BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH JIM MONTGOMERY…
On if the [Jeremy] Swayman contract situation…
“I mean, at the Bruins we always control what we control…who the players are here and how we're going to handle that is very similar to an injury, you know, it's next man up.”
On if there is a fear that this could affect the locker room…
“Right now, no. There’s not a fear of that because right now we're focused on training camp, getting ready for game one in Florida and the process. We’ve got a lot of day to day things that we’ve got to focus on right now and how we're going to get better… which is our pace, our execution, our second and third effort on pucks that… we’ve got a lot of turnover in our lineup, you know, second year in a row. And I thought our camp last year was really good, I think our camp has to be better in order to have a good start again, which is our focus.”
On the changes to personnel…
“Yeah, you look forward to the opportunity and allows you to move people around. You won't see a lot of movement…I don't expect to see a lot of movement the first three or four days, to be honest. But over the course it can, and seeing different people, wingers on different sides, you know, just to give us the flexibility of how people build minutes into their games and looking for some chemistry, offensive and defensive. Who's going to be able to fulfill roles that will allow us to have success.”
On how he’s been brainstorming lineups in his free time this summer…
“We got magnetic placements and we moved them around and we see what they look like and we take pictures of them a fair amount, to answer your question…But we’re not scribbling anymore.”
On how a lack of a contract extension would affect him going into the season…
“I don’t think it would affect me, just being honest. I love being a Bruin, I think I'm very fortunate to be a head coach of the Boston Bruins and my focus when I am the Boston Bruins [coach] is staying in the present and just getting better every day. I know it sounds cliché… but I can't allow myself to think about the future because I'd be a little bit of a hypocrite, because I'm asking our players to always stay in the moment. I have to stay in the moment. So that's the way I look at things. Doesn't matter if I had an eight-year contract or a one-day contract. That's the way I proceed. That's my process.”
On how he envisions this roster playing different than last year’s…
“Well, you know, I think what excites you is how we can be like a… we're hoping a dominant, physical, offensive team and we’ve got to see how that grows and how people relish their roles, and who thrives in certain situations. Just because you're big doesn't mean you're going to be big. I mean, the guy who is the best example of that is our Captain. He played really big and he's small, but he's one of the hardest players to play against, if not the hardest player to play against in the League. We need that kind of mentality is what we're looking for. And I think if we have that mentality, that our captain and a lot of players….that has kind of been the Bruins calling card for years, is that we're a second and third effort team, and we’ve got to build that camp so that our team gets that kind of…I don't think we had it enough consistently last year.”
On if that means he’s looking for the team to be faster and go harder this year…
“Yeah, and hanging on to the puck more, spending more time in the O zone. For our liking, we spent too much time in the D zone and not enough in the O zone last year as a team.”
On Don Sweeney stating that the power play was the Achilles in the second half of last season…
Yeah, I agree with him. You know, it slowed down in the second half of the year last year. I think with the additions that we've made, you know, having Elias Lindholm as another trigger man wherever he ends up playing. We think it's bumper, but it may not be. But just gives you another real smart hockey player that makes a lot of plays. It should lead to more face-off wins, better in zone play and better entrances. So, all those three facets of your power play should be improved, should lead to more consistency.”
On his thoughts on not having Jeremy Swayman with the team…
“You know, again, my focus is on team. I think Don [Sweeney] has answered those questions and has given you guys I guess quite a bit, from what you guys are telling me… it’s more than I expected him to give you. So, you know, I'm going to focus on the team and what we're doing here and moving forward the contract situation Sweens has talked about, and that's the way we're going to move forward.”
If he’s confident that the goalie room other than Swayman is here…
“Yeah, very much. So, I mean, you look at 22 years of goalie Bob's [Bob Essensa] history here, and it's pretty special. He does great work in getting our goaltenders ready, no matter who they are.”
On Brandon Bussi’s play last year…
“Yeah, I think what gives us confidence is he has the ability to make big time saves. We've seen that in Providence, we saw that here in that first exhibition game and that incredible save he made…But also it's his second and third effort. We talk about Bruins having that, and that's something that he has in the crease.”
