Post Game Press Conference Transcripts from Vancouver and San Jose after Game One of the WCF

Here are the complete transcripts of Vancouver and San Jose's post game press conferences after game one of the Western Conference Finals. Ryan Kesler, Henrik Sedin, and Max Lapierre spoke for Vancouver while Coach Todd McLellan spoke for San Jose.

Make the jump to see the transcripts from NHL Media Services...




2011 WCF - Vancouver Post-Game 1 Transcipts - (Kesler, H. Sedin, Lapierre) - 5.15.11

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Henrik and Ryan, you guys have talked about how you played pretty well, but you haven't got a lot of points. Did it feel good for you and Dany to produce offensively?

HENRIK SEDIN: Yeah. I mean, it's good to score goals and produce. That's tough to do in the playoffs. I think a lot of games we played well, we had our chances. But pucks haven't gone our way. Tonight we started out being minus one after the first two. That's a tough start. But we battled back.

RYAN KESLER: You know, those guys always lead by example. They were playing well for us, they just weren't getting the bounces. It all evens out in the end. I couldn't be more happy for Hank to score that goal. He's been working hard, doing all the right things. For him to finally get one, it's good.

Q. Max, talk about your line's contribution.

MAX LAPIERRE: Yeah, I think those two lines are huge for us every night. It's fun that we're contributing tonight. We tried to keep it simple: put the puck deep, cycle the puck. That was a big goal.

HENRIK SEDIN: It gives us huge momentums in games where we can throw those guys on the ice, they're buzzing around. For them to get a goal tonight, playing the way they did, it's great to watch. I mean, it's guys that work extremely hard, so fun to watch.

RYAN KESLER: Yeah, those guys were unbelievable tonight. When you can throw that line out there and they play in the offensive zone all night, that wears the D down, that makes them really, really hard to play against. Those guys were great all night tonight. It's been one of the best games I've seen that line play.

Q. Max, on your goal, it came early in the second after San Jose scored. Did you feel that was a particularly important time to score from a momentum standpoint?

MAX LAPIERRE: I think every line is thinking that way. We want to stick with the game plan, wait for our chances to have a goal. It was a great play by my winger, so I just have to tip it in.

Q. On gaining momentum in the second half of tonight’s game

RYAN KESLER: I just think we finally found our legs. We were a little rusty in the first period. I thought we played well, but I think second and third period we found that extra gear and we continued. We forced them and we put a lot of pucks on the net. We generated most of the offense.

Q. On the pressure to perform

HENRIK SEDIN: We rarely read the newspapers or watch the hockey coverage on TV. I mean, we come to the rink. We know when we're not playing well. We don't have to hear that from anyone else. There have been games where we haven't been happy with our performance. There's been other games where we've been happy with the way we played.

Still, a few of those games we've ended up being minus a lot in the game. That doesn't help in the coverage. But, like I said, we're a group that doesn't really get bothered by that stuff. Everyone has been positive in the room. That's been helpful.

Q. Ryan, what have you heard?

RYAN KESLER: To be honest, I think we're all used to it. We're a close?knit group in there. We have each other's back. No one plays a great 82 games. It's pretty much impossible.

You know, playoff, for Hank's defense, he's been playing really well. I think some of that negative energy has been directly wrong at him obviously. They're here to produce. Sometimes the puck doesn't go in the net. I've gone through stretches, too. I've had that negative energy drawn at me, too.

I was really happy to see him get that one. You know, he played extremely well for us tonight and he won us the game.

Q. (No microphone.)

RYAN KESLER: Yeah, I think so. Obviously, there was an unlucky goal there at the end of the first. You know, we didn't play our best, but we still generated chances. We still threw a lot of pucks at net. That's motivating when you don't play your best and you're still getting chances like that.

We just fed off that. We continued to get better. I thought as the game went on, we continued to get better and better. It's a good sign. We need to keep getting better.

Q. Henrik, you haven't missed many games. How long have you played over the years through injury and when you're not 100%? Do you let it affect your standards?

HENRIK SEDIN: Well, I can't really remember all those games. But it hasn't been too many times. Of course, it's not nice when you're not feeling 100%. That happens to everyone. It's a tough sport, and that's what you have to battle through.

You still have to have high standards. I mean, otherwise, if the other guy plays 80% or 90%, he might as well sit in the box. My thing, if you're out on the ice, you should be a 100%.

