Bob Gainey Quotations

We're happy to be playing and we skated right down to the wire to get into the playoffs.

Mike Ribeiro demonstrated during the 2003-04 season how much of a force he can be. His creativity, his passing skills and his vision make him one of the key components of our offence.

Right now he seems so stable and consistent. Tonight he probably made eight, 10, 11, 12 difficult saves, but it's hard to pick them out because he's in position, he's in position early and he's making the stops.

Right now, every time he plays, it's like a challenge. He was well rested, he was ready and he needed to be because his counterpart in the other net was also sharp.

I don't have any details. And if I did know anything, I'm not sure I would know how to explain it to you.

I am the one with NHL head coaching experience and no one has followed this team as closely as I have since training camp. As of this point, I will take full responsibility as the head coach.

But complications are good. It may not be good for the player who winds up not playing, but it's an advantage for the team as a whole.

I don't think it's reasonable for him to be skating and feeling the way he would need to for next Tuesday. But five or six days after that, which is a pretty big chunk of time, is the window that the doctors are talking about.

He will be unavailable to our team for an undetermined period.

He happened to score the goal in the third period, which is terrific, but I think he brought another presence to our defense, an elevation in our ability to find the open man.

He doesn't look like a player who wants to give up his position to anybody. You have to earn the confidence of your teammates and he has done that for a while.

He skated again this morning and the next step is for him to join the team and be exposed to some rough-and-tumble play. I think that's sooner rather than later.

We made one or two key mistakes that cost us. That's the story of the game, because otherwise it was pretty even out there.

He was possibly coming back in (Monday) night, but didn't really feel like it. He feels better today, so we'll see (Wednesday).

Halak made a remarkable impression in his first season in North America. He has an excellent work ethic and could become an excellent goaltender in the years to come.

I wouldn't say desperation was our situation tonight early in the game, it was more I think a really clear and attractive pursuit of the goals that we want, and that's the way we played in the opening 20 minutes.

Jose was a victim of an unfortunate accident and we all feel for him. He will get on with his rehabilitation as soon as the condition of his heel allows him to do so. We hope to have him back in time to help the team down the final stretch.

Jose was a victim of an unfortunate accident, and we all feel for him.

I thought we made some critical, glaring mistakes.

I think we have some good players, but we have to get closer to our potential.

I think at some point, we're going to make a decision of who's going to start the first game of the playoffs. But let's get in the playoffs, we still don't have that nailed down. In the meantime, we're using all of our players to get us there.

I think it was the right reaction to the moment. We paid a price, but it wasn't too costly this time.

It gives him the sense that we want him here.

Our power play hung in there. Even though we didn't get the ultimate reward of a goal, we had possession time in the offensive zone, we had shots, we had scoring chances. If they're working at it and doing the things you need to do to create chances but not scoring, it's still positive for your team.

Ottawa, as they were in Ottawa, were really in control in the first period.

My story for the players has been getting away from eighth and focusing on seventh. We are not worried about the Bruins because they have other teams to jump ahead of before they get to us.

Markov raised his game to the level I thought he would.

I think our team has to concentrate on how to test (Carolina goalie Cam Ward.). Lets' raise the shot total, the scoring chance total and get rid of any lazy or soft play around him. Let's put more responsibility on the goalie to make more saves.

I think he's proven over a long period of time that he's capable of that. We were able to access that part of his play.

You have to enjoy when you win, that's part of the package. We will, at some point, kind of let go of last night and turn our direction toward tomorrow night. I think that's fine when people have a little bit of fun.

Where we are today, we're above that (playoff) line. We're in better shape today than we were a week ago.

We'd seen a different team during the season. But they captured their level of play again (once) they got a goalie in there that gave them the saves they needed. They made it a lot more difficult for us to get scoring chances.

We have to recognize and appreciate the experience he's had with a very good team in Detroit over a long period of time, playing with great players in some of the best playoff competition, ... We have three young defencemen in Montreal (Mike Komisarek, Ron Hainsey and Andrei Markov) and his experience and knowledge will be an asset.

We have to push back so that we're moving up the standings by putting points on the board, rather than the other direction.

We have a large group of players who are coming to an age of maturity.

We've got seven games before the break and five of them are at home so we need to go home and make some hay.

With the Expos no longer in existence and him needing a home, I think the Montreal Canadiens and Youppi! will fit nicely together.

We were hoping it was going to be taken care of at this arbitration and it would disappear. When it came out in the public domain, the decision to release the information that it was Jose Theodore was the best way to approach it.

We had created a small space for ourselves between seventh and ninth place. When I added things up in my mind, it wasn't instinct, it wasn't gut feeling. It just seemed like the right thing to do given our schedule.

We don't have the luxury of being far enough ahead in the playoff race to be able to find positives when we don't win. The results overwhelm everything else.

We're not talking in terms of winning the series; we're talking about taking each game one at a time.

We're entering a new period in the NHL, ... There could be changes that none of us can predict right now.

We only thought about the player and his talents and his ability to win a match,

Whenever it's around the eye, I think it prudent and wise that all cautions should be taken.

We're not a big team compared to other teams in the NHL, but we are a quick team and I think we can handle our own in the physical areas, in front of the net and in the corners, ... I don't see us being disadvantaged in size.

We didn't foresee that 18 months later, he'd be our No. 1 goalie. We brought him here to be the back-up, but he has got to where he is through hard work.

We have to be pleased with his play. He got bombarded and he stood in.

Both teams had their moments where they had to fight from behind, and it was decided by a good, clean goal in overtime. It's very easy to recognize the will of the players on both teams to play with everything in the tank.

We've been pretty clear with the players. When you're ready to play, you have to play. If you're not ready to play, you can't play.

