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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BRUINS v BLACKHAWKSJune 13, 2013Joel QuennevilleCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. I know you said you watch video, there's no secrets in the teams in the NHL today. Was there anything about the way Boston played last night compared to what you didn't see on video? Any surprises? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I don't know if it was a surprise, but they're a good hockey team. I know you watch them, now you get to play against them, you see they're fast, maybe faster than you anticipated. Their top line was extremely dangerous. They've got some guys that can make plays. They got patience with the puck. Certainly got our attention. Q. Could you speak about the goaltending play that you got last night. It seemed like his resolve got stronger as the game went on. COACH QUENNEVILLE: Corey had an excellent game last night. Several key saves, particularly in overtime. Seemed to just move forward from the next safe to the next save. Didn't get rattled. Seemed to get stronger as the game went on, as well. All year long, all playoffs long, he's been very consistent. You love his approach, his demeanor, welcomes the next challenge, and keep looking forward. Q. I'm guessing you are probably not going to practice regardless. How does a game of that length affect you two or three days down the road? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think with the extra day, everybody should be fine. I think we went in the game yesterday thinking, Let's see how the game goes, we'll evaluate whether or not we're going to skate today. That was an easy decision after coming in after the game last night. Got a morning skate on Saturday, I think everybody should be fresh. Q. In the last couple series you had to face a hot goaltender, Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Quick, now Tuukka Rask. What has been the key to solving these guys? COACH QUENNEVILLE: You look at last series, we went to the net really well. I think that was something that you got to do against goalies that are big and can find the puck. If they get to see it, it's going to be almost impossible to beat these guys. Sometimes you can maybe beat them with one‑timers, but I think traffic is the key. Loose pucks, getting to the net is critical scoring goals against these top guys. Q. Joel, the Lucic, Krejci and Horton line have been playing so well for them coming into this series. Can you take us through the decision to go with Hjalmarsson and Oduya as the matchup against them? COACH QUENNEVILLE: You can look at their top two lines. You could argue going into it who was going to get the matchup. All year long those two top pair, you usually see their top two, top two lines. Sometimes on a game to game or matchup to matchup, it can fluctuate. Hammer and Johnny Oduya, they usually could see the other team's top group. Q. What did you think of Bollig in his first game back? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I thought he had a real strong game for us. I liked what he brought to the team. I thought defensively responsible. I thought he ended up in the offensive zone a lot. Defensively you're comfortable with him. I thought he was physical. I thought he had a purpose behind his game. He brought what we were looking for. Q. Offensively how much confidence can a game like last night give your team moving forward? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Well, I think you go into a game, you don't get a lot of high‑quality chances against Boston. The one thing you want to make sure of is second opportunities, you got to earn 'em. Whether they're low‑quality, but I think those are the way you want to keep pushing through them, find a way to get in. You get a couple fortunate bounces on a couple goals, those are goals you have to score. If you're looking for those perfect plays, they're going to be hard to find. Q. The last two Cup winners struggled on the power play, and still won the Cup. These two teams have struggled on the power play, great post‑season nevertheless. Is this reflective of the way the game has changed? Do you have any theories?  An anomaly it's that way? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I don't know if it's the power plays that are struggling or the penalty killing has been more effective or efficient. You look at teams, Boston when they won it, their penalty killing was outstanding. I don't know the number on L.A. I think special teams are always critical. I think they can make the difference. Our power play in the last series and last night hasn't shown the production that it's needed or is going to be necessary going forward. We're still going to have to rely on it at some point to ignite us. That's what we're talking about. We're disappointed with the five‑on‑three last night. Want to make sure you don't lose the momentum off the game. Q. Last night the pace of the game was a little more wide open than a lot of people anticipated coming into the series. Are you comfortable with that the entire series? Do you foresee it going that way? COACH QUENNEVILLE: We'll see. Right from the get‑go I thought the game was fast. It was flowing. It was moving. There were scoring chances off the rush. There was some action in zone. Tough to predict. Positionally they're a strong team. They don't give up a lot. They take away the critical areas of the ice and you have to work your way through it. At the same time, they got one of the best rush games we've seen all year. It's something we've got to be aware of. Let's make sure just going up and down the rink and exchanging chances, I don't think that's how we want to play. Let's make sure there's a purpose behind knowing and respecting what they're capable of doing offensively. Q. What do you recollect about the longest game you ever played in at this level? Can you comment on what the scene is like as the overtimes go on between periods. Do you leave the guys alone? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I always leave them alone between the periods anyway. Last night, you know, you could just see the guys, I usually go see them before we go out, but they seemed to be fresh when we went out there for the next one and the next one and the next one. You could see sometimes there might have been a little fatigue, where you're ready to go on a shift, you look at the guys, felt like he might need another blow. The guys are fine. On the playing days, you have to make sure you prepare yourself, drink lots of fluids, maybe don't try to extend your shifts, because that can really ruin you for the next couple. You want to make sure you go short. That's something we try to reinforce on the bench and in between periods. Q. How does Michal Rozsival fit in on the ice and as a veteran presence? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Rosy brought a great element to our team. Great experience, patient with the puck, defends well, positionally strong. Really helped our team in an area of need from last year to this year of having a guy that can come in and, fortunately for him, he only played half the games. He and Brooksy rotated in and out. Sometimes he did get regular minutes, big minutes, didn't miss a beat. He can play against top lines. Can he defend as good as anybody against top guys. He's that stabilizing force on the back end. Gives us more defense. Can play meaningful minutes. Has really helped the strength of our back end. Q. Dave Bolland looked like his old self. Did the groin injury have a lingering effect earlier in the season? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Bolly, he started in the Detroit series. He's progressively gotten better every game. You can just see him have more pace to his game, steadily getting better. Q. How did you think Hossa played last night? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Hossa was really strong, good last night. I thought he had the puck a lot. Defensively you can always rely on him, his backside pressure, speed, quickness. He had the puck a lot. Hoss was good. Q. Joel, your reaction to Claude Julien saying that Andrew Shaw likes to embellish? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I'm not going there. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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