On where the areas are for growth regarding the power play this year and how Elias Lindholm can help with this…
“Yeah, I think [Elias] Lindholm… first off face offs, we're going to have more end zone time I think right away with winning faceoffs, because he is… watching him in the summer the way he beat high end centers like [Leon] Draisaitl and [Ryan] O'Reilly on big draws in the playoffs… Speaks…you know, that got us excited about where we start with the power play. And then I just think he gives us more options on power play entries and in zone… makes us a lot harder…. If you leave him alone, he's going to score. So they're going to have to be aware of where he is now, so now you’ve got a lot more killer instinct in the power play and options that the penalty kill has to worry about.”
On the expectations for Matt Poitras…
“Well, first, let's see how he's doing getting acclimated again. You know, we're going to give him some runway here to get acclimated to practicing at the pace that we do, competing, second and third effort. You know, all those things he's going to have to go through to get the rustiness off at the beginning. So expect to see him in a fair amount of exhibition games. And you know, we're going to use him on right wing, we're going to use him at center. Where is he going to best be able to help and make him more most comfortable and give him the best opportunity to shine.”
On Georgii Merkulov and Fabian Lysell…
“I think most players, if you look historically, most players, spend a couple of years in the American League before they progress into the NHL. And I can see maturation in both of those guys about how they're comporting themselves as people and how they're walking around here. They're more comfortable in their skin. I think it's going to translate to how they are more comfortable in how they're playing. I think it's pretty clear that we're a puck possession team and we're a team that wants to win one on one battles. Those are areas that every young player… I don't want to use the word struggle… but that's an area where they always show the most growth. And for offensive players like [Georgii] Merkulov and [Fabian] Lysell, they need to have the puck on their stick. To get the puck on their stick, they’ve got to support pucks really well and they’ve got to win battles. That's how they increase their puck possession numbers. And when they do, they make plays. And they've shown that in Providence, and we're looking forward to them showing that here at camp.”
On the having a more competitive camp this year…
“I'm hoping to have a better camp than last year. I thought camp was good last year…But yes, with all the turnover we've had, it's two years in a row where we have a lot of turnover. And I think a lot of the additions we made should make us a better hockey team. How quickly that happens? That's the importance of camp.”
On if he’s anticipating any movements going into camp…
“We're going to see a couple, and you'll see them tomorrow, some of the people that we're looking at, but there's players that we purposely don't have where we think they're going to start just for the purpose of…what's most important is acclimating people to the Bruins culture and how we do things and how we do things the right way. And you need to separate your core veteran leaders in order to do that. And some of those are like [Trent] Frederic and [Morgan] Geekie taking on more roles. Like, it's just not the [Charlie] McAvoy’s, [David] Pasternak’s, [Brad] Marchy’s and [Charlie] Coyle’s of the world. There's other people that need to spread that web. So that's why you're going to see some that you're going to be like, okay, that could be a D pairing, that could be a line, and then you're going to be like, what's going on here? Well, it's just me thinking.”
On the next step for Trent Frederic…
“Yeah, well, Trent Frederic has become a very valuable member, and I thought his playoffs were excellent last year. I thought he took… his growth in the playoffs, he kind of did the same thing he did in the regular season. He was very important to our team. I think one year he had 17, last year he had 18 goals, or it might be vice versa. Nonetheless, he started to penalty kill more last year. We need him to continue to develop that… whether he plays center, right wing or left… you're going to see him at center during camp. You know, that's going to happen because he was so good down low in the playoffs last year defensively, he's a big body that can handle a lot of minutes because he's in great shape, he's incredibly fit. So you know, we're going to move him around to see where he's going to help the Bruins the most. We know he's going to help us on the wing and at center, it's just what gels together with his linemen.”
