On the second game of the trip after having traveled east on Monday:
It’s the way it works. They’re all in the same time zone.
On when Milan Lucic began to feel comfortable with the club:
He had a good training camp, he’s had a good start to the season. We’re almost into the quarter pole, and he’s been really good, so I don’t think it was a ‘point’ or a ‘time’ or anything like that. He’s made a good adjustment to coming out west.
On Jamie McBain’s success while rotating defensive partners:
Well, Christian can play both sides, so if we were healthy coming into tonight, two of the three wouldn’t play.
On Jake Muzzin’s progression:
He played an important part in the 2014 Stanley Cup team, and then he got hurt last year in training camp. He had a really tough start. We didn’t make the playoffs. Got to go to the World Championship, so he got recognized by countries. Got hurt again in training camp this year. Just starting to get going again.
On the Detroit Red Wings:
They haven’t had Datsyuk in the lineup until lately, and Richards has played, what, combined, what have they got? 10 games in? They’ve got a lot of scoring in their team, they’ve only added two new players, if you look at it – Richards and Green. They’ve got a lot of scoring in their lineup. Their third line scored 29 and 26 goals or something last year, and the centerman there is a 13-goal scorer, so their third line is a pretty dominant line when you look at those two guys who are playing there. So once they get Datsyuk back, obviously he’s back, but up to full speed – hopefully he’s still another game away – then we have a chance.
On the importance of Jake Muzzin playing in the World Championship:
Well, I’d have preferred they didn’t go to the World Championship, right? I mean, if you’re talking about Tyler and Muzz, well they’re both guys where the big reason they probably got to go was because they played on Stanley Cup teams, so that’s a way bigger step than playing in the World Championship. All that World stuff really has no bearing on anything. The most important thing is the Stanley Cup, not the World Cup. [Reporter: I know, but Tyler had said you had urged him to go when you did not make it.] Yeah, because they were done playing. Tyler had been hurt and sick since Christmas, so he was just starting to feel good, so it was good for him to go, and Muzzin is a guy who was basically drafted by a different team. Was he traded or signed with LA? I don’t know. Played in the American League for two or three years, came up, played as the seventh or eighth defenseman in Los Angeles for a couple years and got to watch the team win the Cup. Didn’t play much in the conference finals the one year, then became a regular because of exactly what we’re going through now with older players graduating on or signing somewhere else or retiring. He’s no different than anybody else. He’s got to play with Drew, who’s obviously a star in the league, and he’s got to play with Marty now, who, like I said, is probably our most consistent defenseman. He should learn from it and he will. He’s just a young guy. He’s basically just starting, when you look at it, in terms of playing on good teams and playing minutes, and it’s his first year he’s killed penalties in the NHL. There’s lots to learn there. That’s about it. [Reporter: You hear sometimes it takes defensemen 300 games. Do you have a number in your head that you’ve seen or in your career?] Well, it depends if you’re trying to be in the lottery, or you’re trying to be a good team every year and you’re trying to win a Stanley Cup, so it depends.
On taking five penalties in the Philadelphia game:
Yeah, we talked about it during that. I like the physical penalties but not the retaliation penalties. We’ve done a much better job of staying away from that O-zone penalty. Obviously there’s penalties in your own zone because you get against guys who pass well or guys who are really talented and you get those hooks and holds in your zone, but hooks and holds in neutral are basically you ain’t moving, I think, and retaliation, that’s basically out of the game. They’re going to call it. It’s an easy call for the officials to call, after-whistle stuff.
Rules for Blog Commenting
Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.
Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.