Yesterday afternoon, Predators' head coach Barry Trotz met with the media about an hour after it was determined that the Preds would open against the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on Wednesday. Here is the full video of the presser.
Here are some of the key comments and thoughts from Trotz about the series...
On the Ducks line of Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan, and Ryan Getzlaf...
"When you think about Anaheim, you think about the big line... They've also got Selanne and Koivu who are dynamic players so we're going to have to bring a good team game."
On Corey Perry specifically...
"In the last few months, he's been as good as anybody. If I had a vote he'd be my MVP."
On who the Preds wanted to face...
"I got a question yesterday, who'd you rather play? It doesn't mater, they're all good teams."
On Anaheim's top versus Suter and Weber...
"That's obviously the big storyline. It's not just Sutes and Webbs it's the five guys on the ice and obviously our goaltender will have to play as good as he has been."
On the acquisition of Mike Fisher...
"If we don't make the Fisher deal, we don't get in the playoffs. Before last night, we had to go 14-3-3 just to get in."
On Erat's availability for game one...
"I am expecting him (back), hopefully we go in and Marty's OK. That's a big hole (filled) for us there."
Was there disappointment in not getting home ice advantage...
"We've been home for a long time. We were road weary in January and February so we haven't done much traveling lately."
The main thing he has learned in past playoffs...
"Momentum swings are huge and how it affects your psyche and your ability to deal with it."
On high scoring games with the Ducks during the regular season...
"In the playoffs, more so than the regular season, you'll have guys have a lot more detail to the defensive side of the game."
On match-ups during the playoffs...
"The playoffs are about adjustment, and they aren't always big adjustments. Sometimes they are subtle adjustments. They're match-ups, changes in reads through the neutral zone, on the forecheck... teams have tendencies, how teams are breaking out, those type of things can make a big difference sometime."
On familiarity between Goalie Dan Ellis and the Predators and who would have the advantage...
"You'd have to ask him (Ellis) that. For some of the guys it will be for us and for some it will be for him. There's some guys that know him pretty well and may have had success against him and there's some guys that he knows well and has had success against. It's probably a mutual question where it works out 50-50."
On home ice advantage in the playoffs...
"You don't have as big of an advantage as in the past when the rinks were a little different like the Boston Gardens. The rinks are all the same. The atmosphere and intensity are the same for both teams. Some teams get more energized at home. We're one of them. We've had a good home record."
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
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