On Frederic’s play alongside Morgan Geekie’s and not worrying about where they are placed in the lineup…
“Yes, for a short answer, yes. We need more players to develop that. You know, we have that in Pavel Zacha… He can play center, he's going to start here probably on left wing, but we know we can move him back to center. You know, that's the kind of flexibility that allows players…if they can play left wing and right wing…It allows them to move around on lines, and allows us to be a little more flexible with our lineup.”
On if [Nikita] Zadorov can be a force in size and intimidation factor…
“He can be the some of that and a lot of that… and I think he's at the stage in his career where he knows what he is, and I think he's matured into the situation where he kind of relishes being that. Having an influence, having an impact in a game physically that allows our team to gain momentum. And I think he's going to really enjoy playing at TD Garden, I think that he’s enjoying it.”
On what Zadorov being present in the lineup does to the opposing team…
“Well, he probably tries to get certain players away from him. Sometimes that happens with the other coaches… You hold that player back, and usually it's a gifted offensive player. So that's where it helps us as a group, might be they're waiting for the see when Zadorov is going on so they can send their guy out.”
On Zadorov being paired with Charlie McAvoy and if this will change McAvoy’s offensive production…
“You know, Charlie [McAvoy] is so good. I think that Charlie can squeeze more offensive production out of anyone he plays…But I think it will give Charlie more time and space to be able to make more plays if it works as a pairing.”
On the offensive element to Zadorov’s game…
“Yeah, I think he's going to surprise you with his ability to make plays. And I'm not just saying like scoring goals, but making plays at the offensive blue line. His hockey sense and his brain is very good, it's a lot better than people give him credit for. And I think when he first came into the League, I think that was an area where he thought he would be a power play player. I think he knows now, and that's the maturation process that a lot of players…almost everybody goes through…unless you're a [Connor] McDavid that comes in or a [Sidney] Crosby that comes in…you're going to be what you are for many years. But for him, I think you'll be surprised how much he finds the middle and he makes subtle plays on breakouts and neutral zone that are going to make us our D core very diverse.”
On the effort to get Hampus Lindholm more involved offensively this season…
“Yeah, I think Hampus… We rely on Hampus for 200-foot hockey. When his offense comes…and last year, I know everyone believes his offense wasn't what it was before, but nonetheless, this is someone that helps us a lot every night. And he relishes being a shutdown guy, but he also knows he's a guy that we rely on to help generate our offensive engine go. And to answer your question, is he going to be put in situations to push that more, I don't think we need to do that, I think it's just going to organically happen because of how good he is.”
On if Charlie McAvoy will be back in the same role on the power play…
“We fully expect Charlie McAvoy to be the power play one quarterback back there. You know, he's still little bit in the infancy of his development as a power play quarterback when really I think this might be his fourth year or going into his fourth year, and two years ago was a little bit of a botched year because he was out for the first two months. The power play was going so well, so we didn't put him there right away, and at the end of the year in the playoffs when we lit up in the first round, real well… the power play… he was running it. And you know, last year again, he did a really good job in the playoffs running the power play. So he's going to run our power play, and I expect him just like… he knows he needs to pound more pucks, and that's going to open up elbows more, and it's going to open up more rebound chances and we look forward to his growth in that area.”
BOSTON BRUINS GENERAL MANAGER DON SWEENEY
Opening remarks…
“Hello, everybody, and welcome to training camp. I have three items that I'd like to address to you all. First, this is my first time being back in front of the media, and I hope everybody had a great summer. First and foremost, I want to give my heartfelt condolences to the Gaudreau family. I think the hockey world lost two great young men, and their families will be impacted forever. The hockey community again lost two special people. So, I think it's upon all of us to make sure that we don't lose sight of those things, even though we're moving forward with training camp and opening an exciting period of time. Second item is to congratulate Judd Sirott and Ryan Johnston to our broadcast teams. And thirdly, Jeremy Swayman will not be in attendance tomorrow on the ice. He has chosen to wait, and rightfully so, until a contract is settled. It’s our intention to continue to negotiate a contract. I'm disappointed that… when you set things as a priority in the general manager spot, you do your best to try and accomplish that, and I haven't been able to do that yet, but I will make everybody aware that some of the inconsistencies that have been reported are completely inaccurate, and I think that being representative of the Bruins… how we do business and try and keep things close to the vest and respect everybody's own privacy. I'll answer questions, but I'm not going to go into depth of the negotiations, of talks we’ve had. Because we're excited about the players who are here and they're looking to move forward. As I said, I'm disappointed. But at the end of the day, I'm optimistic, because I think we'll find a landing spot before December 1.”
