SHARKSPAGE

WCSF Game 5: Post-series comments by San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan

Post-series comments by San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan:

“I don’t know if this is a changing of the guard. They are a very good team, they have obviously been to the finals the last couple years. This is a very, very big win for our organization for a lot of different reasons. One, we get to continue playing in the playoffs here. Two, to shed some of that reputation we have supposedly earned in the past. By no means is our task done or over. The fact that it was a win over a team that has been to the Stanley Cup Finals the last couple years, a team that quite frankly has had our number over the last little bit. The ability to recover from the shellacking we took in their building. I think there was more questions there at the end. A lot of things to overcome. Patrick Marleau scored the winner. We had some individuals, who heading into the playoffs had to answer some questions. To this point they have done it.”

“You have to take emotions out of it as a coach. I have said it before that I have a lot of friends and good memories on that team, and will continue to. But when you start playing the players ultimately decide it. We’re there to give them a little bit of guidance, push them at a certain time, make a few changes. But they decide it. It was fought between the 40 guys tonight, not necessarily the coaches.”

“It was a spanking (in game 4), it was a collective spanking. I mentioned this morning that we weren’t trying to get one or two players to play better, we were trying to get our whole team to play better. I think that helped a little bit. We couldn’t pin it on anybody. The team didn’t pin it on anyone. But, we really believed in the group we had, that they were mentally strong enough to respond to it. Again the questions that were asked from the outside world, I think it motivated us a little bit more as well.”

“When you look at (Joe Thornton) as the playoffs have evolved, I think you see that he has become more and more comfortable playing a role outside of being a pure setup man and scorer. He has played extremely physical, and he has been real good in the faceoff circle, he has killed penalties. His turnover ration has really gone down. We couldn’t be happier for him. He is one of the individuals I talked about earlier, one of the players that had to shed a reputation whether it was gained fairly or not. Up to this point, he has done a real good job”

“Nabokov played extremely well. That is as simple as I can put it. He made some huge saves, especially on the penalty kill when they were moving the puck around. We have now talked about three people, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Evgeni Nabokov again. Immediately after the 7-1 loss, everyone tied that to the Olympics. That had absolutely nothing to do with the Olympics. I felt real good when I saw Nabby at the pregame skate this morning. He was pretty focused and determined.”

“You could see (Patrick Marleau’s play) evolving from the bench because we had a real good angle on it, if you were on our bench. He got the shot off quick. I don’t know if we were silently asking (Thornton to get the puck on net), we were yelling it. Again, a real good play below the goal line. Detroit did a real good job in this series squashing us below the goal line. We had to fight through it. Jumbo found him, and in it went.”

“Patrick Marleau is a huge, huge part of this team and this organization. His impact on the team, the community, and on our Shark family hasn’t shrunk one bit because he is not wearing that little piece of felt. In fact, I think he is better equipped that he was last year maybe to contribute as a leader. We saw tonight, you can lead through words and cheering. He upped his game when we asked him to and he came away with the winner.”

“We had an excited or a nervous bench (late in the game), which moving forward we are going to have to correct. That starts with us as a coaching staff. You could tell it was real important for the players to get through it. We are going to have to learn how to settle down as we move forward. I looked at Douglas Murray and he was bleeding from his nose and his lip. I asked him if he was okay, and he yelled absolutely. The commitment level was there. It was nice to see.”

“There was a lot (of changes since last season). We can talk about how we play, we play a little different than we did last year. We made some changes. The personel fit the way we wanted to change. The leadership changed. The way we as a coaching staff handled individuals changed a little bit. Collectively, just mentalling getting a little bit stronger and a little bit tougher, not a lot. Just a little bit. That has helped us get to this point.”

“Niclas Wallin has been hurt, so for him to come back in for a situation like this was real big for us and big for him. He played through it tonight. What Wallin gives you is a big, big body. From experience, he is a good penalty killer. When they ended up putting Bertuzzi and Franzen together with Zetterberg, we needed a little more size at times down low. If it wasn’t going to be Murray, it was going to be Wallin and a couple others. He provided that for us.”

“You need every piece, regardless of their minutes, you need every piece to make their mark on the game. It is a tough series for Scott (Nichol) to play because of line rotations, and there were times he sat 6 or 7 minutes then we asked him to take important draws and penalty kills. He was prepared to do it. He did it very admirably.”

“There are two parts to (not talking a timeout with the late 6-on-4 against). We would prefer not to give them time, they had already used their timeout earlier on one of the icings. We didn’t want to give them any time to set up. When the two players we knew, Patrick Marleau or Pavelski, or whover was on the ice at the time, I still can’t remember. I asked him if he was okay, and he said yes. Away we went. We didn’t want to give them the opportunity to set up.”

“I hope Nicklas Lidstrom plays (next season) because he is one hell of a player. What we all don’t understand, you have to be there, is that he is a better person than he is a player, and that is saying something. He has given a lot to the game, and a lot to Detroit. He has got a family at home he probably would like to spend time with. Personally, I hope he plays. The Red Wings will miss him, but also the game will miss him. I know when my kids come to the rink they love watching him. I hope he plays again.”

“Tomorrow the management and the rest of the group will have to sit down and try to give us an idea, a map, or a calender that might come over the next week. We don’t know when we will play, we obviously don’t know who we will be playing. I do know that we will take tomorrow off so the guys can spend the day with their families. They have earned that. It’s Mother’s day. We will probably report to the rink on Monday and make a decision on how much, or whether we will skate or not. Hopefully by then we will get at least a schedule laid out for us. Other than that, I know as much as you do.”