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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BRUINS v BLACKHAWKSJune 14, 2013Claude JulienCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Just an update on Nathan. He was out there obviously in practice. COACH JULIEN: Same as I said yesterday. He's day‑to‑day. That's what he was. That's why he practiced today. We'll have to make a decision on him tomorrow. It was encouraging to see him out there today. If he feels good tomorrow, he's in the lineup, simple as that. Q. In the last overtime period, Chara played 3:37. Why did he play so little in that time? COACH JULIEN: I don't know. I think, again, it was depending on matchups. He played a lot of minutes, too. Just depended on the circumstances. When you look at the end of the night, he had the minutes that he warranted. That was the main thing, is to give him the minutes that he needs to have. At the same time you have to be able to rely on other guys, too, especially the further you go, the tougher it gets on those guys with heavy minutes. We did the same thing up front, tried to roll some guys in, give them three, four shifts of breaks before we put them out there. We really battled hard to keep our bench as fresh as possible. As you know, it was a shortened bench after Nathan didn't return. That was a bit of a challenge going into the third period of overtime. Q. What has made your top line so effective in the playoffs? COACH JULIEN: I think they've been effective before that. I know they had a good start to the season. The first month where there were question marks because two of those guys hadn't played, I think they did well. They tapered off. Looch had a tough year scoring‑wise, but found his game again at the right time. That line has been good for us in past playoffs, during the regular season at times. It's part of hockey. You get the big schedule, heavy schedule, lots of games. It's pretty hard to keep consistency. If you look at your lineup throughout a whole year, everybody at some point has those ups and downs. Those guys are focal points of our hockey club. I guess it's easier to identify them when they're slumping a little bit. Q. I know you're a competitor right now, but do you appreciate some of the symmetry between you and Joel in terms of similar storylines? His job was in trouble last year, he survived. You've dealt with that before. Both Cup winners. COACH JULIEN: Yeah, I think it's great. Like I said, I think we have pretty similar personalities, as well. I know he's worked hard. I know the same thing here with him, his situation. I mean, I'm going to tell you the same thing I said in Boston. These are two of many cities in this league that adores their sport, supports their sport, live and die for it. They want a championship team every year. They demand that. When things don't go well, sometimes the emotions get the better of people, whether it's fans, media, whatever. You have to live with that. I think to me, it's always been something that's part of our job description, to be able to handle that stuff. What you do is you go and work your way through the challenges that you have in your dressing room, not the challenges you have outside of it. I think Joel has done the same thing. He's approached it that way. I've seen nothing but a guy that is resilient in his work. I know he's a hard worker. He puts in the time. That's why he's won a Stanley Cup and he's here again this year. Q. What is the mood of your hockey club a couple days after going through that marathon game? COACH JULIEN: The same as it was yesterday. I think after the game, it's normal that you're disappointed. Not discouraged, not at all. You're disappointed. The next morning you get up, it's a new day. You have another challenge here tomorrow. You're not going to win every game. What you got to do is prepare yourself for the next one. Our guys are conscious of that. We've been through enough many times to be able to bounce back. The whole focus right now is about the next one, not the past one. Q. If Nathan is able to play tomorrow, presumably he'll be doing so with a little bit of discomfort or pain. Why is it the players are willing to sacrifice so much physically this time of year? COACH JULIEN: You just have to look at the teams that have been eliminated. As soon as they're eliminated, you hear all about the injuries. It's a very common thing in our sport, especially at this time of year. Nobody wants to be left out or pushed out of a lineup. When you look at the Stanley Cup, what it means to you, there's no doubt, you don't want to be denied that opportunity. Players, like I said, are tough in this sport. They'll play through a lot. There's some on both teams right now. You'll find out more when the series is over. Q. How much does Krejci's creativity as a center help you get through a situation where you don't necessarily know who is going to be on his wing? COACH JULIEN: We don't know that yet, first of all. Like I said, we'll make a decision tomorrow. He's played with different guys before. You saw I think Seguin go there last game. Seguin has played with him before. He's a pretty smart player. He just wants players to move and he finds them. I don't think it's a big challenge for David. I don't think it's a big challenge for whoever plays with him. All you got to do is the right thing: get open and he'll find you. David is patient with the puck. If he can't find his wingers, he finds a D coming in late. I don't think it's a big adjustment to play with him, whatever winger ends up playing with him. All he has to do is get open. Q. You have had Tyler, David and Looch together in the past. What did you like about that line? COACH JULIEN: Actually, we're talking here like Horton is not in, guys. You'll see if they play tomorrow. I'm not going there because it's presuming that Horton is not in. Tomorrow we'll find out more. If he's not in, tomorrow morning, I'll be more than happy to answer your questions. Q. Soderberg is a guy that came over late. What have you seen of him? Jordan Coran, what have you seen from him? COACH JULIEN: Enough to know that if need be, we can put them in the lineup. Two different players. Jordan is a power forward, excels along the walls, front of the net. He's gotten better at taking pucks to the net. Soderberg is more of a play‑maker, more of a natural centerman than a winger, but can play both. He's got good size. He's got good skills. I said that at one point, it's unfortunate that he didn't come to us maybe a month earlier just to get a better feel. But having said that, I would have no hesitation at all, if need be, to put either one of those guys in. They're guys that are capable of stepping in and helping out. That's why we call them depth players. They're capable of playing in these Stanley Cup Finals. If I get to that situation, I'll be more than happy to share who it's going to be and put them in the lineup. Q. Do you recall a game in your tenure in Boston where you played mostly with nine forwards as long as you did for that stretch? Usually you're a four‑line team. COACH JULIEN: Yeah, we are. Last time was when Campbell went down, not that long ago, when he blocked that shot, broke his leg, had to go down to three lines. I tried to move some guys around a little bit. That's the unfortunate part, is that Thorny is the one that gets pushed out a little bit. That gets us down to three lines. There's no doubt I prefer to play with four, especially when you're going into a third overtime. Like I said, I tried to move players around a little bit to try to give certain guys a second wind, get them a chance to rest a little bit. That's the best I could do at that time. But certainly not an ideal situation, but a situation you have to deal with in the middle of a game. Q. If Horton is good to go tomorrow, would you expect him to log as many minutes and assume his normal role? COACH JULIEN: Absolutely. If he's in tomorrow, it's about him playing. If he can't play, I just can use him once in a while, might as well put somebody in that can play the minutes. If he's in, he's in where he belongs. I'll be very straightforward with you guys on that. If he's in, he's going to be in his position where he plays. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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