On if contract negotiations will go through training camp…
“I'll continue to work every day. It's not unlike, you know, David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, and they've been longtime Boston Bruins. It's a process that seemingly every year there's a few players, and this is the year that we have one. But I have to continue to do my job. I have to respect the position that Jeremy and his camp has taken, and then continue to try and find common ground.”
On what gets players to sign during negotiations…
“Again, it’s been reported that… how incommunicative the Boston Bruins have been, and that's far from the truth. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a person, a general manager in a league, or anybody, that I'd spent three weeks not returning a phone call. So again, constant communication, dialog, finding common ground. It's no different, hopefully, no different in this case. It certainly was in all three players you just referenced that we wanted to find. I've said all along I wanted it to be a negotiated deal and not in an arbitration setting. And that's the goal.”
On the timeline of a Swayman deal getting done...
“I'm not going to be, you know, judgmental in terms of predicting when things come to come to a point of conclusion. I will say that every day that Jeremy is out, it hurts our team, and it hurts him because of preparation that we would like to do and he needs to do, but it's not going to stop from hopefully finding the common ground and getting done. I'm certainly not going to predict. I do believe that he'll be in before December 1st because we all want him to play hockey, and our team is better for it.”
On if trading for a veteran goalie was important…
“No, those things were not running in the same lanes. We identified trade opportunities and trying to improve our hockey club in the direction that we were going to go. As I referenced, both goalies came in and said they want to play 55 games next year. That's virtually impossible on the same team. So we made a decision to go that direction and negotiate a deal. We were always going to have another goaltender. We feel confident that Brandon Bussi is also in a position, that this training camp will be a very good opportunity for he and [Joonas] Korpisalo to work with Bob and for as long as Jeremy is out, other guys are going to get an opportunity.”
On positioning forward Pavel Zacha…
“Well, again, we lost two pretty important pieces to our franchise in [Patrice] Bergeron and [David] Krejci, and we pieced it together pretty well last year. And Pav [Pavel Zacha] was a big part of that. Charlie Coyle was a big part of that. [Matt] Poitras emerging, Freddy [Trent Frederic] going into play the middle, [Morgan] Geekie playing middle. Bringing [Mark] Kastelic and [John] Beecher. I think we have depth in the position to be able to move players around, as you just described. And I think Monty [Jim Montgomery] will be excited to see who connects and where the chemistry lies with whether that is Pavel Zacha, starting with those guys, which I believe he will with Elias [Lindholm] and David [Pastrnak] in a production role. He certainly enjoyed playing in that environment last year. I think he succeeded. It's a little less lifting from the standpoint of defensive zone starts taking face-offs, playing down low, but he's more than capable, so that means that he's first down, and the first guy down low for us takes position regardless. But I think there's an opportunity now for us to slide some players around and see where the chemistry lies and get production, because ultimately, that's what we're going to need.”
On whether Brad Marchand will be ready for the start of training camp…
“He will not start with the regular group. He's made a heck of a lot of progress. Last little while, you guys all know Brad will do everything possible to be out there and wants to be out there. Our training staff and doctors have put the reins on to make sure that he's… we're trying to get ready for the season. We're not concerned about day one for Brad. We're only concerned about opening night and moving forward and his full return to health.”
On whether Brad Marchand will be ready for opening night…
“Yeah, he's on track for it right now, minus any setbacks. We don't expect that.”
