Don Waddell Game Quotations

Chris' name was the first name mentioned by everyone. That just speaks volumes for how he's respected in the game of hockey. He does everything at a high level. There was no other choice for us but to pick Chris.

Chris's name was the first name mentioned by everyone. That just speaks volumes for how he's respected in the game of hockey, and for what he's done not only in the National Hockey League, but for what he's done for USA Hockey over the years.

Some guys show up when you tell them to, like two hours before a game or a practice, but Chelios will be there three or four hours earlier than that. I wish all players in the NHL had the passion and drive that Chris Chelios has for the game.

We're really pleased to have Peter guiding our Olympic Team. Peter knows what it takes. He played on our 1988 Olympic team and came back as captain of the 1994 Olympic team. He's coached our last two world championship teams. He's passionate about the game and we're confident he'll do an outstanding job as our head coach.

We have a lot of good, young players at USA Hockey and a lot of guys coming. We can take the positives out of this game and out of the whole tournament.

We're hoping that there are some guys that maybe we on the fence who didn't go to the World Championships will go now. We're trying to get their A game for the World Cup. And particularly if we end up with the same coach for both tournaments then I think it would be ultimately important for all of the players who are available to go.

It was the right thing to do at this time. I'm not nervous about it because I'm around our team so much and I know our team very well. I've seen every game this year and I haven't missed anything, so I feel like short-term I'm best prepared to run the bench.

Emotionally, you have to believe that it's going to be a lift for everybody. Regardless of what the contribution ends up being from Dany, I think it's going to be a lift just to have him back on the bench and see him on the ice. So whether he has an impact on the game or not is yet to be seen, but I think emotionally it's been a big lift for the team, the coaching staff and me personally.

I'm disappointed, for sure. But you learn from it, and you find a way to move forward. ... You lose every game by one goal ... we're going to take the positive from that, that we were in every game.

His injury is healing, but the endurance part is not going so fast. He's been sore after every game this year.

His all-around game has been especially good. That's why he's warranted more ice time, because he's played solid at both ends of the ice. I thought he was capable of playing good defense because he's a smart player. When you grow up in Russia, you learn to play defense, even if you are an offensive player. We knew he was capable of it.

It's very disappointing. Sometimes players in the emotion of the game don't realize everything that goes on behind the scenes that need to happen to make these tournaments happen. As a player, I don't expect them to know that.

We're going to try to take the positive that we were in every game. We're out of the tournament but certainly it's not like it's something we have to blow up and start over, because every game we were right in there.