Hurricanes coach, general manager and players spoke with the media on the day before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights will kick off Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday in Raleigh, but before that, the NHL hosted a media day with both teams on Monday.
Here's some quotes and video from the event:
Rod Brind'Amour
On how his perspectives have changed from playing to now coaching: I know that when I played, you had your certain thoughts about coaching. I have way more respect now being a coach as opposed to when I did as a player. Not that I didn't respect for the coaches, but I just thought, 'Just get the best players out and go play.' Like, open the door. Let's go. Then I got behind there and realized, 'Uh, oh.' It is a lot work. So there is a huge difference there. The time commitment and everything, it's doubled. I kind of thought it would be the opposite. Just roll in and whatnot. So it is a big change, but I've certainly learned a lot from the coaches I've had in the past. All of them. You take the good and the bad and try to, not necessarily mold yourself into that, you have to be yourself, but certainly you learn from everyone. Grateful for all of those guys.
On his emotion from winning the Eastern Conference: It was weird. After the game, you wanted to be happy and excited for the guys and yet it was kind of... I don't know. It was just not quite all that exciting. And I mean that in the sense that this is where we thought we should be for a long time. It's just been a long road. I'm just thrilled for the guys to have this opportunity now. Like I said, it feels like for eight years, we've been talking about getting this chance, so we're finally here and obviously we want to make the most of it.
On Jordan Staal and the Staal family's connection to the organization: It's been a great story the whole time with all the Staals. We have a great relationship with Eric and I've known Jordo for every year that he's been here. I've been with him and watched his maturation as a player, as a captain, as a leader, as a player and as a person. It's been pretty impressive. This guy is world class. I cannot say enough good things about him. We're not here today without Jordan Staal. I can promise you that. We're very lucky and as a coach, you're super fortunate for a guy like that to be your leader.
On what it means to have finally gotten to this stage: I don't think we have broken through, you know what I mean? You gotta win. I know everyone makes a lot about getting this far, but nobody is going to remember who comes second. If you're gonna lose, you might as well lose in the second round. It doesn't really make a difference, to me. It's all about winning and we haven't done that yet. I'm really appreciative that we have the opportunity to go out and win. So that's huge. Ask me in a couple more weeks.
On making memories: It's the journey you're on. When you look back, it's the whole thing. We've created a bunch of memories and that's great. It's just that they're going to be stamped if you can get this next step. That's what is so important. Life in general. There are so many things you want to look back on and eventually that's all you have. I have that because I'm old now. I can tell the guys, 'Look, trust me.' I remember a lot of the years, but I really remember the year we won. I went to the finals a couple of times but I don't really remember much about it. You have to stamp it home and then it stays with you for life.
Eric Tulsky
On the job the pro scouting department has done: Our scouting staff does an incredible job. Chris Abbot and Mark Craig lead the group and we've really focused on finding people that fit the way we want to play. We ask players to play a very distinctive style and our scouts have done a great job of finding players who can come in and look their best playing the way Rod needs them to play.
On his team building philosophy: We're just always looking to get better. It's really just about accumulating as much talent as we can. We try really hard not to be dogmatic about looking specifically for one thing. You don't want to pigeon hole yourself into looking for a specific opportunity and miss out on other players. We're just trying to add talent every time we can.
On being able to pivot after aggressive moves didn't pan out: Fundamentally, we want to be aggressive. Rod has the team playing very aggressive on the ice and so we want to be aggressive off the ice too. When you have a chance to add a really high-end player, we never want to miss out on it or get worried about the what ifs. That being said, sometimes it doesn't go the way you hoped and you have to be ready to figure out how you're going to move forward from there. It's one of the strengths of our organization that we're not afraid to take those swings, but we're also confident if we just keep staying aggressive, some will work out, some won't, but we'll end up ahead of where we would be if we had just stayed passive the whole time.
Seth Jarvis
On the emotions of the moment: We're competing for the Stanley Cup with 20 of my best friends. With 20 guys that I've spent a whole lot of time with and 20 people who I view as family. So to be here in this moment, with this group of guys, I can't ask for anything more.
On the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup: It means everything. This is what I dreamed of since I picked up a hockey stick. I've played in the Stanley Cup Final in my head probably 3,000 times since I was seven years old, so to be in this moment now, I'm extremely grateful and couldn't be more excited for this opportunity.
On the group: These guys are my family. These are people that took me in at 19, lived with a few of the guys, and they helped me mature and taught me how to be an adult and a professional. To be in this spot with them is incredible and there's nobody I'd rather share this moment with.
Andrei Svechnikov
On getting to this stage: Obviously we went through so much hard work throughout these eight years. We've been to the semifinals multiple times and now we're here. But still, the job's not done yet. This is the biggest stage right and we all know that. We have one more step to do here.
On the biggest lessons he's learned: Talking about my game, I've had ups and downs every time and the biggest thing I think I've learned is just to stay focused. It doesn't matter what the score is or whether you score or not or whatever it is. You stay focused on that next shift and try to play your best.
On what he'd tell a younger him: To be honest, I'd tell myself to work hard. Try to dream about it. That's the biggest things. Work hard and do what you can do every day. Get extra skates, extra workouts. That's what I would do.
Logan Stankoven
On external motivators: I think there's always going to be people that doubt you. Me being a smaller guy, I've always had to battle that, but I think it just makes me hungrier. I just want to be the best player possible.
On the acceptance into the group when he was traded: I remember the texts I received. Seven or eight guys texted me right away and were excited to have me and actually after our first game, we had a little get together at Brent Burns' house. I was right away, kind of thrown into the fire, into the mix and mingle and got to meet guys. I was very nervous coming in. You learning everyone's names and whatnot, but I thought it was a great way to kick things off in Carolina.
Nikolaj Ehlers
On when he started dreaming about winning a Stanley Cup: Honestly, probably a little later than most guys from over here. Just cause you're from Europe and so you don't get to watch NHL hockey on TV whenever you want to. The games are too late, so you kind of get into it a little later than guys over here. But I was speaking to my friend the other day and when we were playing roller hockey, these are the games that we were playing, right? When you're going in on a breakaway, it was you in the Stanley Cup Final.
On forming a close bond with a new team: Obviously that takes time. I very much feel a part of the group in there. The guys in there were great to me from day one. At the same time, all the inside jokes and all of that, you're still figuring your way through those. I was part of those in Winnipeg for the last 10 years and coming to a new team where some have been together for years and years. It's been exciting from day one, let me say it like that. These guys have been great, they've taken me in great, the organization has been unbelievable. I don't think I've personally had any hiccups. I've been very comfortable from the start.
Jalen Chatfield
On his journey from being undrafted to now playing for a Stanley Cup: I think living in the moment and being so present, I haven't really thought much of the past. Actually my cousin brought it up to me a couple nights ago, just telling me how cool it was to be undrafted. For me though, I was like, 'Oh, I'm undrafted, whatever. Let's keep working.' Just looking back on it, I think there's a lot people that if they were in my shoes, they wouldn't be here. Personally with just the way I've been relentless throughout my whole hockey career. It goes back to 13, 12 years old, getting cut from the AAA team and just not giving up. Every summer, just knowing that the end goal was more important than what was going on right now. Knowing that, even when I went down to the AHL, it wasn't about me being upset or mad. It was, 'Okay, I have a great opportunity. I'm one step away. I'm one opportunity away. So I need to go down there, get prepared, focus and lock in and buy into everything down there so it can translate up here. That's what I did and it worked out.
On joining Carolina: I think this has been a blessing for me to play here. I think I'm here for a reason. I feel like I fit in perfectly with Rod, the system and the organization.
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