Boston Bruins Vs St. Louis Blues
BOSTON BRUINS VS ST. LOUIS BLUES
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY
On the game plan and if the lineup will remain the same…
Well, a lot of Game 6 was well played. We want to be on top, forechecking well, good sticks, physical when need be. Use your foot speed, hockey IQ, whatever it takes to create those turnovers and put them under duress, both on the forecheck, neutral zone, D are up, good gaps. I think, breaking out the puck, we did a better job recognizing when we can get on it and wheel it, and when we had to sort of get numbers at the puck because they had a tight gap on our D where we couldn’t create separation. Obviously, you have to finish your plays when you have a chance, so I thought good discipline. We took a few penalties, but for the most part. As for the lineup, [Matt]
Grzelcyk got cleared yesterday, so he’ll be a game-time decision, but looks like he’ll go in.
[Connor] Clifton would probably come out, if that’s your next question. We’ve kind of discussed that internally about all three, sort of, options with John Moore in that mix, but that’s how it’s shaping up, but I guess we’ll see at puck drop how Matt is. He’s going to go out and skate this morning just to make sure.
On the season coming down to one game…
Yeah, well, it’s the business we’re in, right? Let’s hope it’s judged well. We’ve prepared to be in this spot, so has St. Louis. Unfortunately, someone’s got to lose, so we’re preparing to win, preparing to play the right way. We’ll see how it shakes out.
On if he thinks the team will be nervous at all…
Not overly. I think our guys are good right now. A lot different at puck drop obviously when there’s the energy in the building, but we’ve had guys that have been through it. That’ll help, but
I think it’s natural to have some level of nerves. It’s just human nature, but let’s hope we get through them in a hurry. Warm up will hopefully quell some of that. Once the puck drops, hopefully we’re right back into hockey mode, playing mode, focus, detail, execution. The quicker we get back to that part of it, the better off we’ll be.
On his legacy...
I haven't thought about it too much. I've answered questions about my first coaching gig in the NHL. It was a long time ago. I think those have been asked and answered. People grow as people;
I'm no different. As for your legacy I think that's judged down the road. I talked to players about that a lot this year when you start the playoffs, certain players over the years about how they're labeled. Probably talked to you guys about Torey [Krug] for example as an offensive defenseman how he always wanted to be talked about as a complete player and I think he's done that in these playoffs, he's shown he can defend against good players and still can keep up the offensive numbers. Brad Marchand how he entered the league as a bit of a pest and how he's grown into an elite player. We use that word around here, but I think it's for much later, so I haven't thought about mine personally. I just want my name on the damn Cup, that's what I want, and then you can talk about it however you want later on. On Matt Grzelcyk...
Well I think your adrenaline will carry it through. The one thing about Matt [Grzelcyk] if he does go in missing some games is he's been skating with us, it's not like he just jumped on the ice yesterday. He's been participating albeit non-contact so there's a little bit of a different animal there, but this time of the year you're not into a lot of contact in practice anyway so he's just going to have to understand because he did obviously live the first game and a half with St. Louis. He knows they're physical, he's been there, he's been watching, he knows he's got to get back in a hurry, make good decisions with it, take a hit to make a play if that's what's required, which usually is against this team because they're going to get there. So that's the challenge in front of him and we've had discussions with him about it and he'll be ready for it.
On officiating...
I said it before these officials are here for a reason, they're judged to be the best. I've voiced my opinion with some calls I've disagreed with, so I expect they'll be good. They'll call what they see tonight and hopefully it's a good clean game from them, hopefully it's a good game from both teams and like I said I just want our team to be the team that executes better. That's our goal tonight is to do the things you’re supposed to win the game, so I'm not worried about the officials at all.
ST. LOUIS BLUES HEAD COACH CRAIG BERUBE
On if Robert Thomas will be in the lineup and the decision to put in Joel Edmundson…
He’s not in the lineup tonight – Robert Thomas. Coach’s decision. Edmundson is playing for
[Robert] Bortuzzo.
On the reasoning for playing Edmundson over Bortuzzo…
The right side with two horses, we have [Alex] Pietrangelo and [Colton] Parayko. We just felt like there’s not a lot of time over there, ice-time wise, so we’re going to go with the four lefties.
On having Laila Anderson at the game with them…
It’s great. I think it’s great inspiration and obviously a great story, and we’re really happy about it.
On the mood in the dressing room and the feeling he’s getting from the team this morning…
Good feeling. I mean, obviously nerves play a role for sure, and that’s normal. I don’t expect them not to be nervous and thinking about things; that’s all part of it. But, once the puck drops, you get a shift in, that’ll go away, and you just go play hockey. Again, I just talk about execution and just doing your job out there, and that’s what it really boils down to.
On the power play…
Yeah, we tweaked a few things personnel wise, so hopefully that’ll help, and we’ll see what happens, but again I liked their mindset last game. I thought that we got more pucks to the net. We can do a better job of being in [Tuukka] Rask’s eyes a little bit more and a better net presence overall, but I did like some of the opportunities that we got, and we’ve got to do the same tonight.
We’ve got to get pucks to the net there and have people at the net and get some dirty goals on the power play.
On the mental preparation for tonight’s game… Not much different than Game 6 or other games. I’ll go back to Game 6; I thought we had a good first period; I thought we had a good start to the game, so I didn’t think that all of the hype and everything going on really affected our guys. Like again, we gave up a five-on-three goal, but overall, I liked that period. I thought that we had some good chances. Rask played well and stopped the puck. Not much changes. Again, it’s a deciding game. We’ve played in deciding games before and played really well, so you’ve got to go out and play. You’ve got the nerves; it’s all a part of it, but that’ll all go away once you go out there and play.
On putting Edmundson into the lineup…
I’ll say it again. With Parayko and Pietrangelo on the right side, they’re just eating so many minutes up; there’s not a lot of minutes over there. So, we decided to go with the four lefties, and what he can bring, he can bring a lot. I mean, he’s got some real good upside, shoots the puck well, big guy, big body, physical player, but he does do some things well in the offensive zone, so I like his shot.
#06/12/19#