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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 13, 2008

Paul Holmgren

DAVID KEON: We have Paul Holmgren, General Manager for Philadelphia Flyers. We'll open it up for questions for Paul.

Q. Paul, was hoping you'd kind of comment on the progression of some of your Phantoms prospects this year and particularly guys that maybe weren't too well known such as Matsomoto and Greentree?
PAUL HOLMGREN: Yeah, actually Kyle Greentree played for the Flyers last night on Long Island. So he's come along nicely, as well as Matsomoto. They both started out real good and both kind of got injured at the same time. Took them a little while to bounce back from their injuries that they were suffering from but since that time they've been good again.
Our defense, the kids down there on defense have been real good. Ryan Parent has been good. And Nate Adams. Bacard who played a lot of games for the Flyers last year has been real good. And young Oscar Bartulis is a first year pro has been pretty good down there, too. So very encouraging with the play of some of those guys.

Q. Obviously you guys added a lot of new faces between the end of last year and this, and there was talk of a team-building trip you took. I was wondering if because this sort of team culture, chemistry, if you will, is a little bit less newer or little less formed or newer than other teams; does it make it more delicate this time of year making trades, or in your view does it make more of an advantage because things aren't so entrenched in the dressing room?
PAUL HOLMGREN: I think you gotta be careful there for sure. But at the end of the day, if you can make a deal you believe improves your hockey team, chances are you're going to move forward. I think right now there hasn't been a lot of movement to date so far, and I think that's probably more due to, A, the salary cap, and, B, the closeness of the league. It's unbelievable how close it is right now.
And I don't see a whole lot of separation between now and the deadline either. So it's going to be interesting to see what transpires.

Q. As far as your team you're happy with sort of how culture, bond is -
PAUL HOLMGREN: I think we have a close-knit team. Right now we're struggling a little bit. We have a stretch here where we've lost four games in a row. We just need to play better. We're playing the game right now, looks like we're looking for the easy way out sometimes and to win hockey games in the NHL if you're not ready to play 60 minutes you're probably not going to win. That's how close it is. That's a fact of life in the NHL today.

Q. Paul, I know you're close with Don Waddell, do you get the sense how he handles this Marian Hossa situation this year, probably one of the most difficult decisions in his tenure here in Atlanta?
PAUL HOLMGREN: I'm sure it's a difficult situation for Don. I know he wants to sign him. I know his team is back and forth from the division lead there between Washington, Carolina, them and then Florida is obviously in the hunt, too and Tampa Bay, that's a team that could come on any time.
It's going to be close down to the wire. Don has got here a couple of weeks now to decide what he's going to do. And to be honest with you I have no idea what he's going to do. I do know, as I said he's trying to sign him. If he can't, it's going to be difficult for him. Certainly going to be a guy I would think would be a hot commodity if he went to move him.

Q. Looking at what you were able to do last year, can you talk about the long-term impact, what those acquisitions mean to your organization.
PAUL HOLMGREN: Well, some more than others. I think the deal we made with Nashville for Peter Forsberg last year gave us some pieces that we're able to use and other deals later. Ryan Parent is a kid developing with our minor league team. We called him up here today. He'll probably play tomorrow for the Flyers. He's an outstanding young prospect, tremendous skater. Tremendous defender. We look for big things from him in the future.
Scottie Upshall is kind of an unknown guy. He came in last year after that trade and played very well and this year he's been hurt more often than not. So it's kind of hard to get a read on him. But we're certainly happy that - we're happy at the time we were able to make that deal. We thought it kind of gave us a jump-start into the summertime and what we needed to do to get back into the thick of things in hockey. Last year we were the worst team in hockey and at least this year we're kind of in the mix right now.
We're going through a difficult time right now and we've got to turn it around quickly in order to get back into it.

