He talks about Blake, the Cammalleri-O’Sullivan-Frolov line, Armstrong, Frolov (who now has 54 points in 52 games), December’s struggles, tomorrow’s game against Chicago (remember, it’s a 1 p.m. start), Ellis, Ersberg and (once again) Harrold.
On Blake practicing: “It was nice to see. He looks pretty good right now. He told me the past few days the pain is becoming a little bit more tolerable. I’m interested to see what he has to say after today. I dont think he’ll be ready for tomorrow. I’d be surprised if he was. But I think we see now that next week is a possibility for sure.”
On sticking with the Cammalleri-O’Sullivan-Frolov line: “For sure. Unfortunately, we have to do without Army here for a short period of time and those guys were terrific yesterday, they really were. They’re feeling good about themselves today. The thing about Brown and kKopitar is theyve had different linemates all year. Yesterday, I think Thornton did a good job. After his fight, Brian Willsie played few shifts with them and I think Brian played extremely well with them on the left side as well. If theres a spot thats probably favorable for any of our players, it would be to play on left side with those two guys. That would allow us to keep Cammy, Fro and Sully together.”
On Armstrong’s injury: “We dont have the official word on it. We think its a knee sprain, though. We dont think its anything further than that.”
On Frolov: “Last night he showed great hands. The goals he scored looked almost effortless, but watch closer and you see the skill level hes got. Hes a very talented player. Hes talented hanging onto the puck, hes talented with his creativity and his shot is very good. If hes in tight, when he has the opportunity, he knows what hes doing. Hes had a great production season this year, and he has had to deal with a lot of soreness and a lot of issues. Hes feeling a lot better since he was out in early December.
“I think the whole month of December we were injury riddled, with Cammalleri being out for much of it, Frolov being out for much of it and LaBarbera being out for a great deal of it. That was the month that really killed us because we had that eight-game streak where we couldnt get a save. When you cant get a save and youre missing a lot of youre scoring punch, that adds up to making it difficult to find wins.
“Were playing a lot better now. Im pleased with how the group has competed. Weve got to continue to compete hard. I think theres a lot to be gained with each of these games. Were going to be facing a desperate Chicago team tomorrow. Theyve got a lot of confidence after their shutout victory the other day. Thats a good challenge for us. It would be nice for us to go into the 3-4 days off with another victory. Its going to take a lot of effort and desperation on our part, and we dont have the natural desperation right now. Weve got to manufacture it. Weve got to rely on people coming with great dedication and real professionalism.”
On Ellis: “I was pleased with how he practiced today. Hes a very conscientious kid. He seems like a very hard-working person. Thats what we heard about him and he definitely showed those attributes today. I would think hell play tomorrow.”
On Ersberg: “I did like him today. Its the first time Ive liked him in practice. He looked like he was much more comfortable. I think for goalies the release happens quicker. The guys ability to get shots away in very short, confining time spaces is the big difference between the AHL and NHL. Theres probably a read element for the goaltender to read the release of the shooter. He looked like he was overwhelmed with it the first couple of days but today he looked a lot more comfortable.”
On Harrold: “We love his competitiveness. For a guy who is not the biggest of defenseman, he is a very competitive, competitive person. Weve tried to give him some of the intelligence of Modry. I think they read the play very similarly but Jaro knew I dont need to go in there first and get my shoulder taken out by bigger guys. There are times when it’s smarter and a lot more efficient to play a contained game. I think Peter will learn that over time. Hes such a competitor, though. You have to be smart in this game. No sense going in first, getting taken out of the play and risking injury when a lot of times the smart decision is to contain a forward and hopefully steer him into an area where you can take the puck away. I love Peters ability to skate. His decision making is above average. Were going to continue trying to utilize those tools. Like any young player he is going to get better.”