Q. You are not the schedule makers, but you have to wait till Wednesday to play another game. Is that in your favor?

HENRIK SEDIN: I don't think it matters. There's been a lot of talk about sitting and waiting or playing every second night throughout the whole playoffs. You look at Detroit. They had a lot of time off before their second round. They lost three straight to start the series.

We're professional hockey players. We prepare the same way if we play one game in 10 days or two in three nights. It's not going to change.

Q. Is it an advantage for the home team, though?

MAX LAPIERRE: Every game is the same. You just have to find a way to find a way and get ready. Doesn't matter if you play one every 10 days or one every night.
                       
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2011 WCF - San Jose Post-Game 1 Transcripts - (Coach McLellan) - 5.15.11

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. (No microphone.)

COACH McLELLAN: No, we didn't. That was the momentum changer, the frantic flurry, if you will, about three minutes left in the second. They were coming pretty hard at that point. We wanted to get into the locker room and recover a little bit. We didn't have any in the third.

I thought our team looked tired, sluggish. There's nights when we lose our legs, but our minds are still pretty sharp. I didn't think that was the case tonight. It started with the ears and worked all the way through the body. We were like dogs chasing cars down the freeway. We weren't catching anybody. We put the puck into very poor spots.

They eventually beat us at the type of game we wanted to play. They laid it in behind, they won a lot of races, they sustained offensive zone time.

We got to find a way to get energized as a hockey club. That starts with the mental part of it first. Come back and play better in Game 2.

Q. (Question regarding the Sedins.)

COACH McLELLAN: They're Henrik and Daniel. One was the most valuable player in the league last year, one was supposed to be the most valuable player in the league this year. Do we worry about them? Absolutely.

I told our group prior to the game there's a lot of focus on Ryan Kesler and deservingly so. Two, three guys we really needed to focus on was that line.

I don't know what happened in the Nashville series as far as their chances and opportunities go. We watched a little bit on video. But I know we have a ton of respect for both of them. They showed it tonight.

Q. Todd, why do you think your guys were tired? Does it have anything to do with playing a seven-game series?

COACH McLELLAN: I'm sure that has something to do with it. We talked about being fresh and being mentally ready to go. I thought for 37 minutes we were able to skate. We needed to get a couple more opportunities to go in for us. Basically what happened, I thought the team that potentially was rusty, because they hadn't played for a while, found their legs while we lost ours.

When you look at the route we took to get here, they had a few days off. We had an emotional, taxing game. You know we're lucky enough to be playing. We got to get better, energized and ready for Game  2.

Q. Coming into the series, Vancouver's top two lines received a lot of attention. It was Vancouver's third line that really gave, scored a big goal.

COACH McLELLAN: Both teams are built quite similar. We talked about this this morning with anybody that was here.

I believe that both coaches rely on three lines immensely, that all nine of those forwards on each team are capable of contributing. They got good nights from their third line. It's a very evenly matched, evenly built series, if you will, the way the teams are built.

They did a good job.

Our third line was adequate but obviously not good enough.

Q. Do you pick a couple of things that started to work better? Do you see the power-play working as well as the one you scored as a starting point for some confidence?

COACH McLELLAN: I wasn't disappointed with our penalty kill either. We understand how dangerous they are. They have a lot of different looks, different units. I thought our penalty kill did a pretty good job.

Power-play got us a goal. So the special teams, not overly concerned with. Obviously we're going to be sharper and better in those areas. I'm a little more concerned about the five-on-five play, certainly the last 23 minutes of the game, the lack of energy. When I say 'energy,' I'm talking mental energy. We didn't put the puck to the right area. We didn't give ourselves a chance.

Q. Could you talk about the lineup change you made tonight on both ends, Huskins in for Demers, also focus on Kyle Wellwood.

COACH McLELLAN: We're in a business where players move around. Each organization gets to make decisions on the pieces they want to keep, the pieces they feel are effective.

Kyle Wellwood has been a very effective piece for us. We're happy to have him. We think he can be somebody that can help us get to where we want to go.

It doesn't work for everybody in every city. It doesn't mean they're not good players. Again, we're happy with Kyle Wellwood. Did he have his A game? I don't know. There was 19 others that didn't quite have their A game either.

Lineup change with Jason Demers, obviously Husky went in and I thought he played a pretty honest game. We'll see what we do for Game 2.

Q. Was Demers an injury?

COACH McLELLAN: He's bumped and bruised, just like everybody else.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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