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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: KINGS v BLACKHAWKSMay 17, 2014Joel QuennevilleCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for coach. Q. Did Shaw skate this morning? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Yes. Q. Is there a possibility that he'll be back sooner or later? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Sooner, but he's not playing tomorrow. Q. Joel, did you watch the game last night? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Yes, I did. Q. When you watch that Kopitar‑Gaborik‑Williams line, what is the challenge in trying to neutralize them and how different do they make this team? COACH QUENNEVILLE: It's a top line for them all year. You got one of the top two‑way centermen in the league. They're dangerous offensively. They're responsible defensively. They play big minutes. They've been productive in the playoffs, which not too many top lines have been scoring regularly offensively. It's definitely a line we got to be concerned with. They're dangerous off the rush. They're dangerous in zone, as well. They play big minutes. It's something we've got to be aware of, but let's make sure when they're out there hopefully we can make them spend some time in their end. Q. Can you draw from any past experiences against them? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Last year was a very competitive series. Regular‑season games against them are always hard games. They find ways to be successful. Getting to the Conference Finals three years in a row is a heck of a compliment. They know how to win. They know what it takes. I think their experience is healthy for them. I think our experience is healthy for what we've gone through, as well. Should be a great matchup in that regard. I think there's mutually a lot of respect both ways that we know it's going to be a challenging series. Q. With your role players, bottom six, are you getting what you want consistently out of that group or would you want a little more? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think it's progressing. All year long, I thought that group, whether it was Kruger's line, Shaw's line, it was a pretty consistent production out of that group. Meeting that job description pretty well. I think later in the year, we changed a little bit up in the roles and the ice time. I think it's progressing now where the last couple games, had a better four‑line rotation. But the games are tight. I think the best way to measure, I wouldn't measure it by production, but effectiveness where we're comfortable with the momentum that all four lines are bringing and consistency. Q. You've already played a couple of physical defensive teams like that. How do the Kings differ from the first two teams you played? And can you talk about Jonathan Quick and how tough he is. COACH QUENNEVILLE: There are a lot of similarities. We got three teams in a row that are probably the most responsible teams in the league defensively, a lot of structure to their games. This team has a lot of weaponry, striking on what you give them. They're dangerous in a lot of ways because they can play both ways, both sides. A lot of respect there going through a series where you got to make sure you manage the puck well because that's what they look to exploit, they don't give you a lot of room and space. It was healthy going through two teams that were tough in that regard. Jonathan Quick, what can I say about the guy. He's pretty amazing. Looking what he's done this year in the playoffs, being out of position as many times as he's been out, and finding a way to beat him or his team is quite a compliment. He's a special goalie. We need bodies and shots and frequency of doing that and try to get to it. Q. We talk about how you give the guys a lot of rest. How have you kept them mentally sharp and fresh and hungry? Were there stretches where you thought the games were catching up to them a little bit? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I thought our concern this year was the frequency of the games, going into the Olympic situation there, I thought we were fine. I thought we managed it well. Coming out of break, I don't want to say we were a little bit tired, but I still thought we were pretty consistent in giving them at least a day off a week and recognizing when they needed to be away from the rink. In the playoffs, we take it to another level, more days off, less practice days. But it's always the case, the guys would much rather play games, they would much rather come to the rink and put on the jersey and play the game instead of the practice jersey. As far as getting them prepared or ready, that's the nature of hockey players and the intensity of the playoff games. They'd much rather leave it out there, though I did like today's practice. But we had a really good pace out there today. Q. Michal Rozsival, what more do you need from him? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Yeah, he could play. I think Rozy is one of those guys experience‑wise you like him in your lineup. Defensively sound. Offensively got real good patience and play recognition. So he gives you a real good intangible that you like to see. Q. You're about 25 hours from puck drop. Do you feel like you're hitting on all cylinders, any concerns at all? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I like the way we practiced. I like the way we won some big games later in both series, going through two real good tests for our team. We should feel good about winning those series and getting some momentum out of it. We know we have a tough opponent. But we got home ice, too. There's some positive things going into tomorrow's game. Let's be excited in that regard and place an emphasis on getting off to a great start. Q. The Kings feel they are healthier than they were a year ago. They've added Gaborik. Are the Hawks better than they were a year ago in general? COACH QUENNEVILLE: Better, that's tough. I'll let you guys assess that one. We like our team. We have balance. We have the four‑line rotation that's solid. Our D is the exact same D we had last year. We have the same goalie we had last year. The comparisons, we'll let you guys dissect that. I think we're at the same level we were at last year. So that's where we're at. But we like the momentum we have. We like the challenge that's ahead of us. But L.A. is going to be a tough opponent. I know we talked about underestimating Minnesota going into that series. There's no way we'd think of underestimating them. Q. How is L.A. from the team you faced last year in terms of health and personnel? COACH QUENNEVILLE: I think they've got huge momentum off the way they won their two series, tough division, getting through those two rounds the way they did. Got to make them feel pretty good about themselves. They probably are healthier. You add Gaborik to the mix, they got guys that can make plays, quick strikers, offensively off of what you give them, they can make you play. That's something we've got to be aware of. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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