Wes Walz Quotations

We're fine. I don't think anyone is discouraged by what happened here tonight.

We know we've got a lot of ground to make up. Guys talking about how many wins we need. We need one win (tonight). That's all we've got to look forward to, and then we'll worry about the next game when it comes.

There are four or five guys in the room all the time with groin injuries. There's no rhyme or reason.

I fanned on the shot off the rebound, but I just happened to get enough on it to get it over the goal line.

Going into the third period in years past, there was no chance (for opponents). It just feels a little different. We've addressed some things here. We're working at it.

He's been the best defensemen in the league for 10 years. He just always makes the right play. When he's out there, guys like me have to be more aware of him when he has the puck, so that creates more room for the other guys.

I actually thought to myself, 10 years ago, when I was in this league, there was probably no chance of me playing the rest of that period, at least. I was thankful I got the opportunity to get back out there.

He was about 90 percent sure, and I said those are numbers I want to hear.

I think it's going to be exciting for the fans, and it's definitely going to be exciting for the players.

It feels like it's sliding away as far as making the playoffs a reality.

Willie's a warrior for us. He's one of those guys when he talks, he backs up what he says. He works hard after practices. He'll be on the bike after a game. He tries to get better, and he has a lot of respect from guys in our dressing room.

We can't get overexcited about a three-game streak. It seems like whenever we have a little bit of success for an extended period, we seem to fall back.

When Gabby gets the puck on a two on one, there's a good chance he's going to be shooting.

We want to knock these guys out of the playoffs. We have a good rivalry with this team and we're not going to fold up our tents and pack it up, we re going to play hard all the way through.

When you got a few guys out of the lineup, the other team has the puck. It's almost 60-40. When you got the puck, you're not going to be taking many penalties. Sometimes, it's now how many you take it's when you take them.

We've had more peaks and valleys in the consistency of our play this year than, I think, any other. If we can have a stretch where we put another six, seven games in a row together here, where we've played like we have over the last 10 days or so, we could be there.

We all understand that it's something that could happen. I don't think anyone's untouchable in our room.

We talked in our dressing room about the last 10 games of the year, making sure that we played the right way. Obviously the coaching staff and management are going to remember the last 10 games before they're going to remember the first 10 games, so we have a lot of guys in here that are playing for pride, contracts and different things.

There have been many nights where Gabby is the one talking before warm-up to get the guys ready. If you get your star player saying that, when normally he never did, and he goes out on the ice and is your best player most nights, that's what it takes to be a leader.

It was unfortunate that we lost because I thought we played really well.

Randy complements our line. He sees the ice really well. When the puck comes around the wall, he's got a good set of hands. He can get a lot of loose pucks out to Gabby.

You might play a little bit more in your own end, but you've just got to be smarter. We didn't do that. It cost us a couple penalties.

They're definitely a better team than that. But for our sake, I hope they play the same way.

It seems like we wait and see what's going to happen before we go. In the second and third we played well, but we waited too long to get going.

I took so many things for granted as a young hockey player. From the time I was 20 to 24, I was the first guy to criticize somebody else if I wasn't playing well. I was lazy. That frustrated my dad a lot. I remember him telling me, if you put something into it, and work hard, you'll always get something out of it. You won't know when it's going to happen. It could be years down the road.

It's almost like we play better within one goal either way. When we have a 4-1 lead, it's like we change the way we play. That team generated nothing by themselves. Any opportunity was because of our sloppiness.

It's been a long time. I'm excited about it. We have a real challenge ahead of us the last 15 games to try to win as many games as we can down the stretch to give ourselves the best chance. We're still pulling in here thinking we can make the playoffs.

I know one thing. The coaching staff and management on our team will remember our last 10 games of the season more than they'll remember the first 10 games. There's some guys in here that are playing for their careers.

If you take more than six or seven penalties in a game, you put yourself in such a disadvantage. There's going to be games when sometimes it just happens. We've been fortunate to been able to kill off those penalties in the past. But unfortunately, they got the power-play goal, and it gave them momentum.

I didn't think I had to go out and get that one back. It just turned out that way.

If I'm paying those guys' salaries, I don't want them in there. It's a joke. Why do we even have replay officials if they're not going to call that?

I don't see this team moving forward without Jacques. He's brought so much credibility and knowledge into our dressing room by making the players responsible and doing the same thing for five years.

We've got a lot of guys in here that are playing for pride and contracts and different things. Now that we are out of the race, guys are playing looser and you can see it in our play.

We're just a fragile team right now. It seems like when we have a little bit of adversity, when something goes wrong, you can feel it on the bench, it kind of sinks. Unless we get a goal or something really positive happens, it's tough. I think falling out of the playoff race takes the wind out of your sails for sure.

It seems whenever we have a little adversity, the emotions drop. We've fallen out of the race, and it kind of takes the wind out of your sails.