January 15 practice quotes: Darryl Sutter

On whether the pregame approach changes with no morning skate before the game tomorrow:
Not really. Guys are pretty aware of our schedule. Over the years we’ve played a lot of ’em. Especially in those playoff runs, a lot of afternoon games. Even earlier starts, we played a noon start here once. Just build it in to your routine. Some people are morning people and some people aren’t.

On the importance of Gaborik scoring against Winnipeg:
It’s important for his confidence. He views himself as a goal-scorer. If it helps him, I mean he had some shots last night. You can’t score without any shots when you’re a guy that’s known only as a goal-scorer. His teammates expect him to be a real hard-working guy and those who play here and that’s sort of the message we relayed to him. But he sees the reward as scoring so he’s got to score. Kopi found him two or three times last night. He should have had more then one.

On what Willie O’Ree means to him:
I’ve met Willie. He’s a nice man but he was, I’m getting old but he’s quite a bit older than me so I didn’t see him on TV. [Reporter: He’s actually very sharp though for 81.] Yeah, I know Willie good.

On whether it’s a “big deal” for African-American players to be in the NHL:
I think it’s — that really ties in to you asked a question that relates more to it’s a Canadian game and it relates more to Canadians and Americans, when you look at it like that. I mean, it was way more of an infusion of the Eastern Bloc countries, the Scandinavian countries so I don’t think — what color you are, that doesn’t have any bearing on anything. We have Native-Americans on our team so that’s irrelevant [inaudible].

On whether he had African-American teammates when he was playing in the NHL:
There were very few Americans. It was 99% Canadian. There was very few American players.

On the Lightning’s Victor Hedman, who made his first All-Star Game and comparisons to Doughty:
I know Hedman. I don’t think that’s evolution, that’s a good player that missed some time with injury. … He’s a horse. He’s like our guy. Our first game here the question on Drew was, is he a great player? Now it’s the other, he is. That was question, everybody’d go, is he? [Reporter: Is he elite, or whatever you want to call it?] Whatever they were saying. There was always the question. Whenever he had a bad game or a great week, next night go, hey, he’s going to win the Norris, watch. He’s going to win the Norris. Now they don’t say is he, they say he is. [Reporter: What do you like about his game the most?] He’s dynamic. He has some risk in his game. He can play physical, he’s fast. Plays special teams. There’s a handful of guys in the league, exciting guys to watch, don’t like playing against them. Wish I had two or three of them.

On long playoff runs and what residual effect it has from his firsthand experience:
Over time it does, for sure. Especially older guys there’s no question it does because there’s some you shorten up and a lot more pressure to play, a lot more physical. Especially when you extend series out. A lot more travel and same with Tampa. Tampa beat us in Game 7 in the Stanley Cup when I was with Calgary. It’s not just your Los Angeles winning the Cups. We went to Game 7 with Calgary so I’m pretty familiar with long playoff runs, done it four times. It takes its toll. Guys are human, not machines. Look at guy like Jonathan. Since I’ve been here in six years he’s had three major surgeries. It takes its toll. These guys play a lot of — everybody looks at these sexy numbers, how many games they’ve played and all that. You should also factor 150 playoff games as they count almost as double. So you talk in here about guys playing in their 500th or 1,000th career, coaches this or that, they should add in playoff games. That’s where you get a real, true picture of a player. [Reporter: Did that play a role in 2015 when you guys missed after that?] We had a better regular season than any of [the ones] when we won the Cup here. Our team still averaged a 100 points a year almost since I’ve been here. You get down into the short strokes of it and then you get into the injury part of it. It’s a factor. Twenty-three man rosters and you get guys that are playing hurt and it’s — I have a problem with the way our 23-man roster is set up. Why if you’re under the cap why can’t you carry 30? Why can’t you carry two more players? Especially with the way they condense the schedule and expect players [trails off]. It’s hard on the fans because fans expect this player to be great, well maybe he’s a little hurt, maybe he’s a little tired, maybe he got in at three in the morning from a flight. A lot more into it, right? And we jam the schedule down these guys’ throat here and it’s hard.

On the Kings having more injuries than normal this season:
I think it catches up to ya, it’s all part of it, the World Cup, the whole thing. Look at our team, four World Cup players. Jake Muzzin’s had an up and down season, went to the World Cup. Drew’s the one guy that’s hung in there for us. Quick got hurt, Gaborik caught hurt, Kopitar got hurt. All those guys were at the World Cup. Something to it. [Reporter: Lightning, Stamkos, Stralman.] Yup. Something to it. You look around the league the first month of the regular season and all them guys that went to the World Cup because they had been playing at a high level. Teams that did good in the World Cup, they came back, they set the league on fire those guys individually for the first month and then it started to drop. And then guys started getting hurt. It’s effected players, no question. [Reporter: Anything you can do as a coach? You can’t not play the players. You can’t get them extra rest.] You give them all the rest you can especially when you trust our core guys that have … won. They know how to win. So, you trust those guys if they need a breather you give it to them, to get them ready for the game. But they’ve got to play the game.

On how many guys he thinks should be on a roster:
I think as long as you’re under the cap why can’t you have whatever you want? [Reporter: Twenty-five, twenty-six?] What difference does it make? To me it doesn’t make — what’s the point? You got a salary cap, everybody’s now at 75 million dollars, well, why can’t you have 25 guys … [Reporter: Still dress the same about of people.] You play back-to-back, you play three in four, you could have kids that are going in and out. There’s kids that don’t play. I’m pro player in all of this stuff, right? All of it. I’d rather have thirty guys in the locker room. [Reporter: Like baseball at the end of September, baseball you can have 30-something guys, but they don’t have them in July and August.] I’m just pro player. Why couldn’t you utilize more energy and if you’ve got the reserves, you’re not penalized. [Reporter: It’d be better for fans too, more competition.] That’s my opinion. I have some ideas that sometimes work, sometimes don’t. [Reporter: I think Lightning coach Cooper had a problem mostly with where you have send a player back right away on the flight, couldn’t hold him back just in case.] Well, it’s because they’re by the day. [Reporter: So if you have guy on a West Coast trip and you don’t know about a guy’s injury, if you send a guy down you have to put him on a flight the next day.] He’s not supposed to … travel with your team. [Reporter: I don’t know who monitors it.] Every team has somebody that works in your office that’s so leery of all the rules that you’re afraid to cut your fingernails when you come in in the morning, thinking it might break at the end somewhere. It’s true. [Reporter: It’s unfortunate, but it’s the way it goes.] Schedule’s hard and it’s not going to get easier, right. Because once they agree on the Olympic thing and players have got the mandatory five day and I can’t see that ever going away. With the Olympics … the World Cup, that’s two weeks out of your schedule you’re going to wherever it is next year, Beijing. Wherever it is, you don’t just leave today and play tomorrow. Things like that.