On if it was a goal to get bigger defensively…
“Ultimately, one of the most talented players you can find in every position. And the opportunity presented itself with Nikita [Zadorov] this summer. We felt it was a good fit for our hockey club and how we wanted to sort of slot players in. I referenced Mason in terms of where he may play, and he may toggle between different partners as would Hampus [Lindholm], and he does well, and Parker [Wotherspoon] did a really good job. Now you've got other players that are kind of slotted in. We have depth in our back end. The size, it wasn't the target, you know, just turn around and say let's go be one of the bigger groups back there. It's the byproduct of looking for a player that’ll fill a hole for us. And the other players that we brought in that have some size they have all skating ability. They’re able to forecheck and play the way [Jim Montgomery] wants to play and possess pucks. And hopefully, as I said, he'll produce at the level that we need him to.”
On second-line forward options…
“We referenced that [Pavel Zacha] may start up there. To me, I think [Jim Montgomery] is going to have the opportunity to play around with it a little bit. Clearly we would like to see a player emerge, as I said before, Beecher and Poitras are great examples last year of two players that pleasant surprise that we all hope for from the development path of where Adam [McQuaid] and I and the coaches down there all putting so much, so many hours to try and hopefully come to fruition, ultimately, that's what you want. Now, Tyler Johnson's here as well, an accomplished player, and that's what this league is about. It's just got to take somebody's job, you know. And you got other players that have accomplished an awful lot, and they want to retain it. And I think Danton Heinen did a fabulous job in that regard last year for us.”
On what they hope to get from Tyler Johnson…
“Versatility, experience, winning pedigree, production, skating component is still there. So we identified early on, and wasn't trying to be disrespectful to Tyler and his representatives in the fact that we weren't in a position to offer a contract, but we would be excited to have him as part of our group, and he just felt that the opportunity was there in a bona fide manner, and how it's presented, and we're excited to help.”
On what the expectations are this year for Matt Poitras…
“He is a full go. Excited to have him back. He's going to play both center and wing through camp. He caught us by surprise to some degree last year, and really until the injury was on target to stay with us. This year is a little different, where we have some options in terms of possibly playing some games in Providence. His goal is to make the team and pick up where he left off. It might take a little bit of time for him to get reacclimated and timing wise and such, we have a lot of camp. That was one of the reasons why he and [Georgii Merkulov] and Fabian [Lysell] did not participate in the rookie camp because we have an extended period of camp with seven games and black and gold game. So, I think there's really ample opportunity to put them in situations to see if they're going to be ready to handle a full load in the NHL and make our team.
On contract extension negotiations for Head Coach Jim Montgomery…
“There have been talks, and I think Monty will, I'm not going to speak for him, but I'm going to guess that he'll take Brad's line of, you know, keeping that between us. Yeah, there have been talks of an extension.”
On where he sees Fabian Lysell breaking into the lineup…
“I think Fabian will determine that. His one-on-one ability, his offensive attributes, I think, are pretty darn good, and he's been productive. As Ryan Mougenel would say, rounding out your game and being a reliable player and building a team game are all components of winning, and that's what our club requires to play. And he's got to buy into that, and he's also mature, so you got to hope that he can go in and compliment in any one of those roles that you described. I don't think he's a fourth line energy, penalty killing guy at this point in time this career. So that might be ill fitting, but the rest of the opportunity is right in front of him.”
