Here are Drew Doughty’s thoughts, on the eve of his first NHL playoff experience…
Question: What do you think about the matchup with Vancouver?
DOUGHTY: “We had a great game the last time we played. I think it was 8-3, so we can definitely take the positives out of that game and go into Vancouver there on Thursday.”
Question: What do you think you’ll be able to take from your Olympic experience that will help you in the playoffs?
DOUGHTY: “I know the playoffs is not even comparable to the regular season. Obviously there’s a lot more hitting, and the pace out there is just so much higher. With the Olympics, that was pretty high-paced there, so hopefully that can be similiar to a playoff-style game, and I can take it from there.”
Question: And you know how loud and tough that building can be…
DOUGHTY: “They have great fans there. Obviously any place in Canada is pretty crazy about hockey, so we’re going to go in there and they’re going to have a lot of fans. I’m sure we’re going to get booed and stuff like that, but it’s a lot of fun. We love going to Canadian cities and beating Canadian teams.”
Question: There’s a lot being made of you guys being a young team. Is that fair, or is it being driven up too much?
DOUGHTY: “I think that’s something being driven up. We’ve had a couple guys who have been on playoff runs and we have a couple guys who have won Stanley Cups. So they know how it is, and they’re all telling us young guys, who haven’t played a playoff game yet, how it is, so I think we’ll be fine. We’re going to go in there, and after we get that first game under our belt I think we’ll be fine after that.”
Question: Have you talked to a guy like Sean O’Donnell about what it takes to win in the playoffs?
DOUGHTY: “I sit next to him in the room, so he’s always talking about it and how much fun it is. Everyone says that the playoffs is the funnest time of the year. It’s obviously a lot grittier and a lot harder game, but we love that and that’s why we play hockey, so we’re just really looking forward to getting started.”
Question: Is it better, in a way, to come into it as the young team without expectations?
DOUGHTY: “I guess we don’t have any much pressure on us, because everyone is calling us the young, inexperienced team that maybe doesn’t know what to do in playoff situations, but that’s kind of good for us. Us young guys are really happy to get our first playoff games, and there are guys on the team that have been in the league forever and haven’t played playoff games. So everyone is excited and pumped to get that first one out, and hopefully do a good job.”
Question: Do you see yourselves as the underdogs in the series?
DOUGHTY: “Not really, to be honest. I think we match up pretty well against Vancouver. We had that last game against them, where we played pretty good and won a pretty big game there, but I think it will be good. I think we match up well, and I think we’ve got a better team here, so hopefully we can use that.”
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