Lewis 9/25 postgame

(On the atmosphere...)

They had the drums, the flags, the banners, and they really got the home team going and they jumped to that 3-0 lead really fast.

(A little bit of a wake-up?)

Well yeah, it was a wake-up call and also it took our guys some time to get their legs established under them a bit. We were a little bit sluggish, obviously, at the start of the game and I thought as the game went on, we got better. Yet they didn't give up either. They put pressure, they attacked, and it's such a different game on the big ice. They do different things, a lot of weaves. They attack with their defense also. So those patterns, I think our guys took time to adjust to.

(What kind of adjustments did you try to make as the game went on?)

I just think... the first period, you get that under your belt and you get your legs, after all the travel we had in the last day and a half. We did practice here yesterday, but I think we felt better going into the next period. We wanted to play a more structured game. I think we got away from our structure a little bit, and it's partially because of the size of the rink but partially because we just broke down.

(Is goaltending one of the most difficult to adjust to, because of the angles and the size of the rink?)

Yeah, exactly. That's what happens. Talking to Billy Ranford the last couple days, he noticed that when he played, coming to big European rinks, is that the angles change a bit and the teams play a little bit of a different style. They don't crash the net a lot, like the NHL teams do. They do a lot of lateral passes. You saw a goal like that. It was like a long pass from the corner, pass center in the end zone and a one-timer shot. They're aware of it, they practice, and yet it takes a little time to adjust to covering that.

(Obviously it was a short camp back in North America. Is this rushed a little bit?)

Well, you know, the only thing is that the travel from Las Vegas showed. I thought our game against Colorado was a fabulous game, a tremendous atmosphere. The fans were spectacular. I mean, that was an environment that I had never seen, and talking to yourself (Daryl Evans) and some of the other guys around, it's happened quite often. So we looked at that game, analyzed it, and we had a very strong, competitive game with emotion and energy and committment. Then we traveled here and we didn't have the same structure, like I said earlier. You do what you do in training camp. It doesn't matter. You have to get ready for Saturday and that's what Crow has been talking about since day one. We're preparing right now, whether it's the first day or camp, the 10th day or the 20th day, and get ready for that first game against Anaheim.

(There's a lot of time for the guys to spend together. With all the new guys, that would be deemed a good thing?)

Exactly. Yesterday we had some time off in the afternoon, and Red Bull has a customized, refurbished 1950-something DC-6, and we all went up and flew between the mountains, which is something I had never done. It was a spectacular day and the guys really enjoyed it. So things like that, the guys will never, ever forget and it brings them together. They spend quality time together, and being on the airplane, it's a long flight over but guys get to know each other on a personal level a bit more.