Penguins / Blackhawks at famed Soldier Field on Saturday in the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series.
Apparently, from the tweets I saw tonight, the ice conditions at the rink were very good, too and the weather for this time of year wasn't all that windy, either.
Courtesy of the NHL and asapsports, here's the transcript from Pens coach Dan Bylsma today"
DAN BYLSMA: We have a couple of updates. We did go on the ice
today with the family skate, just a casual skate, some might still be on
there right now. The penalty in the game last night, the major (to Tanner
Glass) was rescinded by the League, secondly. And then today, upon further
review from the doctors, we've decided surgery for Paul Martin on his hand
would be a better avenue for recovery, a quicker recovery, so he did that.
That happened yesterday. Right? Yesterday, not today. Yesterday that
happened. I saw the pictures. Quicker healing, so roughly the same
time frame, but...
So that is all. I've seen the pictures.
Q. Brooks mentioned that he was actually more excited for the
opponent than maybe the outdoor conditions. You guys heard that from a lot
of opponents. How do you feel it's sort of an equal match-up and sort of
measuring sticks, and with that environment is it important for a team that
has Stanley Cup aspirations to have those in this stretch?
DAN BYLSMA: Well, I think the outdoor schedule, in this case, you're
playing a Western Conference team. We don't play them very often. They
are Stanley Cup Champions, and, again, one of the best teams, best records
in the League. So, I think before the schedule comes out and after the
schedule comes out, before we find out this is going to be an outdoor game,
yet you know you're playing the Blackhawks, first and foremost, and you
circle that as a day of a big game on your calendar.
Yeah, I agree with Brooks, I think the outdoor game and playing
outside in the elements, but first and foremost, it's the Blackhawks and
playing a team that may be the best in the League.
Q. Is there anything you can take from the previous outdoor game
into this one, whether it be weather, depth perception, anything like that?
DAN BYLSMA: For a few of our guys, this is going to be the third
time they've been able to play outdoors. I think sometimes the elements
are always a little bit different. But having said that, you can probably
overcoach this game, and that's something I think I'll remember from the
last one. You're dealing with elements; you're dealing with different ice
conditions; you're dealing with snow. We had rain last time. We had a lot
of water on the ice. To overcoach I think it would be a mistake.
That's something I think the guys played in Buffalo, and they had a
little bit like the Big House this year, and they had the snow on the ice
and we were dealing with the snow during the game. It really does need to
be a little bit more of simplifying and understanding that going into the
game and having that expectation about how you're going to execute and what
you need to do and then dealing with the elements.
Q. You guys went two years between losing shootouts; you've lost two
in a row. Is there any coaching in terms of the instruction of the moves
that coaches can do for players? And then strategy-wise, how do you kind
of adjust? Jussi is 0 for 5 this year, and of course, he was one of the
best in NHL history until this year. Is he in a slump? How do you coach
that?
DAN BYLSMA: Well, on our team, if you're asking if I go to the
players and instruct them on moves, that's laughable. Really, I
congratulate you for saying that with a straight face. In terms of our
team, Jussi is a guy whose life numbers are really very, very good. His
numbers this year aren't as good. For us, we had James Neal sitting on the
floor at the fifth spot a little bit, and his numbers are almost as good as
Jussi's are now careerwise. Realize, Chris Kunitz is a 36% shooter
lifetime. He's sitting back there, having not gone. We have a number of
good players that can shoot. We have a couple more we can go to.
I don't teach the moves, and good shooters have two or three moves,
and Jussi has, speaking of Jussi, he's got three that are lethal moves that
he can go to at any time. They kind of read the goalie. The goalie scout,
the goalie we're playing, the past history against them.
Our goalie likes to have certain information, and he likes to know
certain things. He's aware of that going into the game. He gets his
information on the bench from Craig Adams. I told Craig the shooter, Craig
handed it over to Marc-Andre, and they kind of -- that's part of the way
Marc likes to operate when it comes to shootouts. I still like our chances
with the crew we've got going into the shootout, but I'd like to avoid
those things if I could.
