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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 14, 2008Shawn HorcoffDAVID KEON: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm David Keon of the National Hockey League's public relations department, and I'd like to welcome you to today's call. With us we have Edmonton Oilers forward Shawn Horcoff. Thanks to Shawn for taking the time today to answer your questions, and thanks to J. J. Hebert of the Oilers public relations staff for arranging this call. Last week Shawn was named to the Western Conference All-Star team for the 2008 NHL All-Star game that will be held in Atlanta on the weekend of January 27th. He leads the Oilers in scoring with 43 points on 19 goals and 24 assists in 46 games. Edmonton is on a four-game winning streak, improving their record to 21-21-4 for 467 points. They host Los Angeles tomorrow before a five-game road swing through the eastern United States that will take them into the All-Star break. Thanks to Shawn for taking the time today to answer your questions. We'll open it up now. Q. Congratulations. SHAWN HORCOFF: Thank you very much. Q. Does participating in this game officially signify your arrival in Edmonton? SHAWN HORCOFF: Yeah, I mean, you know what, I hope so. I think I've worked hard to become a -- like I said, the game itself was never a goal of mine. I think what was a goal was becoming a first-line center and a lead forward in the league, and obviously if you're able to accomplish things like that, I think accolades like this come with that. But for myself, I put a lot of hard work in over the years and really worked my way from a fourth-line left wing to a first-line center, so a moment like this is extremely gratifying for me. Q. Have you spoken to anyone about what goes on in these All-Star games and what you might expect? SHAWN HORCOFF: I haven't really talked to anyone. I played in a young All-Star game back early in my career, so I kind of have an idea what to expect on the weekend. Most of all I'm going to go and have good fun. I have a lot of family coming, and obviously my wife and kids are going to be there, so I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Q. What's been the biggest difference in your game this season compared to last year? SHAWN HORCOFF: A number of things. I think last year I didn't really get off to the start -- the first half of the season really didn't go the way I wanted, and I was extremely disappointed with it for numerous reasons. I think not going all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals and not really getting the summer training that I needed in to prepare myself for the start of the season had a lot to do with that. I put in the time this off-season to make sure I was ready. I took on a new strength and conditioning coach in California and I put in a good three and a half months with him, and a lot of things. I changed my sticks, I worked a lot on the mental aspect of my game. I think -- I met with a sports psychologist a few times a week when I was out in California training, and he helped me try to focus and visualize on some things that were going to help my game. And having done that, I've been able to have more of a shooter's mentality, and it's allowed me to get in better positions and it's resulted in more goals. I can't say it was just one thing, it was a conglomerate of a lot of things. Q. I wanted to ask you, right in July there, I guess it was July 1st even, you might have gotten -- you and your teammates might have gone to bed thinking Michael Nylander was going to be an Oiler, and then the next morning he kind of woke up and changed his mind. Is that something you have thought about at all? I know you guys are going to see him in a few days. SHAWN HORCOFF: You know what, I don't think the players have really thought of it as much as management. I think on the players' side and the players' perspective, he wasn't really an Edmonton Oiler at all. Until you're actually around the teammates and around the guys and start becoming part of the team, things like that don't really affect you. So I think it was more of a bigger deal for management thinking they had a deal done and then not being able to -- at the last minute finding out it wasn't and he went somewhere else was more of a shock to them. I don't think a lot of players actually knew about the fact that the deal was done before it came up and he signed with Washington. Q. And since he didn't sign with you guys, that had to leave an opening for one of the younger guys, and I'm guessing that Sam Gagner might be the guy who benefited the most from that. Can you talk about what he's done in his rookie season? SHAWN HORCOFF: Yeah, he's been great for us, especially for an 18-year-old. Not just himself but Andrew Cogliano came in, and both those two put in some strong minutes up front for being such young guys. They're both great kids. They want to work extremely hard. They come to the rink every day with a great attitude and they're a pleasure for veterans to be around. I think they're only going to get better for us in the future. The future looks real bright for the team and the organization. Q. Do you have anything you want to say to all your hometown fans that are going to be cheering you on? SHAWN HORCOFF: Well, I'd like to thank them for all the support over the years, for sure. I think obviously from my days of minor hockey there, I still consider it my home, and I'm sure a lot of people there are just excited that I made the All-Star game. It'll be an exciting day for the town, and I just want to thank them all for the support. Q. Any great advice for all the young hockey players that look up to you? SHAWN HORCOFF: Yeah, just to stick with it and believe. For me that was the biggest thing coming through the minor hockey ranks. I had guys likes Ray Ferraro and Travis Green and Adam Deadmarsh that I looked up to that were playing in the NHL, so it gave me a reason to believe that if I stuck with it and worked hard enough at that I could make it. I think that's the biggest thing; you have to believe in the fact that if you work hard enough that you can make the NHL and you can play there. For me that was the biggest thing, just to stick with it, work hard and just know that there's a chance. Q. Did you ever consider at all that when management was trying to bring in Nylander and trying to do some of the other things they were trying to do, given some younger centers a chance, that that was ever a referendum on how they felt or the confidence they