March 2 practice quotes: Darryl Sutter

On the Kings’ play of late:
Last night wasn’t our best game, but nobody has every game a good game. [Reporter: Winnipeg’s much better than people give them credit for.] Winnipeg? I’ve said earlier in the year and told Blakey that earlier in the year that the league better be careful because Winnipeg’s coming out of the gate, and they are. We’ve played ‘em three times, and even the first game, I think it was like three-one or four-one, and then we had the overtime game, they beat us in a high scoring game, and yesterday, that building’s got some juice, and they’re a good team.

On whether the trading deadline produced what was expected:
Well, you never know what to expect anymore. It’s just a date, that’s all it is, right? But the expectations are usually what’s created on the outside because of the social media and all that stuff. I think the players, they just roll with it now. It’s part of the business. Be thankful there’s 30 teams. Or, actually, there’s 60 teams. Be thankful there is, because that means there’s more places for guys to play.

On the challenges of preparing for an Edmonton team that won’t make the playoffs:
The challenge is for the Kings to make the playoffs. It had nothing to do with the Edmonton team. The challenge is trying to know every game that you do get a point or two points, and that might be the difference. I’ve said it from day one. Now, hopefully everybody’s listening to that.

On whether the “feeling” at this time is different from last year, or the same:
I think it’s probably the same. I mean, I don’t know, quite honest, because there are a few different guys. There are guys who play different roles, that sort of thing. But it’s probably the same. The feeling is really clear – you need your best players to be top players. You try and break your schedule down. That’s the only way you can do it now…You’ve got to break it down. You can’t do it by 82 games. You can do it by month or whatever you want, but you need your top guys to be your top guys. You know what? We’ve had a lot of guys who have had tough stretches and tough years, and they’re good guys and all that, but they need to be better than good players.

On the importance of simply making the playoffs:
The toughest challenge in the National Hockey League now is not winning the Stanley Cup. It’s not. It’s making the playoffs. If we were in first place, I’d still be saying that. That’s the toughest part. It’s changed. That’s a good thing, because that’s like talking about Edmonton. I thought Edmonton would be one of the teams we’d be fighting with this year to make the playoffs. That’s how you see it. [Reporter: It used to be on every conference there’d be five teams you could say, ‘OK they’re in,’ and then there’d still be three spots for ‘em. Now, if you look at it, I can count eight-to-ten here that I’m thinking could be in the playoffs.] …Or who’s going to win the Stanley Cup this year? Oilers are going to win the Stanley Cup. Or the Islanders are going to win the Stanley Cup. You’d say that. Now, who do you say? You can say after three or four trades that were made that teams that had room or that sort of thing, maybe they’re the favorite. But you couldn’t say for sure they’re going to win. You can’t. And that’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing. [Reporter: Certainly it makes the first round so exciting, because all the players are gung-ho that finally the season’s over. Let’s go.] We got beat in the conference finals two years ago, and if we wouldn’t have had the injuries that we did, I thought we were a better team. People were saying Chicago was the favorite to win the Stanley Cup, and we were saying that too. It’s funny.