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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v RED WINGS

May 21, 2009

Joel Quenneville

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Quenneville.

Q. Good to be back on your home ice?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: Yeah. It will be exciting tomorrow night. I know that throughout the playoffs, throughout the year, we've been pretty effective on our home ice. It's been a fun place to play. It's been exciting in the playoffs. The crowds have been tremendous. We expect much the same tomorrow.

Q. Joel, I know you need everybody to score, contribute. Talk about what you need to do to get Kane going?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: He's been good. I like the way he played his last game. He plays like that, he's going to be productive. I just think, be it his line -- I don't think we have been a one dimensional line all year, expect one guy to be our key scorer. I think we've gotten contributions across the board.
So, you know, some nights and some days, certain guys don't hit the score sheet. But I think them being concerned with certain guys can slow them down in other areas. Hopefully, whether Kaner is producing or somebody else is productive, I think it's gonna take everybody. To me, I'm more concerned how well we check.

Q. When the noise of the crowd is raining down on the team, how does that affect or energize you?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: I think it's exciting. It gives you an emotional charge. Right from the outset of the national anthem. I just think it's a fun place to play. We've had different stretches where the crowds were at different noise levels, particularly our last game against Vancouver, where it was off the charts at the end. Sometimes it's not that loud, but it's always got some noise to it.
I think for everybody involved playing the game, it's enjoyable. Guys like to play in that type of setting. But certainly it's to our advantage. We want to make sure we take advantage of it.

Q. Nik was not on the ice today.
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: He was resting. Three or four different guys didn't skate.

Q. Having played an extra 16 games, good for him to clear his head?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: It's a long season. Certain guys haven't been skating. They'll be out there in the morning.

Q. Checking and being physical go hand-in-hand? Have you been physical enough in the first two games?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: I thought we had some good hits in both games. They're not an easy target. I think we always try to stress hard in the puck area, physical when the plays are available. I think that we want to continue on. I thought we made some improvements in that area from Games 1 to 2. We want to continue to improve from 2 to 3.
That part of our game is certainly something you don't want to be chasing. Still got to play our position. Still got to play with a purpose, take what's given. But let's be hard in the puck area. I think they're as good a team in the league in that area.

Q. How much tweaking do you actually do between Game 2 and Game 3 in terms of personnel or strategy or just say go out there and play better?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: I think it's a little bit of everything. We played them pretty close or pretty tight in their building. We haven't been on home ice, something we want to take advantage of. I think we're always making little adjustments, be it positionally or technical parts of our game, special teams. The lines, a lot of times you can fluctuate them in games, different matchups.
I just think it's an ongoing process where, you know, we felt that we had to get better from the Game 1 efforts or levels. That progress continued from Game 2 to 3 would put us in a real good spot. That's kind of what we're looking forward to doing and going from there.

Q. Can you talk about Dustin Byfuglien, seemed to do a very good job of getting Roberto Luongo off his game. How do think about the job he has done so far with Chris Osgood?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: They know Byf is around. When he's there, he's a big body. Tough to move him around, get him out of that area. I think Byf has been good in the series - not just getting to the front of the net, but his size and physical presence. I thought he improved, like a lot of our guys, after the first game. He's been annoying for some guys at the net, he's more effective. When he does get there, he poses a threat.

Q. How would you assess Khabibulin so far?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: Khabi has been fine. He's been good for us. They're a team that puts a lot of pucks and they're a threat. When they do have chances, sometimes they're the highest of quality. You know, Game 1, great second period, kept us in the game. Last game, they still had -- I think they had even as many chances or more than the first game.
You're always going to be tested and challenged. You know that good goaltending is very important. He gives us a chance.

Q. Joel, I know you have some guys resting. Duncan Keith hasn't practiced much or done a whole lot of morning skates. He didn't sound very good the other night. Has he been sick?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: Dunks, I think he plays a lot of minutes. You know, not a big guy. It's a long season. So we want to make sure, keep his energy as best we can, keep him ready.

Q. For the third straight series, we've heard teams saying they didn't play their best game against you. How much pride do you take from that?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: I don't get any consolation out of that. I think I'm always concerned how we play, how we have to play to be effective. You know, I think we're playing against a very good team, the things that we have to do can limit some of the things they can do. But they're certainly going to get scoring chances. They're going to have a lot of shots at the net. I think nullifying that as best we can, trying to prevent the high-quality stuff.
But I still think there's a level for us to continue to improve at and be sharp every shift because we know we got to be at our best. We got to get there.

Q. Mike Haviland coached a lot of these guys in Rockford. How much does his familiarity with them help?
JOEL QUENNEVILLE: I think he helps a lot. I think he's got a good rapport with a lot of these guys. As soon as they turned pro, been with them three or four years, knows their MO, knows a lot of their strengths, knows basically how you want to approach some of them in certain situations. I think that's beneficial.
Sometimes going into the game, knows exactly what to expect. Good rapport. Good rapport with our D, as well. I think that history really helps us.

End of FastScripts

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