On how he treats this lighter part of the schedule:
Well, today we wanted a good aerobic day. Tomorrow’s a day off, and then we get two practices.
On whether he has a chance to tune up “system work” with several days off:
Well…we missed seven days of practice last month, and with that, there’s lots of days where guys were told to stay off. So we get a little recovery and get a couple practices, and then we go. Everybody gets it once. [Reporter: Is video a huge part of this, too, now?] No. We do enough video. I don’t think there’s a point of over killing that.
On what he has seen from Linden Vey:
Today is the first day he has practiced with us. [Reporter: Did you like what you saw?] Yeah, I like Linden. [Reporter: Good effort in practice?] I don’t think I question effort in practice very often. It’s hockey…I’m not usually concerned about players’ effort in practice.
On what the penalty kill can do to “stop the bleeding”:
Have an 0-fer game. Really clear. We’ve played five out of six at home, and in the last six games, we’ve given nine goals on the penalty kill, which makes us 3-3. Clear, right? Partly to do with goaltending. Partly to do with penalty killers. [Reporter: Is it surprising to see Mitchell and Greene make errors, though?] No. One guy’s missed a year and a half, and one guy’s played about six games in a year. So it’s probably where they’re at, and whether they can regain that skill set. [Reporter: It seemed like there weren’t signs of that until very recently. The PK had been on a nice stretch before that.] You know what? That’s the way it usually goes, too.
On whether he thinks about the ratio of shots generated by the defense:
Yeah, I think about it. I think that your power play guys, which would be your more skilled guys – Drew and Slava and Muzzin – should average three shots a game, and the other guys it’s bonus time. It’s very clear. I mean, if you look at the top defensemen at the end of the year, if you can get somebody that’s 200-to-250 shots, that’s pretty good.
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