Lou Lamoriello Quotations

We did have a conversation last night when he told me, and as you can all imagine it was a difficult conversation from both parties,

Let's be careful how far we go with that.

People were doing a much better job without the puck of getting in position and having patience and moving it quickly. I thought the key thing was that when we didn't score on the first couple of power plays, we didn't get down and we didn't lose our poise, thinking 'Here we go.' You could feel that there was a confidence.

If and when Scott Stevens does make the decision to play, we have Plan C to make room for him, ... It will be his choice. But there is a spot for him should he decide to play, whenever that might be.

He does the little things and he's strong. He's hockey strong.

I think the biggest compliment that I could pay this team today is that that they're not looking at this streak as something totally exceptional. They're more focused on doing the things maybe we weren't doing to allow us to have the opportunity to win. ... I sense a tremendous maturity in that room with the core character. I couldn't be more impressed.

I think it was a little more active,

Our four top defensemen get X number of minutes of ice, ... These young fellows will get the same amount of minutes as the people did last year. They will have time to develop.

Playing that type of hockey and that type of role, it's tough night in and night out. Jason is just a competitor in every way and works hard, plays hard and I think will be an energy asset.

I'm sure, but right now what we've got to do is focus on what we're doing well and what we can do to get better. We can't be concerned about what other teams are thinking, but I'm sure we were a target today. That's logical.

We are leaving the door open if and when Scott Stevens does make a decision to play, ... We have a plan 'C' that will make room for him. It will be his decision. There is no pressure from here.

We've obviously had success with it and it's obvious the confidence the bench has in Marty.

To me, he's right up there with the top defensemen to ever play the game because he has done everything and adjusted to everything and did everything that was asked of him to win. I don't ever like to compare people, but all I can tell you is that there is no question that he will be in the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible.

We certainly took a chance with Scottie in waiting, ... But we'd do it again.

Vladimir told me he was going to retire and then his representative asked that he be allowed to have some time off to go home. I told him it was not in the best interest of the club for him to do that.

Any time a milestone comes, you feel good about it. I don't think anybody was thinking about that or worrying about it, including Marty, if you know how Marty is.

It's certainly disappointing. In the second period, we sort of had all the territorial advantages, but still couldn't score the goals. We made individual mistakes and they cost us.

I'm the person who has to find those answers and those solutions. We have some players who are not performing up to expectations. That's not acceptable.

I really wasn't thinking about it, to tell you the truth.

I don't know if everybody played better just because he was there, because he's only on one line. I thought all the lines did the little things that had to be done. Turnovers were minimal. Our positional play was one of the better. I thought our power play moved the puck and had great chances. That's all you want.

I don't think any of us is really pleased with where we find ourselves. You can look at a lot of different reasons, but I don't believe you ever look for excuses.

I am not going to make a decision just to make a decision.

I don't look at it as a step back by any means.

Herb and I are delighted to add Dave to our coaching staff. He has a wide variety of coaching experience. Also, with the type of young talent we have at Utica, we felt it was necessary to have someone of Robbie's caliber preparing our product.

You could look right through that lineup tonight, and I don't know if you could find any passengers. That, to me, is the most impressive thing you could say.

You can't ask for a better game than what Tommy gave us. He's a true veteran. I could see he got his legs under him.

I would like to accept this recognition on behalf of all the staff members that that I’ve been associated with; all of the office people behind the scenes who never get credit and make this game so great along with the great coaches and players.

Good is not good enough when better is expected

You have people telling you how good you are and all of a sudden, you might start believing it and forget what it takes to be good.