Armstrong 9/26 postgame

(Talk about your experience playing in the games...)

It was a good experience. We were overwhelmed a little bit yesterday in the first period with the big ice. Teams are fast over here. They all know how to play the game and they play a great system, but you have to give us credit. We battled hard, we tried to stick to the NHL rules and the way we play in the NHL. No one was really freelancing out there like we could have. We tried to stick to the system and came out and won a couple games.

(Any difference in the way the officials call the game here?)

Yeah, I mean you can't knock officials. I played in the Swiss league five years ago and it's the same thing. There's not as much hitting, and on any big hits they try to protect the players. There's a lot more stick work over here, but that's just the way it is because you can't take runs at guys like in the NHL. They like the big hits. Here they don't like the big hits but that's just just the way it is. They do the best of their ability and I think they were fair both ways.

(You played a lot with Kyle Calder in camp. Talk about the chemistry you've developed together...)

Yeah, I've enjoyed playing with him. He's a really good player down the wing. I think this year he's going to force him to shoot a lot more, because he's not like Cammy and Lucky (Luc Robitaille), who were great at one-timing the puck. He's good at one-timers too but he's also great in front of the net. I'm trying to get a lot more pucks to the net. They call him `greasy' for a reason, because he gets those greasy goals. So I think it's going to be an exciting year for me, as well as Calds and our team. I think we've got a great team here and he's really brought the energy back to me for scoring goals again.

(You've been from L.A. to Colorado to Vegas to Austria. It's probably been a great trip for guys to get to know each other...)

Yeah, even the plane ride was good. The league, or the team, did a good job in picking the right plane for us. We had a `sleeper' plane and we got our rest on the plane. It's great to know the new guys, especially when we've got nine or 10 new guys here. I think that's how you do it most, is through some team-building stuff. That night in Vegas we had a good team dinner, and I think it's important to get to know guys, especially with chemistry at the NHL level. Every team is a great hockey team, but the team that gels quicker and starts believing in each other, I think has a good start right off the bat. So hopefully this works. We got to know each other a little bit and hopefully we'll gel as a team and take off right from the beginning.

(It's a nine-hour time difference from L.A. How have you adjusted? Getting some good sleep?)

Yeah, it's not bad. You know, you get away from your wife and kids a little bit and you get a little bit of rest. I love you Shannon, but you get a little bit of rest. But you go three or four days away from home and you miss your loved ones. But it's nice. With the nine-hour change, you try to get as much rest as possible. You get liquids in you and you try to get the good stretching and icing. Our main goal is that Saturday night game. Our whole training camp has been geared at those two games against Anaheim and it's going to be important. We came out so slow last year and we could never battle back. So we've got to come out of the gates a lot quicker this year and give ourselves an opportunity early.