Our commitment is to remain an elite team. No question the playing field has been leveled (with the new collective bargaining agreement). We will do more research and development. We will add to our scouting staff.
We're extremely pleased to have Paul as our general manager for the World Championship. We've been fortunate to be able to fill our management roles with elite members of the hockey community for many years and Paul no doubt continues that trend.
We're extremely pleased to continue our relationship with CSTV. The elite brand of hockey fans will see on Friday is due to the continuing development of women's hockey at all levels.
We're not a bunch of slugs. We're elite players who have been in Europe for a long time now.
I think it's (the national team selection) a little bigger. Having a chance to be a part of the world's elite as opposed to the league's, I think it's a little more special.
It gives everybody the impression that we didn't do that well. ... We had a good year last year. I don't think we should apologize for winning the league or finishing second the year before and going to the Elite Eight.
It gets me into an elite group in the NHL. If you can get up there, I'm really proud of that.
I would like to be mentioned with all the top guys, all the elite guys. Everyone wants to be one of the best, and one of the elite, so of course I want to be up in there with those guys.
Harden at 40 percent is like most pitchers at 100 percent. When he comes back, it will be a huge boost for us. We have a lot of guys doing great already, but Harden is in an elite group, a superstar.
He's a guy in the Elite League who's been able to produce numbers. We'll see what training camp is like for him. You're always looking for that little extra piece in a trade and take a chance on somebody. We'll see what he can do.