On where this year’s team is better than the previous year…
“I believe that we can forecheck a little bit better. You know, we're a strong defensive team. Systematically I think we're pretty tight, but the more we can forecheck up the ice and certainly check further away from our net, whether that's the neutral zone as well and not when you defend. You defend all the time, which we didn't, but Florida does a good job. The team that won. Teams that are good and elite. They have a way of countering some of the things that you do. And you have to be able to play a different game at times. Edmonton changed their game in order to be successful in the playoffs. You have to be adaptable as a hockey club. You’ve got to be able to skate. Monty is going to preach the pace aspect of it. The players that I referenced, we brought in here can all skate, and we need to do that. Now you also have to have production, so our power play in the second part of the year was a bit of an Achilles for us. We need to get back online. We believe that Elias coming in and playing the bumper will help in that regard. Now, that means that Charlie [Coyle] and Morgan [Geekie], some of those guys, did a really good job, but we need to have our power play counted upon. The League, it’s not changing. Number of penalties each night, and we're not going backwards, so we're going to have to continue to rely on it. Now the playoffs, as the playoffs go along, if you're fortunate enough to continue to advance, penalty killing becomes paramount. And the power play becomes less of a factor on most nights. We've had good penalty killing. Joe [Sacco] does a great job there. We’re encouraging other players in that regard. Special teams are a big factor. We've been typically a very good team. As I said, the power play dropped off a little bit in the second half. We have to get back online with that. But I would hope that our team would check up ice a little bit better, and create a little more anxiety in that way, and allow our D to be involved offensively. And because production is going to be one of the things that we're going to have to preach and scoring goals, and you know, as Monty would say, possessing the puck and a playing team game”
On whether needs change based on the netminder…
“No, I think we played pretty consistently with either goaltender. Now, they were both good, and the team in front of them was good and defensively responsible, and now our D is even bigger. Hopefully it makes it continue to make it easier on goaltending. But no, we should not be adjusting our style of play as to what goaltenders are going to play.”
On how Joonas Korpisalo and Brandon Bussi maximize this opportunity…
“Well, that's certainly between Bob [Essensa]. Bob has areas that he's already broken down on. He's got a great book on Brandon [Bussi]. Brandon's been here, hasn't been in game, so that's the next level. You're going to want to prove it. Then you're going to have to go and prove it on that stage. And he's going to get a good opportunity, you know, given our circumstances, and Joonas [Korpisalo] is going to be able to, you know, build a rapport with Bob every day now and moving forward and tweak the parts of his game that he would like to see continue to improve, not unlike what he did with Linus [Ullmark] when he was brought in, not unlike what he was doing with Sway or Tuukka [Rask] or, you know, Timmy [Thomas] might have been a little different because he was on his own page, but he stopped a heck of a lot of pucks. So, you know, it's probably hard for Bob, but it's hard to argue with results.”
On why he thinks Joonas Korpisalo will have a better season…
“Again, the body of work, you know, talking to even Rob Blake in LA and when he was there, you know, obviously Bob and Mike Dunham did a good job breaking down when, you know, when Joonas was playing well, as opposed to when he wasn't. And hopefully the structure that we're going to provide in front of him will help him in some of those areas. You know, a few years ago, we did a study with Jaroslav Halak when he was coming in here, and, you know, some of the areas that we felt would improve when he got here, and Jaro did a good job. So we're confident that Joonas will get back to being a goaltender. I think that when you went to LA and certainly in stints in Columbus.”
On the success of Goaltending Coach Bob Essensa…
“Bob would probably say 20 years ago, he now relabels it the goalie excellence department. But we brought in Mike. Bob just has a unique style. I think he connects really well. Personality wise, he's had a lot of them to connect with. He’s got an unbelievable demeanor about him that there's a calmness, I think the goalies appreciate. He's played the position, had a lot of success, he's won, he's worked with Vezina goalies, three of them now. So I think there's that… I can back this up, you know, with what my goalies have done at the highest level. And I think that resonates with our goal.”
On if there’s pressure for Georgii Merkulov to get into the lineup…
“I don't feel the pressure in that regard. At the end of the day, the player is going to dictate whether or not he takes that role, and he can help us. Ultimately, I've said this time and time again. I really find it hard to keep yourself out of the NHL that you're a good player, because you know when, when things start to progress, the waivers and teams call, they'll force their way in when they're ready to play. Merkulov is right there knocking on the door. Adds another center to our mix.”
On if any other players will miss training camp due to injury…
“Alec Regula, who had off-season knee surgery, will be delayed for camp. And Jackson Edward just had an upper body injury that will take him probably maybe a week to 10 days. No definitive timeline there, but that's just a general indication as to what he needs.”
