BOSTON BRUINS POSTGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS DETROIT RED WINGS Saturday, December 23, 2017

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE On David Backes… He was great – inspirational on the bench, big smile on his face coming in today, and why not? A nice, healthy baby boy and everyone is doing well, so we’re all happy for him. He was really dialed in. These are the type of games – the lower scoring, more grind it out type of games where he really excels, and that is where we need him.

On putting Backes with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand late in the game… They have played together before – a little heavier flavor with the goalie out – second center man for draws. That is nothing on Pasta. We just moved him to more of the offensive role with three minutes to go, and if we can extend the lead with him, great. It’s just Backs has a lot of experience doing that. I think he is a valuable guy in those situations, so we want to make sure we use it as much as possible, whether it is with that group or the other night, we had him with Nash and Heinen. They were really going well, but we want to use him in those situations.

On taking Zdeno Chara for granted… I think a lot of people do. I don’t – the little things that happen in the room every day, his willingness to mentor younger players and work with the staff in that area. You can’t say enough about his ability to defend. He starts transition; he wants to be involved in that part of the game. He is just a guy with a lot of pride, a lot of character, a lot of heart, knows how to win. I think that permeates throughout our lineup. Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] is the same way up front. I think these young guys are learning lessons every day on this.

On the penalty kill… Our PK has been solid all year – a bit of the backbone of our team, the guts of our team play on the PK, and they do a good job. Even though there wasn’t a lot of them tonight, we needed them as you do most nights. We can talk about that pretty much every night – very few off nights they have had. Another solid job, and that starts with the goalie, and usually Zee [Zdeno Chara] and Bergy and Kevan Miller and [Brandon] Carlo does a good job. Guys in the bottom of the lineup have been good on it all year – [Riley] Nash, [Sean] Kuraly now, and [Tim] Schaller.

On the team’s veterans… We have talked a lot about the young kids, and rightfully so, they have earned that, but our veterans – we addressed after the game – they are the guys that were dialed in today, were our leaders, and I was asked before the game a bit about that. I think, younger guys this time of the year, they might look ahead a little bit to the Christmas break, seeing their family. They should be excited about that, but I think that’s part of the growing as a pro to make sure you’re focused and then start thinking about that at 4 o’clock. But, they fell in line, did a good job, but it was definitely our older guys that did the lines’ share of the work.

On Ryan Spooner… I thought he was good. Ryan got lost a little today at times in these close games. We try to use him on the wing a little bit here. There wasn’t a lot of power play time for him where he usually excels. I think he is committed to trying to play the right way, and help and do his job defensively away from the puck, whether it is backchecking and reloading well, getting in the shooting lane. I see a commitment there, and when we put him on the wing when [David] Krejci was in, he was willing to do that. I think he enjoys the atmosphere right now and wants to be a part of the winning program here. It is just a matter of his health, and now it seems to be he is getting through these games without any reoccurrences, so hopefully it is only better in the second – post-Christmas run here.

On Ryan Spooner’s start to the season… I think at the start of the year we were all a little bit out of sorts from game to game. We were really good, then we went away from it. Part of it was the inconsistency of the lineup, part of that was youth coming in and understanding where they fit in. Specifically to Ryan, I think he is a different player. I don’t know if there was a little bit of something going on with him to start health-wise, only he could speak to that. He was definitely hurt at the start, trying to play through it. He is a guy who needs his legs; that is his greatest asset. In the last four, five, six games you have seen a little more of that and I think he has done a good job for us.

On the Christmas break… When you are winning, you always want to be out there. Normally I would say yes, but right now after this stretch, we have played a lot of hockey. It showed today; we had to really dig deep. I think being away from the rink for a few days will be good for us, especially when guys are starting to get sick. So now, they get that out of the locker room, and guys kind of take a deep breath, get some rest. I think it comes at a good time for us. We have had a heavy workload.

On playing in tight, low-scoring games… The guys that have been here for years, they have won that way. All we’re trying to do is merge some of the youth and skill and speed of the game – the transition part of it – with the hard to play against identity. They are learning on the fly here the details of the game in these close games. They just happen to be low scoring. Clearly, with Tuukka, his play speaks for itself and Anton, the way he finished last year, we knew we were going to get good goaltending – at least we assumed we were going to get good goaltending. We’ve got some heavy defensemen that can play that way, we’ve got bottom of the lineup that can kill penalties well. That is usually one of the ingredients of being a good defensive team is you keep the other team off the scoresheet on the power play. Don’t get them excited to play. I envisioned maybe more offense.

