrow night, is that a goal, too, like how do I work this so that all four lines can play? COACH JULIEN: Well, that's going to be the question here. Okay, when I say the question, we're going to put our minds together here and make a final decision by tomorrow. We want to have guys that we can utilize and hopefully continue to have that four‑line type of team. That's a decision that we're going to end up making. Q. Have you done a better job on Crosby or a better job on Malkin, and how have you accomplished it? COACH JULIEN: Oh, I don't know if we've done a better job on one or the other. I think it's pretty obvious to everybody that Malkin was at his best last night. He was outstanding. He's a big body. He's strong in the puck and everything else, but it's not about doing a better job on one or the other, we're trying to do a great job on all of them, but at the same time, like I said, you can only hold that team back so much, try and minimize the opportunities because they're a potent team offensively, and when it's not our guys up front it's our goaltender, are we doing a good job. Our whole team has committed itself to respecting the strength of that team and doing the best job we can. Q. What's it like for you to stand back there going through that second overtime? What's going through your mind? Is it constant decision making, how much emotion is there for you? COACH JULIEN: Just a lot of it is mostly about making decisions. You want to make sure you make all the right decisions, and as you know, we had a shortened bench yesterday, so the fatigue factor, and you're looking at the clock and then knowing when that only time out is going to come at you around the 10‑minute mark and you try to get the right lines out there against their lines. It's just staying focused, and that's why after a game as a coach you're trained mentally, just thinking for all those hours, and it certainly doesn't come close to what the players go through, but at the same time we're not as young as they are, either. Q. In light of the Campbell injury, can you sort of balance the desire to block shots like that versus the potential for injury? COACH JULIEN: There's always the potential for injury in the game of hockey. If it's not blocked shots it's something else, it's taking a hit, it's giving a hit, it's a fast‑paced game. I think all the players understand that there's a risk and reward part to the game, and that's why they're great athletes. They're willing to take that risk in order to get their reward. Q. In the last series you were talking about the expectation in this town. Was it any different in Montreal if not more so being the coach of Montreal? COACH JULIEN: That's a while ago. I think expectations are high in a lot of cities. I still remember the expectations in Vancouver, what happened there afterwards, and just what it is. That's part of our job. I say that all the time. The opportunity you get to coach in cities that really care about your team is great, you just have to be willing to live with the ups and downs and the criticizing and the rewards from it. It all depends on the time of year, it all depends on the situation, and go about doing your job. But I've said all along that you can't ask for better than being in a place that is excited about the game, and Boston is one of those cities that's really excited about their hockey. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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