April 8 postgame quotes: Mike Stothers

On the game overall:
I actually thought it was entertaining. It wasn’t great hockey or great execution from either team but there was some crazy chances and some missed opportunities on both sides. I think the second period alone Mersch had some great chances. Actually Mersch had a great pass from Teddy, Amadio had a great pass from Teddy, and neither one of them came up. They didn’t even handle it. So I told Teddy when he came back to the bench, I said, ‘you pass anymore to either one of your linemates, I’m fining ya a thousand bucks.’ [Reporter: And he didn’t the rest of the night, did he?] Well, I think he tried to. We were worried that Big Mike was going to have a stroke out there. He was so distraught with himself. Hey, it happens. Through all that chaos it was a pretty entertaining game for the fans. There was a lot of guys missing from both sides, lineup wise, it’s to be expected.

On why there was maybe less friction between the teams tonight:
I was surprised by that. Last night, Bickel for them was spitting nails and tonight he looked like he was getting his nails done. So, I don’t know. [Reporter: He was resting up for next week.] I guess. I love the guy. I think we could use a guy like him myself. That’s how quiet he was tonight and so was everybody else, so, go figure. Last night was, man, it was intense, it was charged up. And then you play each other less than 24 hours later and I don’t know.

On whether he thinks about pacing there upcoming game vs. San Diego:
I don’t. I don’t. I just take it one day at a time. Now we’ve got to get ourselves prepared for Stockton coming up. You don’t really want to get into that and you don’t really want to be ever pacing yourself because that’s when bad things happen, somebody gets hurt, whatever. I liked our response after a pretty discouraging defeat in San Jose the other night. I actually thought there was a chance that we were gonna at least get a point out of that game and it didn’t happen. So now you’ve got a long bus ride from San Jose to San Diego and that’s a long time for guys to chew on that so you’re really not sure how they’re gonna come out, knowing full well San Diego in San Diego, man they really got an early push and you’ve got to be aware of it and you’ve got to be ready for it. I thought our guys played a heck of a game last night and sure there was some mistakes tonight but I thought it was another pretty solid game for us considering, again, we’ve got some guys in that aren’t used to playing the way we play and probably not used to this rivalry or the intensity of this time of the year. It’s good experience for everybody.

On Brodzinski, Kempe and LaDue coming back and what the adjustment might be like:
The adjustment will probably be them. How are they when they come back after being in the NHL, being the big dogs. That’s what I’m curious to see. [Reporter: Do they have to ratchet their play down to the pace here?] No, I hope they remain ratcheted up nice and high and bring everybody up with them. Don’t play down. Don’t ever play down. So that’s what I’m curious to see. Are they enthused to be back and helping contribute to us having a long playoff run? You never know. They’re young guys. They get caught up in the moment. They’ve spent extended periods of times playing in the NHL. They’re not on a charter eating sushi and shrimp. They’re on a bus eating a hoagie and a pizza. [Reporter: Do you expect them back for Monday’s practice?] Yup.

On recent injuries to Andrew Crescenzi and Paul Bissonnette whether he knows how long they might be out:
I really wish I could. I don’t know. It’s unbelievable. Just when you think you’re getting excited you’re getting a guy like Auger back, you’re thinking you’re starting to get healthy and maybe you’re going to get Dermy back soon and as you mentioned the potential of three guys coming and you’re thinking, oh, boy. Do you know how long we’ve played without a full lineup? It’s been excruciating as a coach. And then you lose Cres and you lose Biss and Biss comes back and he provides you with that energy. Drove their team nuts, they’re squirting him from the bench with a water bottle, he gets into a fight with Stortini. And Cres, him and Sutts are 1 and 1A for faceoffs and penalty kill. Now we don’t have Cres as a penalty killer. It’s crazy. [Reporter: Life in the minors.] Yup. Hey, we’ve all got our problems.