On if the team had more veterans in the top six… Hard to play against is still you keep the puck out of your net; every good team keeps it out of their net. I just think we would have a few more goals. We might be able to extend leads a little easier. You can see some plays around the net tonight, there was some bouncing pucks that maybe guys are a little more polished that we could extend it. That is where there is a little bit of work in progress. Some nights, our power play can look scruffy, and I think some of the composure part of that, when you are missing a Krejci and guys that have been around, that shows up. I still thought we would be a good defensive team. I thought we finished that way last year. What was hidden in a bit of our offense was I thought we were keeping it out of our net. I’d have to go back to the stats, but we didn’t lose that part of our game for the most part. It’s just looked a little bit different, because I think, even the schedule, with our injuries, it has been taxing on certain individuals, so they lose a bit of their energy. I don’t want to speak out of turn. When we are winning and we’re playing a good brand of hockey, we are hard to play against. So, if people are mad about that, too bad, I guess is my attitude. I would like us to extend leads a little more and be a little more attack-oriented, but it’s kind of the way it has evolved here, and it has evolved for us.

On Tuukka Rask… He has gotten a few more breaks. We talked about that at the start of the year. There were some funny goals going in off our guys, ones rattling around; you don’t see many of those. There were some posts and in, now they are posts and out. He alluded to that, that he thought he was playing fairly consistent hockey, just wasn’t getting a lot of breaks. I think we played well in front of him in stretches when he wasn’t winning. I still think we have played well in front of him, but now, the times we’re not, he has stepped up his game for us. I’ve talked about that the other night, that that is what needs to happen. The nights someone doesn’t have it, someone has to step up in another area. That is one of the things I have liked about our team. If the older guys are lacking a little juice, the younger guys seem to produce. If the younger guys are not managing the puck and understanding situations, our older guys pull them along. I think it is the sign of a good locker room, and I think it is the same in net. When Tuukka wasn’t going, Anton was there. I just see a lot of good in there, and a lot of healthy competition. Guys that are upset if they don’t get enough responsibility, yet they are still happy for the other’s success. I think that is a sign of good people.

On David Pastrnak’s spin move… I am no different than you; I am a hockey fan. I like to see Pasta do his thing. We’re still in an entertainment industry; the fans like it. As long as it is not goofy, and I don’t think it was. He is capable of things that other people aren’t, so if he can get out there and still create offense doing it, we’re good with it. I thought he had good legs tonight.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN CHARLIE McAVOY On the defense stepping up over the past few games… Playing good, I mean we’re a confident group back there. Some of our strengths are probably moving the puck. We have a lot of puck-movers back there, guys who can skate and move it. It helps a lot when you have goalies like Doby [Anton Khudobin] and Tuukks [Tuukka Rask] playing great hockey. Playing really good hockey as of late, full team effort. On the back end we try and minimize opportunities and make sure we’re doing our jobs as far as breaking pucks out pretty easily. That’s what we hope it’s not always like that. Great overall effort tonight again were really excited going into break like this.

On Zdeno Chara’s impressive game… It’s so valuable, you can’t put a price tag on playing with a guy like that. I learn something every game from him, he’s so vocal. The way he talks, the way he breaks things down for me, every shift is almost a teaching moment for him and a learning moment for me. I’m very thankful and very grateful for that because I know there’s a lot of guys who might not be as fortunate to come in and play with a guy like that. I learn lessons every single game from him, but Millsy [Kevan Miller], Torey [Krug] I mean guys who have played for a long time, played here when he’s in. So many guys like that who you can learn stuff from, you can’t put a price tag on that.

On the veteran guys picking up the scoring today… I think it’s just a group effort every night. Sometimes the veterans will get their chances and will score. Sometimes the young guys get opportunities and we’ll score. It’s a group effort we rely on each other. It’s nice when those guys step up, they’re usually stepping up every game, they’re very consistent hockey players, they’re true pros. We try, I know this young group, this young class, we try every night to contribute and be a part of the culture here. I can speak for everybody we’re truly very grateful and fortunate to play with guys like Bergy [Patrice Bergeron], [Brad] Marchand and Zee [Chara] – guys who have won a Stanley Cup. I learn lessons from them day- in and day-out on and off the ice and I’m very fortunate.

