Chris Gratton Quotations

We have to get on our horse and start climbing. We have to make a push when we get back.

When you come in as a high draft pick, you do have a lot of pressure put on you -- not necessarily thrust upon you by your own team, maybe outside sources that have expectations.

Olli is doing everything for us. He's a big, physical guy, and he's getting to the net for us. He's playing with a lot of confidence.

Mentally it was huge. We fought hard to get back.

Obviously we'll be competing against the Marlins, we'll be competing against the Heat and the college teams,

Obviously we want to get back in the playoff race, and he is our main guy. When you are playing international competition like that, it is draining, emotionally and physically. Hopefully he will come back with a lot of confidence and will be ready to make a playoff run.

I hate to say it, but it's part of the game.

getting back to what made us successful early on.

If anybody quits, they're going to hear about it in this dressing room. We're professionals. We're paid to be professionals, and your job is to come here and give 110 percent every night.

It can be extremely frustrating. It's tough to start out like that.

I think the franchise is really trying to create some stability in the organization. They're making all the right moves at a critical time. And it sends a message right through the dressing room.

Last game was one we wanted to forget and forget in a hurry. This was important to stop the bleeding, No. 1. No. 2, it was Tampa, a rival.

I think they've brought in some quality veteran guys with Gary and Joe and Marty and Sean,

Our sport's regrouping here after the lockout and heading into the Olympics on a positive note with getting some fans back. Obviously, this is news that you don't want to see.

Line chemistry is everything. With the league now, there are so many injuries and guys in and out of the lineup, it's hard to find a line you can get settled on for an extended period of time.

That was our main goal. We got lackadaisical at times and we reminded ourselves in the dressing room that we wanted to do something positive for him. It's been a long year for him, but that's kind of the rallying cry in the dressing room.

Most definitely, this group wants to stay together. This team's starting to get close, and the (locker) room is coming together at a good time.

When Gary went down, it deflated our bench a bit.

Yeah, but over the course of an 82-game schedule, it's going to begin to wear a team down. We can't ask Louie to make those saves every night. It's putting a lot of pressure on him.

We have been awful vocal against the referees this year and that might be coming back to bite us. I think we just have to shut our mouths and go out and play.

We've played a month of playoff games. I think for the age of our team, guys have done a pretty good job. We've battled pretty hard and are going to continue to battle. It's unfortunate we couldn't have a little slip-up.

We've been playing at a high level now for a month-and-a-half but there's no excuses. We let down in all areas. We're embarrassed to play like that in front of our fans.

This team is on the upswing. I'm very anxious and very thankful to be a part of this for the next little while.

Twenty-five games isn't a lot with the ground we have to make up.

We just let down in all areas -- power play and penalty kill -- and it cost us. It was embarrassing for everybody. We were embarrassed to play like that in front of our fans. They've supported us all year. We had a pretty good crowd tonight and to come out like that is extremely disappointing.

I signed here last summer to come here and (want) to stay as long as I can. I love it here, and I don't want to move. I'm not afraid to admit that.

Anytime Canada makes an early exit it is a shock. I thought they could compete for a gold medal. It just shows hockey is a world sport now.

That's good, but over the course of an 82-game schedule it's going to wear a team down.

You're on a four- to five-hour plane ride going across the country and there's only so many movies you can watch and you can only talk to your buddy for so long. Guys sitting at the back of the plane sometimes will make bets.

You might put 100 bucks down that you'll beat your former team. It's nothing big. It's more for bragging rights than anything else.

It's the same old story. We weren't feeding off each other. We battled for two periods and then let it slip in the third.

It's huge. We're two teams that are in the same position and fighting to climb up the ladder and back into the playoff race.

It was not our best effort on the penalty kill, that is for sure. We took some undisciplined penalties and that ended up costing us.

It was a crucial goal, especially at that time. We had fought hard to get back in the game.

They'll provide leadership, and you already have a solid young core of up-and-coming players. And when you have a world-class goaltender like Roberto, it makes for a good mix.

Against a team like Carolina, they're a fast team, and they move the puck quick. If you don't keep your feet moving, you'll be forced into a lot of penalties.

It's nice, we're building some chemistry. We're getting a lot of chances. When the puck bounces your way and it happens to go in, it allows you to build confidence. Yeah, it would be nice to keep playing right now but that's the way it goes.