Readers don't often get to witness pressers in person.
Darryl Sutter has always been one of the more interesting "quotes" at press conferences, whether before, after or during a series.
Courtesy of ASAP Stats and the NHL, here's Friday's transcript involving Sutter and general manager Dean Lombardi as the Kings face Chicago today in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals:
DEAN LOMBARDI
COACH DARRYL SUTTER
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Darryl, one of the things talked about in this series is your
size versus their speed. What do you have to do with your size to negate
their speed?
COACH SUTTER: I think their size, if you look at it, the lineup they
had last game, our lineup we had last game, is identical. So the size is
the same, so I guess we have a problem with their speed.
Q. How do you deal with that?
COACH SUTTER: Use our size. Everybody's fast, everybody's big.
It's just something that somebody pulled, said those are factors.
I think both teams got to this point because they have some size and
they have some speed.
Q. Darryl, there's been a lot of praise for the Detroit/Chicago
series, the style of it, the attractiveness of the game. Probably you guys
are getting the other side of it, the feeling you're not playing somehow
attractive enough hockey. I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on the
philosophical debate or whether you care at all.
COACH SUTTER: Well, I don't really care what you think, if that has
anything to do with it. Is that what they're saying in Boston, too?
I don't really know what that means. I really don't understand the
question. Maybe we're fourth or fifth in offense during the year, fourth
or fifth in defense. That generally allows you to make the playoffs and
generally allows you a chance to get to the series, so...
DEAN LOMBARDI: I can answer that a little from our perspective.
It's a bigger issue.
The St. Louis series, I don't know if that fits with your question,
but by far generated as much, if not more, buzz in Los Angeles than the
Stanley Cup Final. You had guys on ESPN radio who had never been to a
hockey game, went to those games. The way they were talking about those
players, the way they played so hard, my seven years in L.A., I never heard
so many people outside the circle start talking about the excitement and
how hard that series was.
I don't really understand the question either from having lived it in
L.A. for the seven years. From hockey people to people outside, they were
talking about how impressed how hard the players played. In terms of
attractive hockey, I've never seen so many people turned on by the game
itself.
Q. Update on Stolly?
COACH SUTTER: No.
Q. Dean, a few years ago you talked about the progression of a team,
an organization, from hoping you can win, thinking you can win, expecting
to win. Have you now gotten to the point where you expect to win again?
DEAN LOMBARDI: Well, there is a progression here. I know Darryl
talked about this with the players before the series. There's another
level that an athlete should want to reach, even after they've won one.
To be part of a franchise in the mode of those, where it's the Red
Wings, the Packers, the Patriots, there's another level they should strive
for. You're far from being the best you can be as an individual and as a
team.
I think we're progressing towards that. I think just like this year,
too, I cited critical moments last year. There were several of them this
year where they were severely tested. They keep finding a way to fight
through, as they've done at times during the playoffs.
I still think it's a process, but I keep seeing strides every day.
Some of our young players, you talk about improved players, you tend to
forget about guys like Doughty and stuff like that, how much better players
him and Voynov are, and they're only going to continue to get better.
Q. Talk about some times this year when they were tested.
DEAN LOMBARDI: He lives it at the micro level every day, so he knows
better than I do.
Sitting up there, the game in Detroit, we were struggling. We go
into Detroit, arguably completely outplayed them, tied it up in the last
minute, then they scored with 10 seconds left. Given where we were, trying
to get our feet on the ground, the way they responded after that, said a
lot.
Again, there's a critical moment to rise. Unless you have character,
competitiveness, leadership, I think a lesser team says, Heck with it,
we'll do it next year.
That's what jumps out to me, but he can speak to it better than I
can.
COACH SUTTER: I agree with Dean. That was a critical set of games
for us. But we didn't get here by accident. We won the Stanley Cup last
year. So in terms of critical points during the season, we had to overcome
a lot of adversity just because of when you win it, not just playing the
games, but everything that comes along with that.
Our players did an outstanding job of that. I told them several
times all season, from day one, you have to remember, when the lockout was
on, we had seven days of training camp, we come back, basically our
training camp, you had to fit on-ice into off-ice, still part of the
celebration part of it in terms of the interview functions. Our players
did an awesome part of handling that. There's adversity there.
Then naturally we lost to the Blackhawks, then win on the road for
two, naturally there's people following you that are critiquing every shift
they play. Players handled all that very well. If you look at it, our
goals coming into this season were -- you can't say our goal is to win the
Stanley Cup, because everybody's goal is to win the Stanley Cup. You have
to do it in steps. Our step was to improve on things we wanted to get
better at from last year. That's what we focused on, that's what we did.