Q. I'm just wondering, how much does your conversations that you had with other general managers about trades this time of year, how much is that based on relationships you have with the people that you're talking to as opposed to the trades you're trying to make?
PAUL HOLMGREN: Well, I can only speak for myself in that regard. I like to believe that I have conversations with all the GMs from all the teams at some point in time. Obviously, I think we all have different relationships with different guys where perhaps we're a little closer. I'm fairly close with Brian Burke because we worked together in the past.
I'm fairly close with Lou Lamoriello from some past contacts. I don't know that the Devils and the Flyers would ever make a trade, but that doesn't mean I don't talk to them from time to time.
So I think it's different for each guy, to answer your question. But I think it behooves all of us to - if you're going to make a move with your team, to call around and see just what's available if, in fact, you decide to move the guy.

Q. As a follow-up to that, how much does what you do up leading up to the deadline relate to whether or not Peter Forsberg decides to come back with you guys?
PAUL HOLMGREN: Well, I think right now we're looking at a lot of things that might improve our hockey team. And I don't believe there's anything imminent. We may just end up not doing anything other than playing maybe some of our young kids in certain situations.
I think the last thing the Flyers need to do is do something crazy for a short-term fix right now, to try to, A, give us a push into the playoffs or, B, try to do something crazy. I just think we need to be patient here and take a look at the big picture.
Last year we were the worst team in the league. I think we're certainly a better team this year and I think our future is still bright because of some of our young players.
So we'd like to keep that intact if we could.

Q. Can I ask you how difficult it is to make a trade now when you can't tell who the buyers are and who the sellers are? I mean, deadline, the clock's ticking. You'd like to do something like Bryan Murray did maybe two weeks ahead so you're not in a bind with all the frenzy at the last minute. But you can't tell, teams keep putting you off probably, saying, Give me another week here.
PAUL HOLMGREN: Other than kicking tires, Jim, at least from me there hasn't been a whole lot of substantial talks going on. And I think, as I said earlier on this call, the salary cap is an issue and so is the - and the standings are an issue. Nobody has really fallen out of it far enough for who the heck knows.
We're in a position now where 10 days ago we were in first place in our division and we're second in the conference and now we've dropped to third in the division and we're sixth or seventh in the conference. I'm not even sure. Now we're in a spot where teams are creeping up from below and we seem to be sinking. So we need to get our own ship in order here and just go from there.
But the trade front, there's probably going to be more and more talks as we get close to the deadline. Whether anything substantial happens or not, I have no idea. Probably more to the closeness of the teams in the standings in the salary cap at that point.

Q. Do you need another experienced defenseman with your guys going down?
PAUL HOLMGREN: More than anything we need to play better in our own zone. We've struggled in our own zone for the last four, five, six games. Our goaltending hasn't been great either. I think we need to have good goaltending. I think we need to be better in our own zone as a team. Whether that's the defense or the fours that are back helping out, we need to do better in our own zone.

Q. I wanted to ask you, with the Matson game, when the rumors came out, automatically it was just assumed the Maple Leafs were going to get a first-round pick and a top prospect. Do you think last years deals with Tkachuk and Forsberg really have established that as a precedent that's going to go forward?
PAUL HOLMGREN: That's a good question. I don't know. Personally talking with the teams that I talked to last year with regards to Peter, there's a lot of things floating around. And David Poile in Nashville had a good team. And he had extra assets to give up and he made the trade that he felt would put them over the top. That's going to happen all the time.
I don't know. I find it hard to believe that it is just because not everybody is in a position where you're deep like Nashville was last year. He had extra assets.
I think we all, all the managers, need to keep an eye on the future. Sometimes Stanley Cup winners come out of nowhere, and in the last few years. And you just never know. I think the idea is just to get into the playoffs, just build your team to try to get into the playoffs every year and see what happens and go from there.
I don't know if that's true, Kevin. Right now I would say we certainly wouldn't do something like that.
DAVID KEON: Thanks very much, Paul.

End of FastScripts

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