On the team’s recent play:
We’ve had a good month. Trying to finish it off tomorrow. We’ve played really well. [Reporter: 10-in-17 was the stretch that you just got through. Did you look at that as a whole, or did you break it down smaller than that?] 10 in 17. We were 5-4-1. [Reporter: How do you break down the final six?] We have four at home, two on the road, one back-to-back. It’s tough, the travel part again and the time change with the back-to-backs. Deal with Calgary twice, and the afternoon game’s always something different again.
On whether he notices teams outside of the playoffs taking more chances now:
I’m sure there’s coaches telling players to show us what you’ve got, so with that becomes looser play. I mean, I’m not really familiar with not being in a stretch drive to make the playoffs, so I can’t really tell you, so you’d have to talk to players or coaches that are used to that. I’m not.
On Marian Gaborik:
He skated a little bit today, but until he puts the gear on, there’s no magic or mystery to it. When you have a Grade 3 sprain, then there’s a timeline for healing, and with healing is therapy. Once therapy’s over, then that gives coaches the reign on when he could play. So I would say I have no idea. As coaches and players, you’re always leaning towards when they say when it’s ‘six-to-eight’ or whatever it is, well, that’s a big difference. That’s a series, and there’s no way a player, unless he can play regular season games, I have no interest in playing him in the playoffs. None. We’ve done that before, and if you’d look back and just in the past accomplishments of this team, if you look back it, it’s very difficult to put players in [that haven’t played regular season games after their injury]. [Reporter: That’s a whole other level, ratcheting it up.] And as you go into March, there’s a whole another level of play, so there’s a whole next part, too. [Reporter: What is the next checklist that you’d have to check off to say, ‘you’ve gotten past this level, now you’re at that level?’] He doesn’t have one, because it’s not in our hands yet. When they say there’s a circled date, then I want to know that date. I don’t want to know that ‘six-to-eight’ stuff. That, to me, is irrelevant. That’s a series.
On players trying to return within the dates of an injury timeline:
I think every player’s different. We’ve been around guys – I’ve played with and coached with guys that try to stretch out as much as they can, and I’ve played and coached with guys that try and get back as quick as they can.
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