Steve Stirling Quotations

We deserved better. I thought we played pretty well.

I don't have any idea why. We knew they would come out and skate, and we didn't keep up with them for the first five or seven minutes.

Certainly, if you look at it, the month of January is critical.

But there was no need for him to lose control in this situation.

I can't emphasize enough that their top players bought into the system, they're working hard, playing well and that sets the precedent for the young kids. No, absolutely not. I think there's nights we do. For the most part, the effort has been there for us. But when we get in trouble, we fade away.

If it wasn't for Garth, it might have been 20-1.

He was at the top of his game. The time off was good for him.

He went down awkwardly, and took a knee to the head. Everything just happened all at once.

He is not flashy; he does all the things a smart player does. If I had to pick one player, I'd say it was him (that was most impressive).

We took lazy, dumb, not hardworking penalties. We were never the same after it was 3-2 because they were coming like gangbusters.

He said he felt good and he was ready to go.

He's a real steady presence, on and off the ice. He has two championship rings and that's impressive.

When they got that first goal, that set us back a bit, more than I think it should. At 2-1, we didn't push hard enough. I thought we were careful, and careful doesn't win games.

He was playing pretty well and was going to carry the load until Ricky got back. And he's been one of the leaders, has been from day one this year, on and off the ice. We'll miss that.

He was moving his extremities, so that's a good sign.

He didn't look good coming off but the early report is that it wasn't too bad.

I think it'll be a great challenge. And it's a whole lot more comforting to go into the game against Ottawa coming off a pretty good game.

It appears he was in the habit of taking things from his mother, and he bullied her into not complaining.

I thought we played well the first two periods. But when the other team took it up a notch in the third, we did not respond with smart hockey, plain and simple.

I thought our penalty kill was a little better tonight. And that, coupled with Snowy making the big save when he needed to. was the difference.

Our thoughts are with Jason tonight. He knows he has the complete support of his team. We look forward to getting him back, but that's for another day. The good news is that he's going to be OK.

I think Snow played a good game. I thought he gave us a chance. We let him down. That's the last person I'm worried about. We took lazy, dumb non-hard working penalties. It only takes one bad clear, one play. Good teams finally score on you. That's what happened.

I think he was excited to be back. No, I'm not surprised he did what he did.

That was the turning point of the game for us. If the Rangers score the next goal, it would probably have set us back on our heels a bit.

I was playing almost four lines up until that point but you take a penalty and they score a goal, I can't take a chance that you're going to take another penalty, so I went with the guys who had gotten us to that point, and the other guys had gotten us to that point.

We got away from the little things. Chipping when you're supposed to, getting to center ice, we don't get it in deep like we're supposed to. The little things that good teams do, we didn't do.

You'd like to have a couple of those a year. You don't usually get any of those at this level.

We'll take the two points any way we can. We played a good 45 minutes. It seemed in the first period we couldn't or wouldn't skate with them.

We should've won. It was right there for us.

The quick start helps us. It takes the wind out of their sails. ... But I like the way we were resilient after two (periods) when it was 3-2. I like that we came out in the third period and put it away.

We seem to be more relaxed on the road, which leads to less penalties and lower expectations.

This was the first night I felt really comfortable as a coach. We only took six penalties, and hardly any were bad. If we can continue to do this on a regular basis, we'll be better for it.

We kind of went brain dead for 10 seconds in a 2-2 game.

We missed the net a lot. A lot more than I'd like to admit.

I spoke with Bruno this morning and I'll tell you what I told him. He didn't lose the job. He did everything he could. If his attitude stays the same it always is with him -- upbeat, you never question his effort -- he'll be fine. Bruno has a future with us.

The way he went down didn't look good, but we'll know (Saturday). The early report was that it wasn't too bad, but I haven't got a report as of yet. I saw he was pretty sore, so I wasn't surprised he couldn't come back.

Defensive-zone coverage is not brain surgery. Anybody can do it, if you have a will. It takes very little talent. At times, there's not enough people willing to do the grunt work.

This is a woman who was actively involved in the theft, and actively involved in the registration of the car. She was only ordered to pay one-third of the money, so she has not been singled out unfairly by the courts.

There weren't too many bumps in the road down low. There was better communication.

It was still early in the game, and Ricky has to have that third goal. We started off playing great, and then they got that first goal, and then we had a mental meltdown for the next three minutes. We have to be stronger, not physically, but mentally.

It's a loss, no doubt. Shawn had been one of our best players of late. But every team goes through injuries and it won't be an excuse for us. Shawn played a lot, so this means opportunity for other players.

It's flat-out wrong. He has to take the penalty, take his medicine, keep his mouth shut, and take it out on the other team by scoring a goal or making a big hit - legally.

The next step ... is you sit them in the crowd, if you have that luxury. I'd do it with anybody if I thought it was the right thing to do.

The beginning of the end was when we didn't get a shot on the 5-on-3 at 1-1 with your top power-play unit out there. It was never the same again. It was a momentum-killer, plain and simple.

It's great news that Ricky's in the fold. He is a very important player for our franchise's present and future.

I've heard some wonderful things, and every report I have is better than the next. I read our scouting reports ... and after every time I'd ask how he was, and everyone said he's the real deal.

The turning point was the second period with all the penalties. We took some silly, needless penalties there.

Not our best effort. We had enough fresh legs in there that conditioning was definitely not a problem. The execution simply wasn't very good, especially on the power play.

I'm very impressed. I can't emphasize enough that the top players bought into the system. Obviously, they're playing hard, obviously, they're playing well. And that sets the precedent for the younger kids.

If you win, you keep your job. If you don't win, you could lose it or you do lose it. I didn't make the rules, Mike didn't make the rules.

He's technically sound, and I think that is a huge factor. There's not going to be a lot of breakdowns to his game technically. Plus, he's a real competitor. Put the two together and it's pretty special.

I didn't think he's played very well the last few games, plain and simple.

He took a penalty and I couldn't afford to put him on the ice again, and have him take another one.

For the first 50 minutes, I thought we played pretty well.

You can't fall behind too many teams 3-0 that early and expect to come back. To do it against Ottawa?

The initial news was positive. But it's never a good thing when a guy goes in like that and doesn't move. . . . It couldn't have been fun for anyone to see him go down.

Alexei is our leader, on and off the ice. This just makes it official.