April 11 practice quotes: Darryl Sutter

On how he approaches the last game of the season:
Same as you do every game. [Reporter: You won’t rest a bunch of guys, just to rest them? Just play it out?] Well, when you have a roster in the NHL and a salary cap, you’re not really in that position.

On Drew Doughty’s season:
I think, for sure, his special teams minutes would be up, and probably performance in those situations, too. [Reporter: Is that a maturity thing? Is that learning more about himself and the game? I mean, defensemen usually get better as they get older.] Well, he’s not very old, so clearly every season going forward will be better than the one prior. It’s not based on numbers or anything like that, but he will continue to get better. It’s what happens with good young players. He’s had another really good year. I mean, you don’t base it on numbers. You base it on team play.

On whether he likes the divisional playoff format:
I used to really enjoy it when we had the divisions, and the toughest part, always, back then was good teams went home early. There were divisions that were clearly better, and there were teams that were clearly better, if you look at it. Edmonton-Calgary, one of them always got beat out. Philadelphia and the New York Islanders, one of them always got beat out. Chicago-Minnesota, one of them always got beat out. There was always one good team that went home in the first or second round that was a better team than teams that went to the third round, for sure, and it was just the way the divisions were….It was to create rivalries and it was to create interest, and that’s sort of what it does again. Do I like the format part of it? Yeah, I really like it. Because of the math and the way it works out – the seven-team division – that’s what you wish was different because it’s an imbalance of games. It’s not a fair enough alignment, because you play five games against some teams, four against some, and then obviously the odd home-away part of it. In our game, that does affect somewhere – two or three points in the standings, for sure. [Reporter: A lot of people are saying that about you and San Jose. There’s a really good team that’s going to be done early.] I think our division, it’s a tough division. But that goes back to what I was saying, too. There are two teams that could go out early that just as easy could win the Stanley Cup, too.