Posting some cliff notes:
Sweeney
- I feel comfortable quickly naming Butch as the head coach. Vets and young kids responded well. Staff did a good job
- We need to be a deeper, more talented team and the onus begins right here in this chair. Taking one step forward is a good step but it's not successful. A lot of work to do in a lot of areas. Younger players need to grow and if they're not good enough they need to be more prepared and will spend more time in Providence.
- Lots of decisions to make, expansion draft planning to go over with.
- Important step to make the playoffs this year, especially for the younger players.
- Bruce did a good job turning up the pace from day 1
- Middle part of lineup needs more consistency and be better at. Top line is one of the best in the league. Krejci should be commended for playing 82 games after surgery but started off slow. Transitional puck play is an area they want to improve at. Backup goaltender needs to be better. Lots of strain on the team early in the year, but Anton and Butch should get credit for turning it around at the end
- Staff did a very good job and will stay as is and will look to add to it. Already received some interest from people ( in terms of staff additions )
- RFA/UFA group: No decisions yet. We have an idea with expansion going forward
- Last few years we've identified guys who we feel can grow with us. Putting young players in the lineup just because they're young is not the right thing to do. They have to push other players out of a job.
- Ryan Spooner: TBD as far as his future with the team is. He struggled down the stretch. Playoffs was tight and it was a battleground to win.
- Buyouts are always a tool but no firm decisions
- The team was well prepared every night with Bruce. Teacher of the game
- Pasta had a great season but the playoffs are a next step up in challenge and it was his first experience at it.
- Morrow did a very good job for us playing 20 minutes a night in the playoffs
- Bruce signed a multi year deal
- Rask: Tremendous start to the year. Rode him too hard in the middle of the season. Finished on a high note. Injury problems he battled through and once he got some rest came back as a better player
- Not sure but are leaning to 7/3/1 for the expansion draft
- Backes: Player interviews, players said what an impact he was in the locker room. Got off to a great start. Couple of injurues set him back. Backes told him he was overwhelmed with the move to Boston and the differences of being somewhere new. May stay at wing but provides that depth at center too.
- Scott Bradley will oversee the draft again.
- Chara: no discussions yet as far as contract. Had a very good year. Loved the mentoring role. Elevated his play in the playoffs, but played more than what we wanted him to play. Invaluable in the matchup role but father time catches us all. We'll continue to have discussions and won't doubt he can still play at a high level beyond this year.
- Backes: Bruce will dictate if Backes is a center or wing. Advantage of ours that he can play multiple positions well.
- Nash and Moore fit in real well and were great penalty killers for our team.
- McAvoy and Bjork will be on team usa. Pasta team czech
- Bjork: He has not decided what he wants to do. Team wants him to come here but it's Bjork's call.
- Bergeron: He'll take time to decide about surgery. Same with Rask. Vatrano will have his foot looked at. KMiller needs tests on his shoulder and bicep. No surgery for Krug. McQuaid doesn't need surgery, just time.
- backup goaltending: zane came up and had a couple of games where he thought he has it but then would slip. anton still in the mix and how he played down the stretch is the goalie we need. Patience with the development of the young kids but they're very aware that it's been an issue the past couple of seasons.
Bruce
- Thankful and proud to be with the team he followed since he was a boy. Core vet leadership gave him the opportunity to earn their respect and he can't thank them enough.
- 14 years since Washington and he's grown as a person and as a coach. Being part of Providence and seeing the '11 team from the sidelines really helped integrate himself to the culture again.
- I was given an opportunity and it was my job to be prepared. I've been around since training camp so I already had an idea of player's strengths and what they needed to work on. Talked about right away upgrading the transition game and attack faster - our description of what it means to playing fast. We can start day 1 now in training camp. We'll have player exit interviews and see what they have to say in their opinion on how to get better
- My job to get them to be better players ( Hayes, Beleksey ). Hayes was a -12 when I took over and he got back to even. Didn't bring the offense but contributed in other ways. Went with a forechecker presence in Stafford than Hayes. With Beleskey, there's a challenge. We made a commitment to him as a player. Needs to get back to the player he was. Sat him down after the year and told him he needs to be ready to go from day 1 physically and conditioning wise. Clearly we need more from them
