Kris Draper Quotations

We're back where we should be. This is always a game when the schedule comes out where you take a look at who you're playing, and it's always nice. It's something that people plan to bring their New Year's in on. It's always a nice celebration, a nice atmosphere. To make it a successful night, it's up to us to go out and start it off right.

We're a veteran hockey club, we know better than that. We hung Manny out to dry.

Let's hope we don't hear the word 'trap' anymore,

Obviously, we would love to have him in our lineup,

One thing we wanted to do was take away Blake, with that big one-timer he has. We wanted to get into some shooting lanes, and we did that. We talked about how important specialty teams were going to be in this game, and they were.

Chris Simon just sucker-punched somebody in the face!

I don't think anyone realized the extent of how deep it went. It's tough when you see a friend and former teammate go through something like that.

I don't think we're there yet. I think this is really the first time at training camp that it's meant as much as it has in a lot of years for this team. Not only the new NHL and the new rules, but obviously the new coach and the different coaching philosophy, but I think guys are getting there.

Here at the Joe, guys are getting used to the speed and the body positioning. Teams that can skate and have a good defence will be a step ahead. You won't have any choice to open up. But this is going to be a huge adjustment and it won't happen overnight.

Guys are committed to opening up the game, making it a lot more entertaining and letting guys go out and use their talents. But I don't even think we'll have it down pat by the time of the openers.

He's a guy that can dominate a game. He just makes players around him that much better. He's a guy that can score, and he's a very gifted passer as well. The best thing to do is try to force an offensive player to try to play in his end as much as possible.

He was one of the last guys to get in town, ... It's going to be nice. We have a four-hour bus ride, and Hank's going to probably take the most abuse on the bus, and rightfully so. We're just happy to have him back. He's such a great kid and such a great hockey player. He's going to play a huge role for the Detroit Red Wings over the next four years for sure.

Guys that can skate are going to enjoy this.

It always makes for a fun night. Down here, you're with your teammates and your family, and it's always nice to be a part of something.

I thought we were going to wait until the buzzer sounds after tomorrow's (Sunday) game, but the Americans have gotten a jump on us. The wheels will be turning for the next 24 hours.

Ozzie (Osgood) made some good stops tonight and we had a lot of jump.

Out of all the teams in our division, we were the least active because of how much money we had tied into players,

Right up until I got that phone call I wasn't sure. And when I hadn't heard anything by about 4 o'clock (Wednesday) afternoon, I thought, 'Well, I didn't make it.' But then right after that I got the call.

Right off the bat, Mike is stressing the kind of system he wants to play. He wants to play a high-tempo game and he wants a lot of energy and intensity.

That first goal, they moved it around real good on us. We got down 2-0. We still took some penalties. We took a 5-on-3. Guys killed it off. That's the important thing.

It feels good. I think everyone is real excited about it. We weren't able to do something everyone is passionate about and loves doing.

It felt good to be back out there. It seems there's going to be a lot of specialty teams this year. I think that's what everybody's kind of talking about right now, the amount of penalties that were called. You know, basically, how are we going to adjust to it is really what it's going to come down to.

It did feel good. Hopefully, that can get something going offensively.

I was real happy for Mac. I left him a message this morning. I think just about everybody in this room is happy for him considering what he's been going through.

We feel good about what we've accomplished so far, but there's still a lot of the season left.

We have to play to these new rules, but we play to the system implemented by the coaches. Hopefully for the sake of the game, the coaches want to open it up.

We've lost two in a row, and we have to respond. To beat the elite teams in the league, it's got to be start to finish. We haven't done that the last couple of games and that's why we've lost.

We've done a lot of good things but a complete game, we haven't done that. That's something that bothers everybody in this dressing room.

Yeah, now we're on the scoreboard watching. We're realizing there's probably about four or five teams that are going to keep flip-flopping from here right on up to the end of the regular season. For us, you certainly watch that but the one thing we want to make sure is that we're concentrating on what this team does.

Tomorrow night is the start of four games in five nights, and we have to prepare ourselves for that.

Why are you sitting next to me? Get out of here.

To be able to go out there and let guys skate and make plays, ... that's how the game should be played.

We've got to get better. We haven't done it for a couple of games, and we've got to find a way real quick.

We've been playing some games here for a while now that haven't really meant anything standing-wise. Now everything's over and done with. The playoffs are coming.

Those two kids are special. And the new rules are going to be exciting for them.

