May 10 morning skate quotes: Darryl Sutter

On whether Game 5 was the most challenging game of the series:
“It’s the way that both teams play. I mean, the longer the series goes, probably the tougher it gets like that. Every game’s been a little bit more of that.”

On his history with Robyn Regehr, and whether Regehr’s play feels like “old times”:
“No, I don’t think so. I haven’t coached Robyn for eight years or seven years or whatever it was. Guys get older and guys’ experience helps ‘em. We said at the time we needed some more experience on our back end. Very simple, and it’s showing again in this series. If we wouldn’t have had him for the minutes, we would be doing clean-out locker day.

On what Regehr brings to the Kings:
“He still covers a lot of real estate. When you have kids that are as dynamic as Drew and Slava are, they have to complement each other. I think that everybody in here has covered teams that don’t have both that dimension in the back end. They go, ‘Oh we gave up way too much,’ or ‘We don’t defend well enough,’ it’s still about the whole package, and if the package is not all in one, then it’s gotta be in two. Clearly, because if you look at just the way players are now, it’s pretty much the way it works. It’s a tough position to play, and it’s a tough position to find players, and they don’t just step in and play. We’re lucky – if you look at Voynov, who steps right out of the American League and Drew, who came in as an underage guy, but unless they’re top end guys, they have to complement ‘em. Players like Scuderi and Regehr, players like that – even the guys that move around at the deadline are critical guys. I mean, look at the teams that are playing. Look at St. Louis and what they did to bring in guys with that type that adds a different dimension to their team. Look at what Pittsburgh did. Scotty Hannan going to San Jose. Those guys add dimensions that obviously teamsfelt that they didn’t have, and you have to have it.”

On the asset of having a bigger team:
“The players are all bigger, so if they’re just as talented, then bigger does matter if you look at it. Everybody says, ‘Well, the Los Angeles Kings are a big team.’ Well, some teams are half an inch taller. Some teams are four pounds smaller on average, so what the hell’s the difference? If we all would get on the scales, would we say we had a big team? Still, big and fast is better than little and fast. No question. Most series are six games, so if you play them seven times, gotta think that there’s a lot of wear and tear going on there. And, even more so with schedule – do it this year on a 48-game schedule, and how many days you play, and the guys that are well-trained and have that size and can maintain their speed for just about 48 games. It’s a big difference, and…just look at it going forward. What are they going to do next year? We’re going to take two weeks off in February. So you’re going to jam it down the throats again. Look at this series, a classic example. You’re playing your sixth game in 10 days, and you’re asking about what the lineup is, and where’s this guy and where’s that guy. Well, where do you think they are? It’s friggin’ hard on ‘em. I mean, you guys are traveling. The guys that traveled this series, hey, it’s not that much fun.”

On the Kings’ composure when faced with a two-nothing deficit earlier in the series:
“The key is always composure with our team. We don’t get caught up in scores, series, shifts. It’s the most important part of the game, and it has to feed from leaders, coaches, and it does on our team. It’s very simple. It’s composure. I mean, if you’re talking about desperation or…adversity, well I guarantee you there’s guys that said when the series was two-nothing we were done, and I can guarantee you when we were down two-nothing in a game, ‘You’re done,’ or when we score in the last minute to tie it up in St. Louis, ‘St. Louis was done.’ But they scored in overtime. Nobody’s done. That’s why you get in a long series, and first off, that’s why you make playoffs. You’ve got to have that. You’re just don’t all of a sudden develop it during a series. I’m not saying it because we’re playing them, but St. Louis knows how to win. They know how to play with composure. They got beat in the second round last year. They know how to win. They’re the same as us. So you’ve got to have composure. It’s not just because it’s the playoffs and the people are a little louder in the stands when somebody hits somebody. It’s not more physical. How it is is more composure, more discipline, more execution. That’s all it is.”

On how this year’s Kings-Blues series compares to last year’s Kings-Blues series:
“I don’t see much difference. I mean, there’s like four-to-six different players in the lineup compared to last year, so that’s a big difference. Both teams are using lots of different guys.”