On watching the Bergeron line play… I’m glad they’re on our team. That’s a matchup I wouldn’t want to play against. They’re all so skilled, they all think the game very well. They’re always in the right position, they’re always making plays happen. I think their hockey IQs is what allows them to have the success they have. Bergy as a center man, he’s always in the middle. He’s always that kind of safety valve, when he’s out there I’m confident we’re going to be alright and we’re going to be playing in their zone. They get good possession when they get set up in the O zone so it makes our lives easier having a line like that and they came through again tonight with some big goals and just like every night they’re huge for us.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN ZDENO CHARA On what the key on defense was tonight… Yeah, they had a good lineup, pretty deep and obviously a lot of speed, a lot of skill throughout the lineup. We were just trying to focus on our job and skate and have good gaps and takeaways obviously, as much as we could from that line. Keep them on the outside, you know, they got some chances but not the ones that they probably wanted so you know, it was a tight game pretty much the whole game until the end. I mean, good for us, we battled hard and it’s been a tough stretch the last couple of weeks and it’s nice to get a little break.

On if he adopts a different mentality after a one goal lead… I mean, a lot of games are close. You know, the final result might be 2 or 3 goals in the end, but throughout the game you’re going to see that there is a span of the game where it’s really tight and that’s where the game is either going to be the breaking point for you and you’re going to score or you’re going to give up a goal. So you know, we tried to really focus and not give up that goal to the other team and keep them off the score sheet and really take care of that defensive part of the game and wait for the other team to crack before we do. So stay patient and stick with the system usually works well for us. So you know, you’re not going to see many games that you’re going to score five, six, seven goals. It’s going to – you know – but it’s a tough league and it’s tough to win that way. Sometimes you’re going to see a one or two goal difference in the end.

On if he meant to slide the puck back to Tuukka Rask… Yeah, yeah, I knew he didn’t have full control and it’s going to happen – you’re going to have to make that save occasionally and that was the time that I did and also times Tuukka [Rask] does have control of that area but I was obviously trying to let him know that the puck was underneath him so he didn’t have to move much and put it probably, maybe, in the back of the net. But he did a good job not to move and we got a whistle. So yeah, it’s my job.

On how much energy creativity from forwards give a team… Well, he’s [David Pastrnak] is a skilled player and he’s got a lot of moves in his pocket. You know, when there is time – and he obviously has all the green lights to show the skill and to show his moves. You know, there are times when he has to keep it simple and that’s what we ask of him. When there is a time to use it and then nobody is going to say a word. But there are obviously some times when he has to realize there’s you know, a simple play to make. So yeah, it’s nice to see that he is capable of going through people and making those moves and making more openings for other players. And he’s got, obviously, a great shot, great heads, and when he works it’s great, we’re happy for him.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD DAVID BACKES On if he got any sleep the last two nights… I got about four hours two nights ago and about three hours last night. After what I saw my wife go through birthing that baby, I figured I could come on a few hours of sleep earlier today and get it done. So quite a 24 hours for us here and good little family time for the holidays. Looking forward to it and two points in a game here, another great win by our team. It’s been a good stretch and we are going to enjoy the holidays.

On if he assisted on the delivery… You’ll have to ask my wife how well I did but I felt like I was involved and trying to help her through contraction and got a healthy baby boy out of the deal and couldn’t be happier. A very proud moment for us.

On what has been the common denominator in the recent wins… I think my words probably is adaptation. From different guys in the lineup each night. Butchy [Bruce Cassidy] has kind of toned in his style maybe a little bit from – I don’t want to say it was run and gun but more wide open when he first took the helm. But I think guys – it fit. I think going into the playoffs he kind of realized, to win on a regular basis, especially to win in the playoffs you need to have your identity and your pillars in place and firm going into the playoffs. So those types of mantras of, make a play when its there certainly, because we have good players, but if it’s not good, we can’t try too many plays at the blue line. Teams are going to burn us. We have to get pucks behind defenseman and go get them. Credit to a lot of the skill guys who would love to make those plays every single time. They’re putting some pucks in, we’re getting forechecks going. Tonight was maybe a little departure from that. Give Detroit a little credit. They were up in our face. They weren’t giving us a ton of time in the neutral zone. And from that, we were turning a few more pucks over than normal but Tuukks [Tuukka Rask] was fantastic and other than the shorthanded goal, it was outstanding performance I think from him. We made a few plays in front of him, enough to get a win here.

