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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BRUINS v BLACKHAWKSJune 23, 2013Niklas HjalmarssonJohnny OduyaBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Nick, back in 2010 when you guys won and you had your situation with the offer sheet and so many guys started to leave, did you worry that this could have been a one‑and‑done thing back in 2010 because of that depth and all those guys left? How did that feel at the time? NIKLAS HJALMARSSON: Yeah, sure, there was a lot of guys that left after that season, and it was a lot of good players, too, that has key roles in the team where they're playing. Yeah, I thought it was going to be tough to maybe get as far as we did that year. But I think Stan has been doing a great job to find new players, and this year everything has been going pretty good. I think as I said before, I think Stan has been doing a good job getting new players here and giving us a chance to win. Q. Johnny, I wanted to ask you what it's like to be one of the guys who wasn't part of that team. Has it felt weird until now, and now it's more of a team that's been through the grind together and is almost there? JOHNNY ODUYA: Well, I think in some ways every season is a new season. I'm one of the guys that came in kind of the latest I would say, as of last year. But I think we feel this year that we had a good team, that we could do some damage. We can win hockey games and have a chance to win. We put ourselves in this position because of that, and a lot of hard work obviously. Like Hammer says, it takes a lot of little bits and pieces to kind of mold it together and some luck, too. But we feel good and we feel confident, and yeah, we want to get the win. Q. Like Toews is for you, Bergeron is such an important player on their team. Not knowing his status do you try to game plan around the fact that he might be there or do you treat them the same whether he's in there or not? NIKLAS HJALMARSSON: No, I'm just focused on my own game. We're not worried about the surroundings and what happened with other players. I'm just trying to focus on my own and trying to do my part for the team and try to help the team win. That's pretty much it. Q. For either of you guys, Patrick Kane has already got some huge goals in this post‑season. He already has a cup‑winning goal on his résumé. Is there an impression in the locker room that if it comes down to it, he might be the guy again to get that winning goal? NIKLAS HJALMARSSON: That's the type of player he is. When it comes down to the wire and tight games, big games, that's when he wants the puck. That's when he wants to score the goals, the big goals. It's huge to have those kind of players in your team when you go far in the Playoffs, and now when it's really coming down to the wire here, give the whole group confidence that you have players like that. It's not a coincidence that he has a lot of big goals so far in his career. It's just the type of player he is. Q. Johnny, you've seen a good chunk of your ice time against the Bergeron line. When he goes down last night, just how did that change the openings that you guys can have offensively and all the other areas he impacts the game? JOHNNY ODUYA: Well, he's a good player, obviously. But I'm going to say kind of the same thing that Hammer said there. I think it was kind of the same talks around Horton there, too, in the beginning. Someone is going to come in and someone is going to fill that spot. It's going to be a good player. It's not going to be him, but it's going to be a good player. It's going to be somebody that you're going to have to play your best against to not score any goals. We're going to keep doing kind of the same thing, focus on our game and what we're doing and not look too much who's on the other side, who's in or out. And that goes for our team and for their team, as well. Q. Johnny, you played for Claude Julien in New Jersey. Do the Bruins do anything differently from the style that you played under him with New Jersey? JOHNNY ODUYA: That's tough to say because I haven't played for the Bruins, so I don't know. But what I see, it's kind of a similar maybe system. I said that before, too. I think he's been a defensive minded coach all of his coaching career pretty much. And then as it goes along you bring bits and pieces with you for the next spot. And I think maybe he brought some of the things that he saw in New Jersey that he liked and kind of added on his system. I don't know, I think he's a smart guy. He knows how to utilize certain guys, make them play good defense and still create some offense, too. I think they're a good defensive team, but they have that firepower up front, too, and that combination is tough to play against. Q. Johnny, if Jonathan Toews is able to play, even not at 100 percent, how much does that help the team dynamic just to have him on the ice as a leader? JOHNNY ODUYA: Well, like you said, he's our leader. You know, he's one of those guys. Well, you him play just as much as I do, and when he's full speed he gives everything he's got every game. That's something that is tough to replace. But like I said, I think we have to focus on who's in the room, who's on the ice, what we want to do as a team, too, collectively. He was out for a little bit there when I got in, I think, last year. We did okay, too. I think for us the main thing is keep focus on playing our team game and move forward with that. Then like we said a bunch of times, whoever is on the other side or playing or not playing for us, that's something that we don't want to worry too much about. Q. Either for Johnny or Niklas, the Bruins are gaining confidence from having been in this position before, in the final, down 3‑2 but won 6 and 7 to win the Cup. How are you all preparing to face the toughest challenge that you've faced thus far to close these guys out, how difficult it's going to be? NIKLAS HJALMARSSON: It's going to be tough, obviously. We've got confidence, too. We were in the same situation in 2010 and won on the road. We're obviously going to try to win the game tomorrow. We all know it's going to be the toughest game of the year, maybe in my whole career so far. It's going to take a lot for us to get away with a win here. We're all looking forward to it. It's going to be a great challenge. It's going to be a great atmosphere, and this is the type of games you want to play. This is the type of game where you want to perform and have good games. Yeah, that's it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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