Coach John Stevens Interview

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COACH JOHN STEVENS



THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach.



Q. Can you talk a little about the past 12 months and how they differ very much from the previous 12 months?

COACH STEVENS: Well, I'm not sure how much time we have, but ‑‑



Q. The short version.

COACH STEVENS: Yeah, it's been quite a journey for us, for me and for a lot of the players. You know, obviously, last year was a difficult year for everybody. But we really felt that by the end of the year we were headed in a very positive direction by some of the moves that we made by the emergence of some of our young players. We really felt good with our team at the end of the summer. For one, we improved our talent level, but we really improved the character of the hockey team.

So really our season started at the end of last season. Big demands over the summer. Asked our players to really come into training camp in great shape, which they did, and it allowed us to get off to a great start.

We've had some ups and downs, but I believe that's part of becoming a great team. Tough battle through adversity. When you come out on the other side, you end up being stronger for it. I'm not sure what happens if you don't come out on the other side, but we did. We continue to face adversity and overcome it to get to this point. So we're extremely excited to be playing hockey in May. We're extremely excited for our players that they're able to accomplish success as a group here, and we're looking forward to the next challenge.



Q. Can you talk about your history with Michel Therrien and how you feel about him?

COACH STEVENS: Well, we coached a couple of times against each other in the American League. He's a terrific coach. Look at what he's done at the American League level. He's had success in a lot of places. Took the team to the finals the year they beat us. We were forced in to beat them in the lockout year, and went on to win that year.

The year after the lockout year, before they came to Pittsburgh, they were tearing up the American League. I forget what the record was, it was about 25‑2, I believe, at the time. And he kind of went into a similar situation that I probably did. The team was in last place. He had a lot of work to do to build a team and he's done a terrific job.

We obviously in the minors had a pretty heated rivalry with Wilkes‑Barre and the Phantoms. But it was one of the great experiences I had as a minor league coach. He's obviously done a great job here. You can say what you want, he's got great players, but they play a really strong team game. He and his staff have done a great job.



Q. Is that rivalry between the two head coaches just what maybe makes a part of this series so exciting and so much else going on behind it? You two have had words exchanged in the minors and what not?

COACH STEVENS: That's when I was a lot younger. I'm a little older now.

I said this the other day. I think if everybody likes you you're probably not very good. I think a lot of teams liked us last year. They liked playing us last year. I think when you dislike each other, or there's emotion involved, it's probably because you have the other team standing in the way of where you want to go. I think that's the case here. There's great passion on both teams. There's a lot of great stories on both teams. Both teams have put some hard times behind them recently and moved on to be competitive teams. Now we've gotten to a point in our season that we're all excited about being in. Now both teams are based in Pennsylvania. It's an ideal match‑up here. Makes for a great series and it pushes the emotional level to another notch. I know the fans here will be revved up, and there's no question the fans in Philadelphia will be revved up. We're excited to be part of it.



Q. In the Penguins last series Jarkko Ruutu seemed to get under Jaromir Jagr's skin. I'm curious what your take on an agitator's role in the playoffs is?

COACH STEVENS: Yeah, had he an impact in that series, no question. He's been a good player down the stretch and into the playoffs. You know, Jack McIlhargey was familiar with Jarkko, he had him in Vancouver. He's a big, strong guy that plays hard. Knows his role, and to this point he's been a very disciplined player. He's a good enough player that can have an impact in the series. They obviously feel that he's defensibly responsible enough to play against another team's top lines. That's where you've got to find that line of discipline. You've got to manage your emotion and can't let him get to you. He's one of the Penguins there. We can't get sidetracked by him. There are an awful lot of players to worry about. He's a guy we have to play hard against, but honestly, we're going to have to learn to ignore.



Q. You're familiar with the Pens, and maybe this sounds like an easy question, how do you beat them?

COACH STEVENS: Well, I'm not sure yet. Obviously, Ottawa and the Rangers had a tough time figuring that out. They're a good team. They're here because they deserve to be here. They're fighting for the conference lead at the end there. They've got three of the best forwards in the world, in Malkin, Hossa and Crosby. They've got experience on the back end. They've got puck movers there. Fleury is a very talented goaltender and their team game is strong.

So we're going to have to do this by a strong team game of our own. We can't go out there thinking we're going to check one player. We have to have a really strong focus on our checking mindset against this team at all times. Because we've all talked about how good they are offensively, and there's been little talk about how good they are defensively. It's pretty remarkable how well they play defensively in the playoffs. So they have the ability to shut you down as good as anybody. So we're going to have to come in here and be ready to go from the drop of the puck. But we're going to have to check for 60 minutes or longer if it takes that in the hopes to beat them.



Q. How much line matching do you expect in the series on both sides and from your end, how about Timonen is there a line you'd like to get him out there against?

COACH STEVENS: Yeah, we were trying to split him in half and see if we couldn't get him out there more often. But we were unsuccessful in that approach.

You know, I watched the Rangers series, and it looks to me that they're not that concerned. They'll play almost any of their lines against anybody. In here they're going to get the last change. It will be a little easier to do that from the back end to get people on and off the ice. But they move people around. When the penalty kill is over, they'll come back with the three big boys there sometimes and use them as a line with Malkin, Crosby, and Hossa together. And they'll move Laraque up there with Malkin once in a while. So I don't see set lines. Those guys are going to play 20‑plus minutes every night. We're all going to have to be ready. Certainly on the road. Because at the end of the day whether it's a stoppage or an icing call, they'll get the people on the ice that they want. We just have to be ready for them.