On what Christmas will be like in his household this year… Probably a little less sleep than the last one with the new baby, but plenty of time with my now two kids. I have my in-laws in town to help – a couple extra hands. Time at home, 72 hours with just the family, home-cooking and enjoy the season. Get to church and all the other things that we do as a family that really brings you back to when all this hockey stuff – which has been fantastic to us – is done, what’s still going to be left? And that’s our family unit and that’s what we rely on to keep us grounded and be very blessed like we are.

On if the break is coming at a good time… I think a little. Another hole in the schedule of three-days to maybe rest up some bodies, but not get too far detached because we have had a good thing going here and we need to keep this feeling that – I said before the stretch happened that when you’re feeling it and you’re playing well, these stretches aren’t terrible, you don’t have to practice, you’re not practicing as much but you keep that good feeling going from game to game and you are able to kind of pick up where you left off. And we are finding ways to win on a regular basis and three days, we’ll rest the bodies but we need to bottle this feeling up of dialing it in for each other and making sure that we are sacrificing ourselves so that our teammates can have success. And we’ve been doing a lot of that, translating to win and we’ll take the rest.

On Marchand gving him the puck after his assist… He did steal that. I was wondering why he was grabbing it. I thought maybe he had scored – I don’t known he got his two-hundredth earlier so I don’t know what the accolade but I think it was my first point with the new baby and I do appreciate that and we’ll find a special spot for that in his new room. That’s still a long ways away, furnishing a room. I didn’t think about that until right now so add that to the list.

On the Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak line… We have three really good players. Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] is about as good a 200-foot player as there is in the league. Can obviously score goals but defensively – I knew he was good coming to the team but when you watch him on a nightly basis, he’s always in the right spot. He never is out of position and he’s always hard on the puck when it’s around him. From that, Marchy gets to open up his offensive side of things. Pasta [David Pastrnak] does the same thing and Pasta is certainly a very special offensive talent. March [Brad Marchand] just as well. Marchy maybe helps a little more on the defensive side of things but they’re a pretty special combination when they are together. They play power play together so they get a lot of that commonality. They get the consistency and they produce. We love having that. I don’t know what you do as a game plan to shut then down and hope someone is going to beat you with somebody else. They are also a matchup line that’ll play against another team’s best line but they’ll get the better of that matchup and that’s a nightmare I think for coaches.

BOSTON BRUINS GOALIE TUUKKA RASK On what has been the biggest difference for him over the past month… Nothing. Well, got rid of the [bad] bounces. Finally they are going our way a little bit. I feel the same. I think we are playing such a good team defense that it helps my job a lot. The quality of the chances we give up is a going down and we don’t make it too hard on ourselves defensively, so there it is.

On if there is more communication now… No, I think we figured out our D-zone coverage a lot. We are not running around. Everybody is doing their job and it’s very clear out there. Teams are going to get chances and shots but we don’t break down as easily so it looks better.

On how confident the team is… We are confident. I think we are building. We are trying to trend upwards all the time. Get better. And the last month I think it’s been really good. We’ve been finding ways to win. We haven’t played our best every night but we find ways to win and I think that’s the sign of a good team. You look previous – some of the previous years, we had a lot of these tight games in the third period and we just didn’t take over. But nowadays we just find ways to get that goal and then take over the game and play solid defense after that. That is a big difference there and I think that has played a huge part in the past month.

On Chara saving a goal… Yeah, I lost it. He’s just yelling don’t move, don’t move. I was doing spin-o-ramas there so he made a great play.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD PATRICE BERGERON On playing a lot of games recently… It’s been a pretty busy schedule. We knew that was going to come at some point because we hadn’t had a lot of games and we had a lot of games to catch up. We did a good job. We said that we were going to be able to settle down and rest for a few days during Christmas and now we’re here. So hopefully we can do that.

On Ryan Spooner’s contributions during David Backes’ absence… He’s been great. That line has been creating a lot of things and making a lot of good plays. When he plays like that and moves he’s feet, it creates a lot things. Because he’s so smart with the puck. It’s tough to be aggressive on him, because if you do, he might catch you and he’s going to find someone. He’s been playing well.

On how David Backes did on short rest… First of all, we’re so happy for him. It’s definitely an amazing moment for him and his family and we’re really happy. It means a lot to us to see him, for him to show up and play that game. It’s not easy, we know that. And I’m sure he was really tired and had other really important things on his mind. He did a really great job.

