Doug Wilson People Quotations

When we drafted him, people said he was probably the most ready for the NHL. But that to me was a bonus. It wasn't something we factored into when we decided to pick him. But he obviously played against men last year and played in the World Championships for the Czech team, and the thing that impressed me when he came in this summer is that he tested like a man in his physical testing. It transfers over to his game on the ice. He's a very mature player.

When we drafted him, people said he was probably the most ready for the NHL, ... But that to me was a bonus. It wasn't something we factored into when we decided to pick him. But he obviously played against men last year and played in the World Championships for the Czech team, and the thing that impressed me when he came in this summer is that he tested like a man in his physical testing. It transfers over to his game on the ice. He's a very mature player.

The reality is that we can't control where people are moving into. There are pains with the growth. I wish growth didn't have an impact on families, but it does.

Most search firms try to do some type of survey to get a profile. It allows people to go through and articulate in their own words what they want in their next leader. Now, what we do is talk about the skill set and look at the people who are applying and people we know that are out there that we can pursue.

To me everybody has to share in the blame for the lack of success we had last year. The bottom line is that my job was to remove all the distractions and allow everybody to be completely focused on solely doing their job, having a great camp and getting ready for a great start. We don't dwell on last year anymore. We're excited about where we're at. To me how people respond to last year is the most important thing. I don't care about lip service. You can see the focus and the chance at redemption. Nobody wants to go through what they went through last year again.

I know it's a very volatile and painful experience. I'm sorry the people sitting in this room are the ones affected.