Q. What did you learn from coaching (the U.S. Olympic Team)? What
did you learn from Patrick Kane coaching on the team? Is there anything
you saw that you didn't know about him before that experience?
DAN BYLSMA: Well, I would say that having conversations with him
prior to the games and even during the games I've learned quite a bit about
his competitiveness. You kind of see the smile. It's certainly a ton of
skill how he plays the game, but I was impressed by it and learned just the
competitiveness that he has and brings to the game. Skill-wise you see it
live.
He's a 'head-shaker.' Some of the stuff that he does, bringing the
puck up on the power play and distributing the puck. I had seen it, I had
watched it, but he's just got some nasty skill at the puck. I guess I call
it 'head-shaker' because he pulls up and puts a pass on someone's tape, and
you have three or four guys on the bench just shaking their head at how
good he is with that puck. So those are a couple of things with Patrick
that was evident.
Q. Is it at all significant when a player like Tanner (Glass) who
when you want to play physical has the major rescinded that would allow him
to maybe be into the next game with the same mindset you need? Is it
frustrating that you know they rescinded a penalty that led to an
opportunity to tie the game?
DAN BYLSMA: In this case, Tanner was -- sometimes a player gets a
penalty and they know they might have done something or they know it was
maybe a little bit borderline or their arms came up. They have a sense of
it. Tanner was flabbergasted that he got a penalty. He was confident that
he didn't -- didn't have his arms up, didn't have his elbow up.
He knew the point in the game, and he knew it was right after we'd
taken the lead. He was adamant that he didn't think he had done anything
that should have been drawing a penalty. I think even right after the game
when I talked to him, he felt like he couldn't believe that he got a
penalty.
Getting it rescinded, I think it confirms that for him. But he was
pretty confident right away that I don't think -- he didn't think he did
anything. The live part, I talked to the referee on the ice and saw the
replay on the JumboTron, which wasn't a great replay of it, but they don't
have the benefit of the replay. The stick was up. The stick came and
smacked him across the head. There was a loud noise.
On the bench, it was kind of away from the puck. I asked Craig Adams
on the bench, was it dirty? He said, oh, he knew there was a really loud
smack on the helmet. That's what the referee saw. That's what happened.
It hit him right across the head and there was a big loud smack on the
helmet, and maybe that's what the referee saw, heard, and called because
his stick was up there and his stick did make contact with his own head.
So it's tough to say it wasn't a head shot.
His own stick going up there, and to have to make that call, it turns
out to be a tough one for us at that point in the game. We had to kill
that major off, and it ended up being a goal they score, but I'm not going
to say it was an easy call for the ref to make. He saw a shot to the head,
and that's what he's trying to call.
Q. Is it easy to root for a kid like Brian Gibbons? What have you
seen with him on Sid's line?
DAN BYLSMA: Well, I think it's just I saw Gibby turn pro, and heard
about the way he played in college and heard about what kind of player he
was, and his progression has been over the course of two years. He's
really learning and starting to bring that game the last half of the year.
But what he's brought to that line, you know, Sid's a guy that really
needs a couple things or he wants a couple things with his line and that is
speed. You want someone to force the issue. You want someone to attack
with speed and create -- you know, create turnovers, create pucks. That's
what he brings. He's got some pretty fast wheels. I don't know where he
ranks up there. But in last game with his speed, he got the pucks, he beat
a guy wide, goes to the net and created an opportunity for his line and
drew two penalties with his speed. He brings his speed a lot of different
ways, but that's what he brings up to that line.
Is Brian Gibbons a skilled top number one right wing in the league?
I don't think so. But he does bring that speed and that energy and helps
his line that way, and he's pretty much done it, you know, I would say
eight out of the last 10 games he's brought it. It was evident again last
night.
*
For more on the Flyers, who are not in any outdoor games this season, check out CSNphilly.com:
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