March 29 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter

On Jarome Iginla’s performance:
Pretty awesome. Gordie Howe Hat trick. … He’s a great, great role model for young players. That’s a guy who deserves to win a Stanley Cup, a player like that. [Reporter: Anze said just being around him for the short time, I think a lot of people in that room can learn lots from Jarome Iginla.] Yeah, as I just said. [Reporter: First ballot Hall of Fame?] Well, for me it’s pretty easy.

On the Kings taking care of their own business:
We’ve had a really tough time in our division this year. It’s good to win a game on the road in our division.

On whether both teams were distracted by Matthew Tkachuk in the first half of the game:
No, I didn’t think that at all. I think people pay to see emotion, too. It’s good to see that once in a while. It might be, quite honest, what maybe has been lacking in our team.

On whether he’s surprised by the aggressive play of Matthew Tkachuk, a rookie:
He’s a pretty high pick. Wasn’t he a lottery pick? [Reporter: Just the fact that he’s a rookie. I mean, it’s his rookie year.] I’m sure there’s lots of rookies. Every team has three or four rookies.

On the opportunity to build off the win in Vancouver:
Well, we’re going to find out if we – I think if St. Louis wins we’re out, isn’t it? [Reporter: No, because you could still catch Nashville.] I’m just looking at we’ve got a lot of division games left. I think we’ve got some players that we have to find out if they can play – we’ve played them against teams in our division. We have to find out if they can win against teams in our division. That’s the challenge.

On whether the team’s standing could have improved if Jarome Iginla was acquired earlier:
Well, I have a lot of respect for Jarome even though I’ve [inaudible]. You can’t coach desire and compete, and he’s got it in spades.