had in you, and if so, how did you deal with that mentally? SHAWN HORCOFF: Yeah, I think when the whole Nylander thing went down, I think it was pretty obvious that they were looking for a No. 1 center at the time, and they saw like at the end of last year, the down season that I had, that maybe I wasn't the guy for them. For me personally on a professional level, you can't think about that. I realize it's a business; I understand that. And for myself, it really didn't affect me that much. I came into training camp and I trained in the off-season the exact same way as I would have if I was coming into camp and I had to earn that No. 1 spot again. For me, I'm fine by that. I've always played my best hockey when I've been in competition or been competing for a spot. So I really didn't concern myself with it too much. I do realize it's a business, and they have to make their own choices. It's hard decisions for the organizations and for the players. I understand there's always hard decisions for the players. For me I really didn't feel too bad about it. I knew if I came in that if I had a good off-season and training that I'd be ready to go and I'd be ready to take over the No. 1 spot again, and I've been able to do that. Q. Having said that, now that you've done it and you're having the season you've had, how much personal satisfaction is there from what you've been able to do? SHAWN HORCOFF: Well, I mean, there's lots. I think that's -- when I first got named, I think more so than just being excited about it, there was just a huge sense of gratification and satisfaction on my side because it's just been -- nothing has really been easy for me in my career, and I've kind of had to work for everything. You know, I really wouldn't take it any other way. You know, that's why I think it makes this moment, that weekend, even more special for me. Q. I guess after the struggles your team has gone through in the last year and a half, a four-game winning streak is still a bit modest but it's worth noting. What's been going right with the Oilers? SHAWN HORCOFF: I don't know, I think it starts with the team goal. It's been the gold standard for us and it's been giving a chance for us to win every night. Also we're starting to see some chemistry up front, and we're getting not just one or two lines scoring, but on a lot of nights we're getting three lines or four lines scoring. And when that happens and you have good goaltending, you're going to give yourself a chance to win. On top of that, we always try to score some power play goals. Our special teams has been great. Our power plays in the first 30 or so games have got off to a little bit of a slow start and struggled, but in the past 15 games they've been real good, and actually we've scored a power play goal in each of the last six games. It's no secret that it's a big contributor to our success. Q. Your shooting has been a big to your success and now you're not that far out of a playoff spot especially in that Northwest Division, it's tight there? SHAWN HORCOFF: Yeah, it's real tight. We play in the most competitive division in hockey, so it makes every game real important for us. We really wouldn't have it any other way. Right now, even in a situation with the veteran guys in Edmonton, they've been through enough over the past six, seven, eight years to know that it's really hard in February, late February and especially through March, to make up four, five, six points. We realize that this is the time of the year when you want to make a run and you want to put yourself back in the playoff hunt and in the playoff picture. Q. Can you elaborate a little on when you went down to Mexico to have your stick custom designed? What exactly were you looking for, and what happened there? SHAWN HORCOFF: Well, I had a lot of problems with my sticks last year. They came in, they were either the wrong curve or the wrong lie, and for anyone that's ever played hockey on any sort of professional level, I think they'll understand how difficult it is. It's your job, and if you don't -- if your stick doesn't feel comfortable in your hand, it makes things obviously a little bit more frustrating and difficult out there. I talked to Easton and I talked to the guys in the management, and they assured me if I came down to the factory that they'd be able to make me a stick to the exact specifications that I wanted. I talked to a few guys that had done it before and they talked really highly about it and said that they recommended going down, so that's what I did. I went down earlier in the summer, and I spent a better part of half a day with Mike McGrath there, who's kind of the guy that overlooks all the operations down there. We went over everything, every little detail of my blade, from the width to the curvature and the finish, and we sat there until we nailed down something that was right. I had to wait four or five weeks for it to come in, and by that time I started skating a little bit in August, and when they did come in they were right because they were exactly to the specifications that I wanted. And ever since then the stick has been right and it feels comfortable in my hand. How do you put a price on that, really? I go out there every game feeling confident with the stick and the puck is going to feel good on my stick, and that's really invaluable. Q. What was the biggest adjustment for you coming from Michigan State and entering the NHL? What was the biggest adjustment you had to make? SHAWN HORCOFF: You know what, I can't really say just one thing. I think more so just getting adjusted to all the games and the lifestyle of being a professional. I think out of college you have 45 games, and you only play on the weekend and there's plenty of time for rest, there's plenty of time to get in the gym, and when you come into the NHL, all of a sudden you're playing every second day and you're traveling all over North America and getting in late and different flights. So I think for me that was the biggest adjustment. You know, physically, I think when it comes to the actual game, the biggest step for me was coming from juniors to college. Once I went to college, I was able to be in the gym and I came out of college after four years being physically strong enough and ready for the NHL games, so that wasn't as big a step as it was just the overall preparation, I think. DAVID KEON: Thanks very much for your time today. Good luck. Thanks, everyone, for joining us, and have a great day. End of FastScripts |
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