Kris Draper Game 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.

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.

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

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.

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.