At the end, everything we talked about, we accomplished, which says a
lot about the group.
DEAN LOMBARDI: I think the other thing you forget, too, coaches and
players did a great job. We lost two defensemen that were critical. We
didn't have them all year. Those two guys are arguably two of the best
penalty killers in the league in Greene and Mitchell. We didn't have them
all year. They were a big part of our team and our identity.
I know they're not the rock stars, but everybody knows how important
they are in that room. We didn't have them all year. People forget that.
That's pretty significant.
On the plus side, that gave Doughty and Voynov, kid like Muzzin comes
in. You forget about the responsibilities put on Doughty and Voynov.
We were fortunate last year to go through the playoffs. Darryl
talked about it. That's the type of adversity you have to overcome. But
it's coming. We took it in a big way with those two guys.
Q. Dean, you mentioned the growth of Doughty and Voynov? Where has
Doughty's growth taken place, either on or off the ice?
DEAN LOMBARDI: Darryl lives it every day. I know I see it.
Darryl, why don't you speak to that.
COACH SUTTER: He's a big-game player. If you look at how many games
we played last year, 20 playoff games, he's a big-game player. He got
better as we went along.
You have to remember, he's been part of championships before, been a
significant part of it, even as a younger guy. He did that again last
year. At the end, as a staff, at the end of the playoffs, you evaluate the
experience. It's not the regular-season experience. There's not many guys
his age that have accomplished what he has accomplished. That in itself is
the experience of doing it.
Q. Last years you were 16-4 in the run to the Cup. A lot of us
thought that the Kings breezed to the Cup. This year you have a tough
series against St. Louis and the Sharks. How deceptive was that number
last year? How much harder was it than those figures led on?
COACH SUTTER: Well, I think what's significant is we were the 8 seed
and we had to play the 1 seed. That's the toughest part. That's the most
significant part.
The next part is Rounds 3 and 4. We had trouble scoring. If St.
Louis scored three or four more goals in these playoffs, you wouldn't be
asking that question.
I don't think we lost an overtime game last year in the playoffs.
This year, what are we, 1-3 in overtimes? There's the difference.
Q. Darryl, obviously you have to win a road game to win this series.
Last year you won on the road often. This year not as often. What has
been the difference?
COACH SUTTER: If you were listening, we lost three overtime games in
a row, and we have to be a great defensive team, as the team we are playing
is. But to score that big goal is the difference.
Q. Darryl, I know the Blackhawks and the City of Chicago have always
been special to you. To come here in this situation with so much at stake,
with two teams that are at this level, are you able to enjoy this or maybe
take this all in?
COACH SUTTER: I always enjoy coming back here. Obviously the hockey
environment of the building. I was a part of that. I was part of that,
got beaten in the Conference Finals by Detroit. That's what I take from
it.
Doesn't matter if you're home or away, that's the biggest part.
Q. Dean, is the size on this team by design? Is it a philosophy of
yours to build a big team or did it just almost develop that way?
DEAN LOMBARDI: Yeah, kind of (laughter).
I think Darryl and I agree with what wins in this league. We've been
together a long time. Basically a very similar model we used in San Jose.
Part of it is size. But if that size doesn't compete and have the will to
win, it doesn't matter. It certainly is an asset just like speed.
We see in the playoffs, we see how hard and physical it is. There's
never going to be much space. It does have an advantage.
But whether you're scouting or building a team, to just grab size can
be a very dangerous philosophy if you don't look at the other elements.
But I'd say for the most part it's a similar model we used in San
Jose.
COACH SUTTER: Very simply we were struggling in February or March -
not this season, but the previous season. We wanted some more skill in our
lineup. The skill was Dwight King and Jordan Nolan. You're saying size,
we're saying skill.
If you look at our playoffs this year, whatever that means, we
haven't played our biggest guys all the time. In fact, some of the guys
aren't even playing. We've used 24 guys plus Jonathan, which is 25 guys.
If you base it on that to date, we certainly didn't have, Let's just dress
our big guys. We dressed what was best that night.
If it was just about that, then there would be 25 guys in work boots.
Q. Darryl, at the Blackhawks press conference, Jonathan Quick
deservedly was a big point of the questioning. Not much about Corey
Crawford, maybe deservedly. I'm curious, your thoughts about Corey
Crawford. Is he a goalie that teams feel teams have to beat or is it just
Blackhawks' defense?
COACH SUTTER: We have to beat Corey Crawford to win a game. You
can't win 0-0. You can get 0-0 in the regular season, but you can't get
wins in playoffs.
Q. Is there anything about his game?
COACH SUTTER: He's had a helluva year. Didn't he win the Jennings?
You better give Corey Crawford lots of credit.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
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