On what the key has been to the recent winning form of the Boston Bruins… I think everyone is contributing. We’ve had some guys go in and out of the lineup. And whoever has been called upon to have more responsibility, has done so. It’s been great, it’s been a fun ride and we got to keep that going. I think that the young guys are doing a tremendous job to be ready and to do the job and to help us win games. And hopefully, us as older guys, we can help them get more comfortable, feeling better and learn from us. We’ve got a good mix. It’s been fun.

On why the young guys have been able to do so well, especially in one-goal games… I think their character, their attitude. They want to learn, they want to be better. You’re going to see them make an average play and you know the next time, they’re not going to make it again. They learn really quickly. Bruce [Cassidy] is doing a really good job of making them accountable as well. And teaching them. So far it’s been great.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD BRAD MARCHAND On David Backes playing tonight… Yeah, it just shows the character of him and what he’s willing to battle through. I mean, he didn’t sleep all night – the last couple nights – so the fact that he came out and had such a big game is awesome. And obviously a huge congratulations to him and his family and we’re all very excited for him. So it’s a great feeling for him to have the win and obviously a beautiful baby boy going into break and a few days to spend with the family.

On if he grabbed the puck after for David Backes… Yeah, yeah it was for him. So, pretty cool thing to have.

On if winning the last four makes the holidays more special… It does, yeah. It’s always good to go into a break feeling good and on a little streak but we can’t get too ahead of ourselves. We have to make sure when we come back we’re playing the same way.

On the pass Zdeno Chara sent to him for one of Patrice Bergeron’s goals… Yeah, it was a great pass. He’s a great player, he makes a lot of great passes like that so it’s nice to – any time you get an open net like that it’s fun.

On his pass to Patrice Bergeron… Yeah, it was more of a better shot than a pass. He one-timed it in stride and really didn’t give the goalie a chance to get over there so a great shot by Bergy [Patrice Bergeron].

On what makes his current line so good… It’s because we have a little bit of everything. Pasta [David Pastrnak] obviously has a ton a skill and makes a lot of good plays and Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] is so good defensively he creates a ton of turnovers and then he’s unreal offensively too and creates opportunities and he can score goals from anywhere. You know, we just handle the puck. I think that’s our biggest asset – we recover a lot of pucks and get a lot of second opportunities when teams are cheating so I think that’s probably the biggest thing.

On if he thinks this is as good of a line as he’s ever had… Yeah, I think we’re – we’ve played together for a while now and we’re definitely finding that chemistry. You know, they’re both incredible players so yeah, it’s definitely a good line.

DETROIT RED WINGS HEAD COACH JEFF BLASHILL On the game today… Well I mean it’s obviously an even game and they found a way to make one more play than us. We got to find a way when we get back from Christmas here, these games, it’s every night like this, same thing on Wednesday, it’s a tie game in the third and they make a play on the rush. Same thing tonight, they make a play on the rush, we need to find a way to make a play to make the difference in the game.

On if the team had enough push tonight… Well I thought we pushed. You know I thought that the first period wasn’t good enough, we bogged ourselves down too much, obviously a bad penalty but I thought in the second and third we pushed, even to the end there I thought we had pushed. They defend well, they do a great job in that way, they’re well coached and they have good defenders so it’s not easy ice at all. Again we had opportunities, we had a 2 on 1, and you got to make a play on those opportunities.

On if the team made it hard enough on Tuukka Rask… Not as hard as we would have liked to. You know I thought we fought for the net, I thought we had net presence but again I think part of it is that they are a really good defending team too. They do a good job, some of their big guys are keeping you away from the net and some of their smaller guys are good puck movers so they have a good combo.

On if he is sensing any frustration amongst the team… I mean you know when you end games like this you’re frustrated 100%. We’ll be frustrated when we wake up tomorrow morning but we just have to make sure that all frustration can do for us is burn inside your gut a little bit so that you’re more even, more determined, you can’t let it cloud your judgement, you got to find a way to come back against New Jersey and play just a little bit better.

On keeping the confidence up on the team… Yeah you know I’m with you, I believe that [we are poised for a run] but we got to do it, our guys have to believe it. You know so far I think our guys have kept the belief up to a good level, I haven’t seen a drop in that belief but that’s certainly my job in the end that as we come back here from Christmas we’re going to have to make sure that we can continue to get our guys come and play extremely hard and when we get into these games and it’s tied we have to find ways to win them.