We had the master of the manipulators, playing for Scotty (Bowman) . We've seen all the tricks before. The game is going to be played on the ice. Not talking or stirring things up.

You have to really pay attention. He expects us to be very businesslike, that's how he is, and we have to respond to that. It's going to be a little bit of an adjustment.

Either way we're going out west. There's nothing easy about that. First round, right off the hop, it's pretty demanding travel-wise and that's something that we realize but that's just unfortunate, us being in the Eastern Time zone and playing in the Western Conference.

Down low, it's going to be a whole different mindset. The coaches are going to have to coach to the new rules and that's going to make for a lot of changes in philosophy.

Cujo is the reason we won the game,

It was an ugly type of goal and Brad had a cheeky grin on his face, but it was what we needed.

I've never been part of it. I'm really looking forward to it. After Vancouver and Calgary and what we've heard about the way it is in Edmonton for the playoffs ... it's pretty special for a Canadian kid to be part of that.

So you realize that our division just got that much tougher with the upgrades that all these teams made. They've turned themselves into some great hockey clubs.

That's what Mike has been preaching to us all year. Get the puck to the net, get guys to the net. During the regular season he was preaching that's how you score playoff goals.

You put Pavel in there, it puts us almost to the upper echelon to compete with the high-end teams.

A lot of players have changed. I know (Colorado) doesn't have a lot of players left from the '90s teams. A lot of what happened was a long time ago. I guess it's a little different now.

They're part of this team. We're not going to put any added pressure on those guys.

It seems there's going to be a lot of specialty teams. Basically, how are we going to adjust to it is what it comes down to.

For me, 03-04 ... was it 03-04 or 02-03?

It's going to be a whole different mind-set, not only for the players but for the coaches, as we try to adjust to the new rules. Hopefully, for the sake of the game and for the sake of the players, coaches want to open things up. Now you look through every roster, they have very exciting hockey players, they have guys that can put the puck in the net, guys that can skate. Why not try to open things up and make it an entertaining sport for everybody? I think that's going to have to be the case.

It's going to really open up the game, make the game a lot more entertaining. Training camp this year is going to be more important than previous camps and the exhibition games are going to be very important to get a grasp of how the refs are going to call things.

That's something we can't control. Columbus had one of the best records in the league the second half of the season. We feel good about what we accomplished during the regular season. Now everything counts, and we're playing for real.

It's something I definitely want to build on.

Everyone's going in on a whole new learning curve, ... Figuring out what the rules are going to be, what the roles are going to be with the new coach, and that's all going to come pretty fast.

It's definitely affected us a lot, ... It kind of handcuffed Detroit. We had a lot of money tied into a lot of players. (General manager Ken Holland) had to step up and make some changes to free up some money. Even though we did, we didn't quite get enough.

It went well. It was a lot of fun.

It was huge. Some pretty important power plays were killed.

Not only were we not able to get Pavel signed, we also had to buy out Darren McCarty , Ray Whitney and Derian Hatcher ,

After they took four points from us back home, we wanted to come back and answer, which we were able to do.

The last couple games we were firing goose eggs, and that's something you don't want to do going into your elimination game.

I laugh at them. I think they're pretty funny, but that's about the extent of it.

He's such a great guy and he wants to be there for everybody and that's what made him so popular in Detroit.

He's a guy who can play a lot of minutes. He had a great year two years ago. We hope he's back. We hope it all works out and he can be part of this hockey club. But he has to make a decision on what's best for him and his family. We just hope it's here playing in Detroit.

I don't think they're going to have any choice but to open it up with the way the rules are,

Hockey was such a part of my life, as well as my family’s, that I knew we were all going to miss it. For the first few weeks my son was in tears sobbing, ‘I miss you being a Red Wing daddy.’ I didn’t know what to say so we just cried together. Nobody prepares you for that kind of stuff.

Actually it was easier than you'd think. We were the guys who had the opportunity to play for something. Only 26 players on the eight teams had that chance. We would wake up in the morning and have a reason to train. We are able to have four weeks to play at this level. Since the first day our policy was not to talk about the labor situation. Our goal was to win. We'll enjoy it for one night. Then the reality of the owners locking us out sets in.

The first power play they were snapping it around pretty good. They kind of got some things going.

The last three or four years I've played all three positions and I've enjoyed that. It's a different game, a different look, and it's an opportunity, hopefully, I can take advantage of and get things going.