May 10 morning skate quotes: Anaheim

Sami Vatanen, on being awestruck at playing with Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu:
Of course it was a big thing. I’ve been watching those guys since I was little. So it was fun to get a chance to play with them, and now it’s more fun even in the playoffs.

Vatanen, on driving Teemu Selanne’s car:
I have to say it’s excellent. I’ve been driving with that the whole year, same thing with last year. So, it’s nice.

Vatanen, on Saku Koivu’s family helping him find an apartment:
Yeah, they helped me to find my apartment and [stuff] like that. So, it’s been fun and a little bit of help for me.

Vatanen, on Bruce Boudreau saying he was the best player in Game 3:
Of course, it’s fun. There are some positive things that I did something right, but I just have to forget that and start to play the next game.

Vatanen, on the car Teemu Selanne loaned to him:
I got a Mercedes CLK, something. [Reporter: Not bad.] I don’t know if I like that car actually, but it’s free.

Vatanen, on what Norfolk did well in their playoff series victory over Manchester:
I have to say that our goalie was unbelievable. Gibson played three great games and won those games for us.

Vatanen, on transitioning from the AHL playoffs to the NHL playoffs:
Yeah, of course it’s a little bit different. The speed is different and everything, but you just do your own thing and play your game. Try not to think too much.

Teemu Selanne, on having a mentor early on in his career:
Oh yeah, when I went to Winnipeg Teppo Numminen was there, and I remember how much he helped me. So that’s why I want to do my job too. It’s fun and you see how much they appreciate it and the life is easier when you have a little help here and there. [Reporter: Did Teppo let you drive a car?] No, I actually let him drive my car.

Selanne, on the mindset going into Game 4:
We all know that it’s the biggest game of the year. I like how we have been playing pretty much all three games. I still think we can do better. Just do your job, enjoy and compete.

Selanne, on having tighter line changes:
It has been pretty lazy all year. That’s one area also where we can do way better. It’s not only the guys who come out. You have to be ready. You have to know who is going to go out there. A lot of times the game goes so fast, maybe coach doesn’t have time to say early on. So you have to ask who is up. Make sure that everybody knows, because even one too many men on the ice penalty can cost you pretty much the whole series. And when we change at the right time, you don’t put anyone else in a bad spot. That’s one thing you can always do better.

Bruce Boudreau, on being tempted to start John Gibson in goal:
I don’t know if it’s tempting. I mean he’s a good goalie and in the future he’s going to be a tremendous goalie. I just don’t know if he’s today’s goalie.

Boudreau, on the statuses of Matt Beleskey and Matthieu Perreault:
Beleskey is not on. Perreault is a game time decision.

Boudreau, on replacing Matt Beleskey on the top line:
You can move people up. Again, I think because you followed us, the line combinations have been changed an awful lot during the course of the year. When playoff time came we sort of got into lines. But with Matt not being available tonight, then we have to move people around and I think we’ve got a lot of guys that have played on that big line before and are comfortable playing there. It’s not a big decision for me. For that, you want to take a little more time because you want to be so perfect all the time. But halfway through the first period, if things aren’t working out we’re going to change it. We’ve put somebody there and let’s see how it works out.

Boudreau, on Daniel Winnik:
Winnik will play tonight. [Reporter: What do you expect from him?] I expect Danny to be his best. When he’s at his best, he’s a really good player. When he’s not at his best, then he’s sometimes not engaged. But I have to believe sitting four games out – which is the longest of his season or his tenure with me anyway – that he’s going to be real hungry and he’s going to put forth a great game. We needed him a lot this year and he’s come through. If you look at him, he averaged over 15 minutes a game which is a lot more than most of our forwards.