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BRIDGESTONE NHL WINTER CLASSIC: MAPLE LEAFS v RED WINGSJanuary 1, 2014Mike BabcockDETROIT, MICHIGAN Toronto – 3 Q. Talk about the experience today? COACH BABCOCK: Game aside, as a coach I was thrilled with the opportunity to participate, to have your family here, to have so many fans selling hockey. It wasn't just today. Great week for hockey. Talked a lot about football and ability to sell because of the Super Bowl and the buildup to it. And I thought the league did an unbelievable job with the stuff at Comerica Park leading up to it and this event. I've been to football Saturday here, so I know what it's all about, I thought it was a spectacular venue, great, great crowd for both teams, really good hockey game. The conditions made it so some of the skill in the game was eliminated, but I thought the players competed hard. And even myself as the coach, the last issue out, I thought our team played well. We had the puck a ton today. It was a good game for our team. All in all it was a good day. Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH BABCOCK: Well, just the way it goes sometimes. And it was interesting, I talked to Pavel about seven minutes into the game, and I said to him, What do you think? And he said, Well, we're being too careful with the puck. But he said, We gotta be because you're scared to turn it over. There's so much snow. And it really affected the power plays. We were fortunate on our first power play today, the ice had just been cleaned. So we zipped around big time. Our last power play was at 6:25. I was actually sucking up to the official, I was hoping they were going to do a little scrape before we started, but you have to wait to six minutes. That's the way this game is. I also thought that was a big part of the atmosphere in today's game to make it even more special. To me, today was a home run for hockey. Q. Can you talk about (indiscernible) goal? I guess it was a big point in his career? COACH BABCOCK: He'll make big plays. He is a big player. Brings it every day to practice and games. He's just going to get better. He's got a reasonable skill set. But his determination is so good, his skill set is going to grow. He'll be a real important part for the team. We don't have a lot of big heavy fours, and he's one for us. He's growing into his body, growing into his game, and he's an important player for us. Q. You talked yesterday about wanting to find that balance between embracing this opportunity and yet the grind of the year that it's been, trying to stay alive. How do you think you guys handled that balance today? COACH BABCOCK: I thought it was good. I thought our guys enjoyed it. I never talk to my team after we lose. Ever. I did today. I just said, You should be proud. You've got an off day tomorrow. Enjoy your family. And today I asked you not to get carried away last night, so here's an opportunity too. Be thankful for the experience. Remember the experience. I think it's so important. I said it yesterday. Life's about moments. You only remember moments. You don't remember everything. This is one of those things. And for today, for those kids that were skating on the ice, the kids that were introduced, the Olympians, all those things were very special. Q. How have you felt so far about the players (indiscernible) from last year and especially Tomas Tatar today? COACH BABCOCK: I thought Tats was on it pretty good today. We've had a lot. We've been running a tryout just because we've had so many injuries. We've had a lot of kids that‑‑ most kids you call up, what they do is they play good for a little bit and then they fall off. Glendening has been really special for us. We didn't realize he could skate so good and just so hard and so mentally tough. He's going to be a good NHL player. He's not going to probably score, but he's going to be a real good one. So Tats and Nyquist are guys that they need to score. They gotta evolve into being everydayers and learn to play heavy. (Indiscernible) was just up, Sheen (phonetic) was up. They're good players. They still need time to get better obviously. And it's just lash off the overall play. Lots of them. Q. Can we talk about (indiscernible) Howard throughout the game and then making the team after this? COACH BABCOCK: It was good for Howie. Howie would be the first to admit that this hasn't gone the way he wanted, this campaign, at all. I thought after his night the other night in Nashville was probably for him‑‑ I don't know if it was a low point for him, but it was‑‑ Howie's better than that. And so for him to respond today, he didn't have a lot of work, but he had some tough plays. And the way the puck was bouncing, it was hard anyways for a goaltender. Unfortunate for him. We would have liked him to win the shoot‑out obviously, build confidence. But I still thought it was a good thing. The other thing is now that he's been named to the Olympic team, he can breathe and just get on with who he is and play. Q. I don't know if you had a chance to see the full roster. Did you get a chance to look at what Team U.S.A. is? Do you have any initial thoughts as a Canadian coach as to what the U.S.A. roster is like? COACH BABCOCK: No, I don't have any thoughts on the roster that way. I would tell you that there's lots of good players. I saw the kids get introduced when we were watching it. I thought it was a nice way to do it. Great thrill probably for those kids right there, and there's going to be a whole bunch of good players at the Olympics. It's going to be a one‑goal tournament again, and they do good things. We'll have a chance to have good things happen. See you guys. Happy new year everyone. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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