On what Jay Leach brings to the staff…
“Familiarity, from the standpoint of the organization, he's very comfortable coming back to the organization and knowing how we're trying to do things, and he's been an advocate of that, I think, the everyday touches that he'll have with every one of our D will be beneficial. You know, John McLean did a good job last year. We've had Doug Houda and Kevin Dean. We've had guys that have stepped into that role, have done a good job. I see Jay in a very similar way, obviously, went to another organization, the NHL bench. I think he brings a new perspective to that as well. You know, you're never going to outwork Jay in terms of how he approaches his daily life. And I think our guys will appreciate his ability to connect with them while trying to make them better, pushing them in every area of their game. And I think he'll complement our staff. We’re excited to have him back.”
On what he’s learned over the course of his time as GM…
“Haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about that one. Every day is a new challenge in terms of, you know, the team you try and put together, and the people you get to, you know, you're fortunate enough to work with in a terrific hockey market, like you're fortunate. So I treat it that way, challenges, that's what keeps you in the juice that you got a chance to put a team together. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, but the pieces are like live and they're moving around the table while you're trying to put them together. And, you know, that's the challenge. As a player, you get to go out and sort of work on that and fix it right away. And sometimes the wheel turns slower, and you have to communicate. You have to step back and evaluate and, you know, listen to everybody, you know bark at you for doing things right or wrong. You have to put the earmuffs on at times. I laugh because my son loves the spit up on yourself podcast. Yeah, I did that on purpose. I'll go back to the inaccuracies everybody's reported. And, you know, it's great entertainment. It's great entertainment. But the end of the day, you know, it's not a lot of fact checking going on. So that part of the business, you got to recognize the city is awesome for that, because they want their teams to win. You guys are covering it because you want them to win, not hopefully lose, you know, albeit it, writes a story that way too. But the end of the day, you're in it for the juice, you know, put the team together and try and win, and it doesn't work, they're going to kick you out at some point in time. So I've said that before, the shelf life is there. Don't know when it is just going to work my ass off to put the best team we possibly can. That's why I say you're disappointed, you know, in some regards, but excited in most of the others.”
On if there’s always been pressure on him as GM…
“100% I think you're spot on, like you should feel that. It’s professional sports, that's what your job is. You know, you're not going to win every year, but you got to strive to be competitive. Some teams made a different cycle, and they're building, you know, for what they hope to have a period of time, we've been trying to extend it in different ways. That's a great challenge. It's a great challenge as general manager. When you lose iconic players that we've lost in the last little bit, who replaces that? Those are great challenges. Look, I wake up every day, it's just how I'm wired. Okay, and now I have to wear glasses and I got gray hair. Of course, it happens all of us. But by the end of the day, I wake up every day motivated to try and put the best team on the ice. We're still falling short. Only one team wins, but we've been damn competitive. I expect this group, and I told them today, I said, you know, this group should be motivated. It should be exciting. There's a lot of good pieces in there and a core group of guys that would like to continue to win. And that's what's exciting.”
On inaccuracies reported during contract negotiations…
“Go ahead and ask your specific one you got knowledge of it. Like that we haven’t offered an eight-year deal, or we're not willing to compromise. We haven't moved on things. I'm not talking about specifics. You're not gonna get it. But you know, the fact I did reference one as a matter of fact, I think it's bullshit that somebody says I wouldn't return a call for three weeks. That's inaccurate. Was it written? Was it said? Was it written?... I will tell you. I listen to the podcast. As I said, my son loves Biz [Paul Bissonnette] and thinks he's fabulous. He's a great entertainer. Okay, at the end of the day, they're inaccurate, and that's okay, because that's all part of the business nowadays. It's okay if you turn around and say it's your opinion or your belief and such, but don't report it as fact. That's all. That's all I'm asking.”
On if the report that negotiations had ended were false…
“It's 100% inaccurate.”
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