On what has caused the recent turnaround:
“I don’t think there’s been any sort of a ‘turnaround’. I think we’ve played – I’ve said it numerous times – other than two games, we’ve played really well this year.”
On Carter’s recent scoring touch:
“He’s money. Give him the puck. He doesn’t need much time.”
On why, “all of a sudden”, is Carter scoring:
“It’s not really ‘all of a sudden’. He’s got 15 goals this year. It’s not ‘all of a sudden.’ He led the playoffs in goal scoring last year, I believe, with two other players in this room. He’s averaged 30-something goals a year. It’s not ‘all of a sudden.’ That’s Jeff Carter. He’s a goal scorer.
On what allowed the team to come back on Tuesday:
“We gave up some easy goals. It wasn’t a 4-1 game going into the third period. It wasn’t. They had like four goals on what, five or six shots. They had a pleasant time with it. Until then, we hadn’t been able to generate anything. If you look at shots and opportunities as the game goes along, that wasn’t the right score.”
On his recent comment that he likes his teams to play like they’re a goal down:
“I’m not a coach that coaches to sit on leads or sit on being down two or up two or any of that stuff. I believe you’re supposed to play the game the way your gameplan started the game, and it’s not by the score. So, if you do that consistently, it builds trust and it builds belief, and eventually you win more than you lose. It’s got nothing to do with the outcome of the game, ever. You’re going to win, you’re going to lose. I don’t know anybody… – other than Chicago – that goes 48-0. It’s not really anything other than that. If you believe you have a good team, then you have a chance to win every night if you play the same way. You’re not always going to win, but you’ll have a good chance.”
On some coaches leaning towards a defensive style when their teams are ahead:
“Some guys don’t last very long, either.”
On where this particular coaching philosophy comes from:
“I don’t really know, but probably from watching guys like Scotty Bowman and great coaches [where] you learn what they’re trying to do, and with the understanding that the coach is usually the one that instills the confidence or the trust in a group. That’s the way the game is now, and that’s one thing that probably will never change. You have to be able to instill that.”
On whether he reinforces this mantra between periods:
“Every shift, every time out, every whistle, every time a young player comes to the bench. It’s pretty much got nothing to do with ‘between periods’. Game day is game day and I believe it starts this morning and when the game is over tonight, it’ll stop. It’s not reinforcing a thing.”
On what he likes about Jeff Carter’s shot:
“It’s not so much the shot. You have to have the ability as an off winger – a good offensive player – to get open or to find where you are open, and then get it away. You look at [the] last two or three goals that he’s scored, first off, him, Brown and Williams lead our team in shots. So there’s a good chance if you do that…you get more chances to score. Right now, he is and Brownie and Willie have to continue to get shots. Jeff Carter…there’s not one thing that’s greater in his game than anything else. It’s not his shot or his size or his speed or anything like that. They’re all good. So when you have all those combined, you have a good hockey sense, and if you’re playing with good players, then you have a chance to score.”
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