On having Willie Mitchell as a defensive partner:
I haven’t had a chance to play with him for the last few years. He was out all of last year. A couple years ago I was with Scuds. I like playing with Mitchie. He’s a really good defender, a really good player. A smart hockey player. It doesn’t matter who they put me with – I’m going to play the same way. I’m looking forward to playing with him tonight.
On facing the Chicago Blackhawks:
You know, if we don’t play a track meet with them, if we don’t allow them to create turnovers and get their speed going, we can compete with them. If we can keep ‘em off the board, we know we can get our opportunities as well. They’re a high scoring team, one of the highest in the league, and one of the main things is just limiting their chances and scoring on ours.
On what type of a goalie Corey Crawford is:
I don’t know, you know? I think every goalie these days is pretty much the same now. I don’t think he’s the quickest goalie. I think where you’ve got to beat him is up high, and like any other goalie you’ve got to get traffic in front, get tips and rebounds. He’s got a good team playing in front of him. A lot of times teams don’t get to test him too much, but tonight we’re going to throw as much as we can at him.
On whether this is the highest level of goaltending since he joined the NHL:
Yeah, I guess it kinds of seems like it. I don’t really pay attention to that too much, to be honest. There are so many good goalies in the league. All of the young kids coming up are kind of the same – that butterfly style. Quickie’s actually unique in the way he plays, I think. A lot of guys are more like how Jonesy plays, just calm and collected in the net, good positionally. Guys are getting good – not only the goalies, but some of these young players coming up are pretty unbelievable, too.
Whether he changes his routine when the team struggles:
No, I take the same approach to every game. I’m not superstitious, I don’t think. For sure I’m not superstitious. I have a routine I do, but that kind of just gets you in the mindset of the game. I guess sometimes, I know in the playoffs, I have before worn the same suit if we’re winning or whatever, and change it up if we lost. During the season, we’re just trying to stick to it. We’re not getting down on ourselves. We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We’re going to do something about it, and we’re going to start against Chicago.
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