Dave Tippett Conference Call Transcript--May 6, 2008

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Dave Tippett Conference Call Transcript--May 6, 2008
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An interview with:

DAVE TIPPETT


DAVID KEON: We are now joined by Dallas Stars head coach Dave Tippett who has lead the Stars to and 8-4 record with series wins over the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks. Thanks to Dave for taking the time to answer your questions. We'll open it up for questions.
Q. Coach, how do you prepare your team for a juggernaut like the Red Wings?
DAVE TIPPETT: We do a lot of things that are geared to what we want to do. We certainly want to play to our strengths. We always talk about you have to recognize your enemy. We have a very formidable enemy here. So you certainly have to know their strengths, what they're trying to accomplish. But we feel like if we stay to what we try to do, that's the best way for us to have success.
Q. How are you physically up and down the bench?
DAVE TIPPETT: We're pretty good. I mean, are you talking about injury-wise?
Q. Correct.
DAVE TIPPETT: We've got Boucher and Barnes are our only two concerns. Boucher skated today. He probably looks like he won't be a player to start the series. Barnes didn't skate today but was feeling better. So those will be the only two question marks going into the series.
Q. Wanted to get your thoughts on Johan Franzen's performance, particularly against Colorado. What do you could as a head coach to try to shut him down going into this series here?
DAVE TIPPETT: He's a big guy that creates a lot of space around the front of the net. The thing that I'm impressed with the most about him is his ability to find loose pucks, deflect pucks. It seems like I think he's got 11 goals, probably half of them are on deflections or bouncing pucks. He's a big guy that tracks down a lot of pucks and certainly have to be aware of him in front of the net.
Q. Sometimes we talk about players who lose confidence if things don't go their way for a while. Given that the team has had trouble getting over the humps in the playoffs the last couple years, was there ever a crisis of confidence for you? If there was, how did you get over it, get beyond it?

DAVE TIPPETT: I think, you know, every experience is different. But what it is, I was fortunate my first year here, Bob Gainey was a consultant with us. He told me to just make sure your team, the regular season is to prove you're capable of doing what you need to do in the playoffs. That's been my philosophy every year. You get into the playoffs the first step, then what you do in there, you know, you try to give yourself a chance to win.
I feel like we've done that every year. We've had some situations where we would certainly like to have been better. But, you know, if you just keep knocking at the door, you're going to get your opportunity.
This year some things have gone our way. The opportunity, you know, we've got some momentum going the right way. Every year, like I say, is different. You're always disappointed when it doesn't turn out the way you'd like it. But it doesn't stop you from coming back harder the next year and trying to accomplish what your goals are.
Q. A couple of the guys that work with you have described your great patience. Have you ever sort of felt your patience wearing out or whether that's been consistent, too?
DAVE TIPPETT: Well, there's a fine line. I like to think I'm a very methodical guy. I like to think things out. But there's certainly things where losing bothers you and if you're in the business that I'm in, or a hockey player, losing just digs at you. So those are things you don't lose patience. I look at it they make me more determined. Like I say, I take a very methodical approach to everything, very determined approach, make sure we're well-prepared. When that doesn't go well, it's frustrating. But it just makes you want to do it that much more the next time.
Q. What would your reaction have been, in all honesty, had someone sat you down in March and said you're going to have a pretty good playoff run, all you have to do is play Anaheim, San Jose and Detroit in the Western Conference?
DAVE TIPPETT: Bring it on. If we're going to go up the food chain, might as well eat the best, right. You know, it's certainly a challenge. But I think some of the play in March, like some of the adversity we face, was very good for us. Obviously bringing Richards in was a real plus for us. It took some time to get him integrated. I think some of that, you had to recognize where he was and leaving a team for the first time, coming to a new team, there was going to be some transition there.
But I look at it when the regular season ended, and Richards is a perfect example, it was like a new start for everybody. We got through March. We had some adversity. You know, Richards is a perfect example of it. We looked at it as the regular season was his first season with our team, and the post-season was going to be his second. He's come out and played that way. He feels like he's part of the team. Our whole team has looked at it the regular season is done. Now we have a whole new time to, you know, prove ourselves. Those first couple games, I go back to those first two games in Anaheim. You go in. You know, as coaches, you're trying to try to sell a belief system. If we do these things, I think we can be successful. But those first two games really opened our eyes and got momentum going for us. You know, it doesn't matter who you play in the playoffs, you're going to play hard teams. But within our division, all the battles we've had to beat Anaheim and beat San Jose when nobody really gave us a chance to beat them was very gratifying. Now you're coming against the No. 1 team in the league. So it's great challenges for us. But I like what we've done so far. We're very willing to accept the challenge.
Q. Back earlier in the season when the change in general managers was made, was it natural for you to think maybe your time could be up and that the next pink slip could be coming for you? Did that enter into the way you handled the team at all?
DAVE TIPPETT: No, you know, when you're a coach in any professional sport, professional hockey, you get very thick-skinned to that kind of stuff. What it is, I think you have to be secure in what you're doing every day, how your team is prepared, how they're responding. We didn't get off to the start we wanted to at the start. But we were around a .500 team. I thought there were some factors that we didn't play very well. We were just coming out of it. I think the change in general manager just happened at a time where I felt like the team was going to take off anyway.
So it was one of those situations where you just things fell into place. From my end, I never worry about the pink slip. If that comes, that comes. But I'm more worried about what I have to do every day to be successful. You have to have confidence in yourself. If you do that, things will go the right way.
Q. Did you have to change any of the way you approached the team, any of your tactics or systems to switch the team up a little bit, to change things around?
DAVE TIPPETT: Absolutely nothing. From one day to the next day was the same approach.
Q. Do you feel having a day off, brief layoff here, is good for the players, have an opportunity to see family? Does it provide that needed motivation moving forward?
DAVE TIPPETT: Well, it wasn't so much about seeing family. We needed the rest. We played two games in one there the other night. So our group really needed a rest. You know, it gives you a day just to catch your breath. With our travel back and forth between Anaheim and San Jose, it's been -- the travel, like we see all the time in our division, is long travel. The in between days around practice days, they're travel days. To get a day where we can just catch our breath, today was a good day, prep day for Detroit. Go out to Detroit tomorrow and get ready for Thursday.
But when you finish one series, it just gives you a day or two to catch your breath, then move forward.
Q. I know you touched upon adversity a little earlier. Do you feel in order to gain success or appreciate that success, a team must go through its share of adversity?
DAVE TIPPETT: Well, I think that's not a bad thing. What it does, the adversity usually brings out flaws. If you have places where you have weakness in your group or the way you're doing things, that adversity sometimes brings those to light and they're very fixable.
The team I had in the minors in '99, we won the championship, with we had very little adversity all the way through and were able to win a championship. There's other teams that I've seen that have struggled and then you get in the playoffs and you get on a run and away you go.
You know, every team is different. But adversity certainly I think helps your group recognize any weaknesses you may have.
Q. Could you describe the effort level of Brendan Morrow in these two series?
DAVE TIPPETT: It's been phenomenal. His determination and determination along with his skill set, he's been the leader of our group. Obviously Marty Turco has played very well. But Brendan is a guy, when you see a player play that hard, play that determined, willing to do whatever it takes, whether it's, you know, finding a big hit, blocking a shot, scoring a goal, whatever it takes to be successful, that's very infectious within your group. He's our captain. Obviously when he plays like that, it's pretty hard for guys to sit on that bench and say, Hey, I better adhere to that standard.
That last series, it's been a long time since I've seen a player play as well on a series or have as much of as impact on a series as Brendan has.