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WORLD CUP OF HOCKEYSeptember 15, 2016Tommy BoustedtRickard GronborgToronto, Ontario Q. Where do you think you are going into this tournament and playing Russia on Sunday? RICKARD GRONBORG: Excellent question. I think we're making steps every day. Obviously the result of the last game wasn't what we were looking for, but at the same time, it's a perfect opportunity for us to maybe calibrate some more things on the ice and get ready for the first game of the World Cup. For me right now, it's always looking at being in the process of stuff, like we talked about last night. We got repetitions on 6‑on‑5 situations we've got some adversity going through the team which I think the guys are realizing, and as you can tell, all these exhibition games, not one team went through with full points going through the exhibition schedule here. That kind of tells you how close this tournament is going to be. I think Russia are one of the teams that want to compete for it and go for it all. I think it was a little bit of a lesson last night, but at the same time, we feel like we have a very strong team, and we should be ready to go when we're playing against Russia the first game. Q. Everybody will say with your goaltending you don't have to worry about it, there's no concern with Lundqvist. Is there any concern, though, with the idea that he's a goalie who's trying to establish his game early on, and he wasn't really given much of a chance to do that last night because of how the team played in front of him, and maybe that can take a little while for him to get his confidence back? Is there any concern with that? RICKARD GRONBORG: Well, Henrik is such an experienced goalie that he's gone through some adversity. I know he's going to rise through adversity, and same thing with the team. I think he's been through this before, and he's going to excel when he really needs to. Me as a coach, I'm looking more at how we get in those weird situations, why we're giving up the odd man rushes, and I'm more looking at the situational play for the whole entire team more than him. I know he's going to excel when we really need him, and that's what makes him a world‑class goalie. Q. Tommy, so many changes prior to the start of training camp with the injuries, and even during camp you lost a couple guys. The way the roster is now going into the tournament, just how pleased are you with the way things are going? TOMMY BOUSTEDT: Of course we haven't asked for this situation with all these injuries, but at the same time, we're happy to have the depth that we had today. 87 players played in the National League last season, and as the years go back like 10 years or something, we didn't have that situation. The problem would have been much larger at that time. We're happy to have a good development system in Sweden today producing players that can play on the highest level. And I think the players, the present players that we've got into the team, are all filling the holes that the ones that left us. I'm not so worried about these new players coming in. The only thing is they get a little bit less time to prepare, a couple fewer games to play, and it's early in the season, so that's one of the problems, I think, we have right now. But I don't think that problem is huge. The first game I think everyone will be in the tournament and also producing at the highest level. Q. Who is the dangerous player in Team Russia, and what is the dangerous line in the Russian National Team? RICKARD GRONBORG: Pretty broad question because I think every line they have is a dangerous line. I think they're really top heavy. I think Russia has got some tremendous hockey players on top, talking about forwards, and the guys can make plays in all four lines, really. That's something obviously we have to have in consideration when we get into that game, that Russia is going to come at you, and forward‑wise I would say they're one of the top if not the top team in this tournament. We're fully aware of that. It's going to be a great challenge. I'm looking forward to it. Q. What's your expectation for Marcus Kruger for the first game in terms of his availability? RICKARD GRONBORG: My expectation is he's going to be ready to go when we're dropping the puck in the first game. I think he's getting a lot of repetitions right now in practice. The prognosis is that he's going to be ready to go fully when we're dropping the puck the first game. He should be ready, and he obviously is filling a very important spot on our team. We've got some stability in one of the lines because he's a very smart player, especially when it comes to defensive situations from defensive face‑offs to penalty kills. He's a pretty important part of our team. Q. (No microphone.) RICKARD GRONBORG: That's a probable. I think they have a good chemistry in that line, but that's a probable. We'll address it when we get closer to the game. Q. You've coached against Russia before in the World Championships. Is there a rivalry there, and how would you describe your relationship with their coach? RICKARD GRONBORG: Good. I have full respect for the Russian team. I've got full respect for Russian hockey and him as a coach. I think obviously they're proven and he is proven as being a very solid coach and a victor, as such. I'm looking forward to it. They've got a great team. It's going to be a great game, and like I said, I have full respect for the team and him as a coach. Q. When you played last night, did you give consideration to taking today off? Skate today, take today off, maybe skate tomorrow? What were you thinking about with your schedule? RICKARD GRONBORG: We felt it was going to be a work schedule anyways coming down to do media, so we figured we'll go down here and get the last game out of the legs and get going into it and also get repetitions in the big rink here. I think that's important. Since we're starting a day later, I think we had an option either to take this day or tomorrow off, so right now we feel obviously we want to address some things from last night's game, and I think that was pretty important. I think it was important for the guys to get out on the ice again and start working towards the first game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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