January 8 practice quotes: Darryl Sutter

On Jake Muzzin’s role on the power play:
His job is to get shots through and make plays to guys, so that’s what most guys do on the power play. [Reporter: Is that a real gift the way teams take away the passing lane and take away the shooting lane to get your shot and your pass through? I think of Burns and some other guys who really have a knack for it, but a lot of guys struggle with it, getting a shot all the way to the net, and that’s so important on a power play.] I think there’s lots involved in that. I think what gets looked at from the outside or media-wise or fan-wise would be how hard a shot is, but that’s really not the case. A lot of it’s the way teams get in shooting lane now and use their sticks. There’s some prep that goes into that obviously to know how to play against certain guys, getting it through the first layer and getting it to the goalie, getting it off the boards, things like that. There’s lots more involved than just putting it on a tee and pounding it. [Reporter: Everyone thinks of Al MacInnis.] Don’t see much of that anymore. [Reporter: Even yesterday with Jake’s shot, it seemed like it wasn’t a huge wind-up and he picked a spot right there, near side. Like he said, it wasn’t an Al MacInnis-type blast.] It was a pretty good shot.

On whether there’s a Tyler Toffoli update:
No, I don’t get medical reports on weekends, normally. [Reporter: I know you said there was a hope that he could get there at the end of this week. Is it still early next week, the hope that he could get onto the ice?] I couldn’t tell you. I think ‘hope’ was in capital letters when you asked me that question, and it still is. I couldn’t tell you what day it is. I’m not a doctor. I’m not any more than that. I believe he was put on IR, wasn’t he?

On what he has liked and not liked at the halfway point of the season:
Other than our start of the season and our goaltending early, I’ve liked our season. Take the first three games out, the disappointment of those three games and the reaction with Jonathan’s injury after that. We win tomorrow night, we’re within four points of the division, being on top of the division, so how could I not like it? I mean, you guys criticize, I analyze. [Reporter: Analyze?] Not very often. Your responsibility should be to pass good things on to the fans, not negative things, so I’ll just leave it than that. … How could I be disappointed? I mean, we lead in a lot of major categories. If we had two or three more wins, if we got a few more saves where we should’ve or one less penalty here or there, it’s a fine line. We get the most out of our group, and those guys expect a lot out of each other. That makes it easier to coach.