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- You see a lot of other goalies, the puck goes in
and they're looking at their D-man
and throwing their hands up type thing.
And me, I'd want to turn around and slash [bleep]....
Ah, I wouldn't do that, but....
- We all grew up watching Stanley Cup playoffs, all of us
at this table. For a lot of you NHL fans
that are out there, that are tuned in to watch this:
There's nothing like the Stanley Cup playoffs
in all of sports.
We're all big sports fans, but there's nothing like that.
Let's talk about the battle mentality
that it takes in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
What is it that raises that battle level -
which is already high for hockey players -
through the roof?
- I think once the puck drops in playoffs
it's a totally different game.
I think, like you said, the battles go up.
It feels like the ice surface gets smaller,
the boards start creeping in on you a little bit more
and there's less room. And it's human nature
just to want to work the guy
that you're staring across the ice at.
That's how guys win.
- I hadn't played in the playoffs in a long time,
and then last year we played these guys in the first round.
And it was pretty cool for me to see,
to get that feeling back, to remember
how much it gets dialed up that first game
and those first five minutes. You know every minute
of every shift counts so much.
It's a different atmosphere,
but it's a totally different game.
Everything is so much more amplified and intense.
- Yeah, I think, like you said, the switch kind of flips
in the playoffs and it gets amped up a little higher.
Then you notice things that guys are pushing through,
like broken feet, and broken hands and fingers,
and whatever it may be. So just goes to show that....
And you don't really know how many chances
you're ever gonna get at it. So when you get a chance,
and your team's in the playoffs,
you're doing everything you can to be out there.
- Toughens you up pretty quickly.
- Yeah, exactly.
- I think that's why in playoffs, a lot of the time,
you see the guys who have the biggest impact
are the grittier guys and the third-liners
or the fourth-liners. Because they sort of cancel
each other out, the top lines. Right?
And they're the guys that are getting shut down
playing against the best pairs on D
and all that stuff. But it's a gritty game in the playoffs.
- Does it sting when you see another team win that Cup?
And does that motivate you more?
Does that give you a little bit more,
a little more jam in the gym?
- Yeah, especially when it's a team in your division,
or guys who you play against all the time,
and you see them having success
and going for it. For sure, it motivates you.
And, like I said, as you get older....
I think we're all veteran guys,
and as you start getting older
and realizing how quick your career can go by,
you want to get as many cracks as you can at it.
- When I'm watching, I honestly don't want
anyone else to win. Like I can't stand watching
teams I play against a lot win the Cup.
But I was down with Pittsburgh winning it again,
just so no one new was winning....
Yeah, it sucks. You just want that thing so bad.
And it sounds kind of funny,
but that's all you really think about all season
is just trying to get back to that spot,
and try to win that Stanley Cup.
Because after you win that thing,
man, those next three months are just the best time of life,
like unbelievable. So yeah, you want to get back there,
and I don't like seeing other guys win it, really.
- Who's the toughest team you guys would say
that you've played against this season?
- For me, I thought Boston was really good this year.
I thought both times we played them,
they rolled four lines, they're all big, skilled guys.
And yeah, I don't know. It's tough to say
because we only played them twice,
but I thought ... I really was surprised at
them going out in the second round there.
But I think a lot of it had to do with them
going seven games against the Leafs in the first round.
It took a lot out of them. So they were a tough team,
they were a tough team to play against.
- Yeah, for sure they were.
That was always a tough game for us this year.
But I think when we played Winnipeg towards the very end
of the year, I thought that was the toughest game
that we had - just all the depth that they have.
That was, for us, I think the team that gave us
the most trouble in the game.
- This year I actually thought Jersey.
They're just relentless. And every time
you went after the puck, "There's somebody's on me."
And like, "Get away from me. Stop."
- Teams match up against you, they're like,
"Ah, we gotta get our hits in on Doughty, boys.
Gotta make sure we finish him.
We gotta get into him, make him pay. Gotta make him pay."
Who's that team?
Or maybe a player even?
- I was gonna say Winnipeg, too.
I had in my mind the whole time.
And I remember Nashville. Nashville always
plays us really well. But Winnipeg,
those top guys, like their top-line guys,
Scheifele and Wheeler, those guys play this skill game,
but they play the hard game too.
They play hard and you get hit all the time.
And they're big, strong guys.
So I would say, for me, they're the toughest team to get.
I felt, with the puck, I wasn't able to create anything
against that team. I just had no space to make plays
and, yeah, they were tough for me.
- We played Winnipeg right near the end of the season
in Winnipeg. And we lost in overtime,
but we were outshot 52 like 12.
They just come at you in waves,
and Nashville's the same way.
They just keep coming in waves.
They play hard, and they're fast,
they're big, they're physical
and they got a lot of skill. And when you put those
all together, you're gonna have a good team.
- Interesting how none of those teams are gonna be
in the Cup final this year, but they're all
really good teams, and they could very well
be there next year.
I mean one of you guys could very well be there next year.