We're hot, and it's good that we are.

Well, I don't think looking solely at our four games with them is really a good indicator. We'll have to play like we've played in some of the stretches since the Olympic break. If we get that kind of play then we're going to be a good competitive team.

We'll have to look to our reserves for help.

The other night we had lots of great scoring chances and we didn't complete them, but tonight the scoring chances were minimized so we'll be looking for ways to penetrate the defenses of Carolina and to get some of our players participating and getting some results on the Carolina side of center ice.

We gave Jose a three-year contract last summer with the idea that he was going to remain with us. Since then, things changed.

We're playing against a good team, and I don't think we ever dropped our understanding of that or respect for their team. We know that they're a good team and that we're going to have to play as well as we can for as many minutes as we can.

We're playing about as good as we could, really. We've needed that kind of streak to give us a chance to be in the playoffs.

We were playing against a good team. We have respect for them. We have to play as well as we can and for as many minutes as we can. We took a lead and had to battle for it. It was a good playoff game.

We saw the job was too big for one guy and (Huet) needed some help.

We want an exciting team, a quick team, a fast team, a puck-moving, skating, attacking team, and to do that you need to put players in place who have those skills.

The way both teams are going, that's why you saw the game that we saw. It was important game and it could have effect the outcome of the season.

The style he plays with was the prominent style in this game. We needed to go into the difficult areas to get the puck and send it toward the net.

The swelling has to diminish before the physicians can do all the necessary tests.

Right now, we're in a playoff position and if we get some points in our final game, we're going to the playoffs. The other teams can't say that.

Our team was stumbling and bumbling and we didn't have a player really who was committed to doing what they needed to do.

Something that we've seen in Cristobal in his normal character is that he isn't nervous or suffer from anxiety.

One-goal games are easy to hide behind. One-goal games are two goals away from winning, and that's a lot in the NHL.

Once we got down a couple of goals I think we went into shock and at that point, really the game tonight was over. Our team stumbled hard early in the game, and really by the 5-minute mark of the first period the outcome of the game was established.

A little bit. He was supposed to be our second goalie, but he continues to make it clear that he wants to be the number one.

You see the scores while checking the penalties, but you hope the other teams are looking at your score.

They had a power play five or six minutes in that really disrupted what we were trying to accomplish in the first period. In the second period, we were in the box five times I think for anything from clipping toe nails to anything else they were calling.

There really was no reason to drop him into a pot of boiling water when we can drop him in and warm it up gently. Guy will grab on to where we are and where we're going and what is needed quickly.

It seems taking a lead is an important part of a recipe that works most often. Early in the series will be a place either team will be looking for an advantage. It's about getting into that rhythm where all cylinders are firing.

It's a small piece of the bigger production, and one game is not an indicator.

It was a terrific game to be involved in and hopefully it was a great game for the fans. You could see that kind of determination in Florida right until the final buzzer.

It's terrific. It's good for the fans in both cities. It's good for the players on both teams. It's a traditional and natural rivalry that has a lot at stake.

It's less about specific things with him as it is us trying to create more opportunities. To whatever degree we've tested him, we haven't tested him enough.

That may change, but right now we're at the time of the year when playing games, results and standings are what's important.

That power-play goal, the first goal we scored .... was a nice message for our team that we were in the game and skate with them.

It's nice. But it's just a piece of the bigger production that we're in.

The best person to protect anyone is himself. That's the message he sent - don't mess with me because I'll protect myself.

Taking the point after being behind two goals is a pretty good result for us.

It's important for the confidence of this team to know what we can go 20, 40, 50 minutes without giving up a goal. We went through a stretch where we had trouble putting consecutive periods together.

It's come at a great time. We've been trying to take advantage of it by not backing off or being complacent. At this time of year, where we sit in our conference, those are really strong points for us.

It'll probably be a day or two before we know the timetable for him.

It's difficult to replace a player on your first line. ... We have other players with the same style of depth and experience as Alex and it's up to those younger players to take his place.

It was an important game and it could affect the outcome of the season.

It was a great game. For us, the fact that we won makes the result great, but it was a great hockey game. Both teams had their moments where they had to fight from behind and it was decided by a good, clean goal in overtime. It's very easy to recognize the will of the players on both teams to play with everything in the tank.

They kept us off balance through most of the game, through three or four power plays. We're certainly not tight in our team play.

The intensity in those Toronto games was very high and it took a lot out of us.

I hadn't been close to the ice for a game in quite a while. It was a fun game to be a part of.

I'm the one who's responsible and this gives time for Guy to get comfortable with the team and the players. It's more fair for myself to step in and take responsibility until the end of the season.

If you look at their penalty killing and hours, if you look at the minutes that were spent in that situation, they created an advantage in play and an advantage on the scoreboard so it's pretty easy for us to find the place where we need to improve.

I haven't really thought about it at this moment. We'll make a decision on our lineup and we'll let you know.

If you want to build a scenario, I think it's a pretty good one.

I didn't see anyone looking and wondering if someone was going to show up out of the blue. It's part of their lives. Players are in and players are out all through the season. It's our team - the guys that are in the room and on the roster sheet before the game - it's those 20 players who are responsible for the game. It's not the guys who aren't there.

The Flyers have a lot of injuries right now, that's for sure. But our team, if we move the puck well, can play with a lot of speed, whereas their team is big, but they're slower than us. So it's like we have opposite teams, but it makes for good games.

The information is that he was improving, that his vision was clearing up. Blood was dispersing, but there were still parts inside his eye that the doctors could not see and that still needed time.

Andre, I'm just getting to know him but I think he has a lot to offer and he has a good vision of the ice, great ability with the puck and he gave us a taste of it tonight. We'd like to see more.