DETROIT RED WINGS FORWARD HENRIK ZETTERBERG On the game tonight…. Pretty tight. I thought they maybe had the edge in the first period. I thought we had the second one and it was tight all the way through the third. They get that second goal that was just huge for the game. I thought that we had our chances too to get that one but we couldn’t.

On the team being frustrated… Probably before Montreal. That is something that is a trend that we have to find a way to change. You’re right, I think tonight we did a lot of good things, probably want a little bit more out of our power play. I thought the penalty kill was good, not a lot of chances against a team like this and I don’t think that they had many chances either. It was a tight, well-structured game and you have to score on your chances.

On what the team need to do to finish one or two more chances… Yeah, work more on it. We’re working on it in practice, we’re talking about it, and we know what we have to do. Some nights we’re really good at scoring when we get our chances but tonight we didn’t have many, or that many, grade-A chances but we had chances and unfortunately we couldn’t find a way to get the puck behind their goalie.

On the play of Tuukka Rask… Yeah he’s been playing good. We knew that too coming in that he was a hot goalie so I think in the first period we didn’t get a lot of shots through them too but I think from the second on we bettered that and there were some pucks lying around there that we tried to get to but unfortunately we couldn’t.

On if the team is concentrating on the standings… We all know the magnitude of this game, standings wise, so that’s hard to be on the losing side. Now we have three days here for Christmas and we’ll go back at it afterwards.

DETROIT RED WINGS GOALTENDER JIMMY HOWARD On the positives that they can take away from this game… You know I think we played hard, after a little bit of slow start, sloppy first, we got it together but we’re just finding a way to not win games right now.

On if he feels the sense of urgency from the team despite the results… Yeah I mean I think we are doing a lot of good things out there, we’re just not getting results. We’re working on it, every single day we’re working on it in practice but for some strange reason, we’re not getting the results right now.

On overcoming the team aspect of not getting the results they want… Just continue to work hard and continue to work for your bounces. That’s all you can do.

On how the results are affecting the team mentality… You can’t let it frustrate you. You got to keep playing well. We have been playing well as a team as of late, we’re just not getting the results every single night that we want.

On if the team is concentrating on the standings… It’s hard. These games for us right now are must win. We have to find ways to get the points and that’s all it boils down to.

On the team seemingly finding ways to lose… Yeah I mean they’re so tight out there and just you know if we get one bounce here or there to go our way and you know it could be a different story.

On how the team stays focused… We have to take it one game at a time. We can’t try to string four together right away, you got to take it one and then just build on it.

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY PREGAME AVAILABILITY On today’s lineup… [Riley] Nash and [Ryan] Spooner are in, so obviously [Colby] Cave is out and [Frank] Vatrano is out. The D is the same. Tuukka [Rask] in net.

On if David Backes is playing today… [David] Backes is here, he’s in, yeah.

On if the last game before Christmas is a hard game for teams to focus on… Harder for the home team I think, I’ve found in the past. Going into the break, they can get right out of here and get going with their plans. The traveling team has to get home no matter what, so that’s just us musing here, for lack of a better term. I don’t know how accurate that is or not, that’s just my feeling. So, we’ve got a veteran group in there, I know that sounds funny with six or seven rookies, but enough veterans in there to keep the guys focused for the next three hours. So we’ll see how it works out.

On some of the rookies learning how to deal with an NHL schedule… Well, I mean, Jake [DeBrusk] would be used to it coming out of junior, and then playing a full year in Providence, and I think maybe that has something to do with why he’s bounced back well with a couple of outings where he didn’t see as much ice as he wanted to or whatnot. It’s a little bit newer for Charlie [McAvoy] and Anders [Bjork], although Charlie had a long year, I think it was last year, he was at a lot of different teams, and he’s a big, strong kid. That’s part of it, too. What’s your physical makeup? There’s always going to be the mental part, but can your legs and body carry you through the mental part, where maybe you’re not as sharp. There’s a lot that goes into it, and I think every guy handles it a little bit differently, but it’s there for a reason. People talk about it for a reason. So, I do believe it exists, and how quickly you can get through it is important, and how much responsibility then do you give those players when they’re going through it. It’s up to us to recognize it, and back off a little as well. There’s a lot of things that go into it. I think this would be the first kind of kick at it now, it’s probably later in the year we’ll see it again.

#12/23/17#