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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: KINGS v BLACKHAWKSMay 25, 2014Mike RichardsLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mike Richards. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: Just what you said, a team concept. Everybody is pushing forward for the good of the team. When you have that, it's not who scores the goals, it's not one guy that we rely on, it's a team concept like you said. When you have that, it's easy to play with each other. It's easier to push forward, to get better, because everything is all about the team. Q. How confident is this team going into Game4? MIKE RICHARDS: We're confident. I mean, they are, too. You don't make it to this point without having confidence. We played well. In the last couple games I thought our start wasn't very good. We have to address that and be better tomorrow. But that's what playoffs are, about making adjustments. Whatever it is, confidence or whatever, we're playing some good hockey. We just have to keep trying to get better and keep moving forward. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: It goes back to the confidence thing. When you have confidence, it just seems like the net gets bigger. When you don't have confidence, it seems like it shrinks a little bit. He steps up big‑time. He's a big goal‑scorer. That whole line has created a lot for the momentum of our hockey team throughout games. It seems whenever the team starts to create momentum or have momentum, they step up in a big way. With those three, they don't need much room. They just seem to find the areas. They're all natural goal‑scorers. Especially Jeff is just a natural goal‑scorer. He doesn't need much room or many chances to capitalize. Q. Does his game change when he plays center? MIKE RICHARDS: Yeah, we take great pride as a team. When we get into a rhythm of rolling four lines, I think staying out of the penalty box is good as a hockey team because it allows us to roll all four lines. Come at the other team in waves, keep that relentless pressure on. I think it's big for our team. Staying out of the penalty box is big for us in a lot of different ways. Obviously you don't want to be killing penalties all night. That wears on a lot of people. When you stay out of the box, like I said, you roll those four lines, and we're tough to stop when we do that. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: It's not easy, that's for sure. You got to work for 'em. I think once we got Gabby, it creates that confidence or gives you that confidence that you have that natural goal‑scorer.  We spread out the scoring in different lines. When you're getting contributions from all four lines, it's tough to match up against, especially when you're the other team trying to look on paper who you want to check and what D pairings you want to play against. In our case, we just roll four lines. We're not overly a matchup team. It allows everybody to get into the game early. It creates that confidence that we have. Once we got Gabby, I think that's when we kind of had a four‑line attack. Q.  When you're playing this well, is there anything the Blackhawks can do? MIKE RICHARDS: They've done a lot. They carried the play yesterday in the first period. We had four shots in the second. They're obviously having some success. We have to I think be more consistent with our game throughout the game, not just have bursts of one period here, a couple shifts there. We have to try to play it more consistently throughout the game. It starts with that first shift. But they're a great hockey team. They've proven it over the years, especially this year. They've got some good players. They've done a lot of good things. We just seem to be getting the bounces right now. Q. You don't you have them figured out in some way? MIKE RICHARDS: I don't think so. Q. You faced the Blackhawks before. Does this Blackhawks team seem any less resilient? MIKE RICHARDS: They just have a lot of good players on that team that step up in big situations. It seems like whenever they're behind the eight ball, they always have their big players step up, whether it's Johnny, Kane, Duncan. They have a lot of stars that can do that. We've been fortunate of having some bounces and getting some luck. That's what you need at this point in the season. Q. Your team was so banged up this time last year. Did you almost feel like you were fighting with one hand behind your back? MIKE RICHARDS: No. Everyone has injuries in playoffs. It's just a matter of playing the cards that you're dealt. You can't use it as an excuse. Last year is last year. This year we're focusing on things that we can control. We've had some injuries. They've had some injuries. We're just playing hockey at this point. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: I think we're a team that thrives off of having the lead. It's taken us a while to get going. We've given them some opportunities that we shot ourselves in the foot with for them to score goals. But I think if you follow this team for a while, we're a team that plays well in the third with the lead. We've been lucky to have that the last couple games. I like the way the team is finishing, but I think we have to focus more on the start and carry that through. Q. Did you detect any difference in Jeff? MIKE RICHARDS: I don't know if he needs that little extra something. I think he's always a confident player when he's on the ice. I don't think he struggles with that. I think being in the center may help him a little bit just with getting more speed. He's always stepped up ever since I've known him in playoffs. He's always been the guy in big games and situations, he always steps up, like I said before. In key points of the game, if we need momentum swings, it seems like it's that line that is giving it to us right now. Q. The wingers are really physical. Talk about that. MIKE RICHARDS: When you put yourself in good positions, it allows you to have the puck on your stick, you don't have to waste energy chasing the puck if you put yourself in good positions. Tanner has that speed and gets on defensemen quickly and gets to the puck. Same with Jeff really. He's fast. Tyler is just a smart hockey player. He puts himself in good situations. I played with him a little bit over the last couple years. He just seems to find that open ice, that knack for where he needs to be. That's something you can't teach; that's just hockey sense you get over the years. Jeff and Tanner are big guys, Tyler. They're big guys that have that physical ability to have that size advantage. They're tenacious, young legs, whatever it is. But they seem to have a lot of energy. As a team right now, we're feeding off of that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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