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Detroit Coach Babcock After Game 1
by Paul on 05/17/09 at 06:26 PM ET
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Q. Talk about the job that Dan did today.
MIKE BABCOCK: You know, obviously he’s playing with real good players, playing on a good line. They’re playing against important people in the game.
I thought we were in trouble really off the start of the game, whether it was engagement, whether it was coming off a big series, whether it was not as much time, whatever, we weren’t very good, and they were taking it to us. They were up 1?0. He made a real good shot. Then I thought we settled in and got playing real well after that point. Any time you’re driving into the net, get your stick on a puck, that’s just a good hockey goal, a good playoff goal.
Q. Is one of the keys of this franchise finding players like Cleary, coming out of lockout, okay player, and here he’s been really good?
MIKE BABCOCK: I said this yesterday or the day before, he was a dynamic, dynamic player as a 16-year old, in the Ontario Hockey League. He ended up being the 13th pick, if I’m not mistaken, to Chicago. It just happened too quick for him. He wasn’t able to handle it emotionally, his training, all that. It took him a while, and he bounced around.
We happened to get him at the right time. He came here with the right attitude and he was working. He started hanging around with Draper. He had already got his work ethic and his summer training going and then his skill has just gotten better and better. He started on the fourth line for us, won a job in training camp and just got better and better. Obviously he’s an important player for us. He’s a big, heavy body. He can score playoff goals, kill penalties, play on the power play, whatever you need him to do.
Q. Patrick Kane didn’t have a shot on goal. What were you able to do to contain him?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, you know, let’s not get carried away. It’s one game. But Z and his linemates, Mule and Cleary, and then obviously Nick and Raf on the back, they make it hard on you. You know, I think even last series, as dominant as Getzlaf was, I think Getzlaf ended up getting outscored by those guys in the series, even strength. It’s just one of those situations that they had a good night tonight and the puck bounced our way.
Q. You were able to generate a lot of chances against a couple good defensemen in Keith and Seabrook. What were you able to do?
MIKE BABCOCK: Just the way they play, you got to love watching them, they’re fast. The tempo of the game out there is just flying. When you go up and down the ice like that, there’s going to be opportunities to go the other direction.
Q. Chicago scores on the first power play, ties it up at two. Five minutes later you get back-to-back goals. Talk about what changed in that five minutes.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, we had to keep the streak alive. We’ve given up a goal I think in every game in the playoffs on penalty killing. It was unbelievable. They didn’t have a sniff the whole power play. Then they happened to get it past our guy and out to the point and hit 15 people and bounced out front and he shot it into the net. Keep the streak alive. Then, you know, we just bounced back and kept playing.
You know, in the playoffs, that’s what you do. The next shift’s the most important one. You just got to keep on keeping on whether they scored or you scored in this series in particular, because Chicago is a momentum team, they score in bunches. Your shift after you score, the shift after they score is going to be a huge shift in the game.
Q. How much at the start of the game do you think you guys still had Anaheim on the head or whatever? How long did it take you to get you out of it?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, took us till Cleary scored for sure. That’s a good question. It’s a fact, as a coach, I knew that was going to happen. As much as you talk about it, as much as you try to prepare in the short?term, I knew that was going to be the case. I could just feel the electricity of the last series to the start of this one. This one’s going to get going, don’t get me wrong. But, you know, for us, I don’t think initially, at least in the first 10 minutes, we were ready to engage at that level.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings | KK Hockey | Permalink
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When asked about “Dan”, Babcock originally replied “Beg your pardon” or something like that, until someone said “Cleary”
Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 05/17/09 at 08:33 PM ET