Andrew Ference Quotations

I was happy, going from Pittsburgh to here. I was pumped. Coming back to Alberta, coming back to Canada, coming to a good team. But now, if it happened again, I'd be really disappointed. Everyone likes it here -- we win, good atmosphere, good town.

He leads as a good friend, not as a parental figure. He leads as an equal. He doesn't put himself on the pedestal, pump his chest and say, 'Everybody listen up because I'm the best player here.' He doesn't operate that way. I don't think it's in his nature. There's not that intimidation, that superstar aura.

Getting Dion this year made up for losing a lot of other people. Of course he has a learning curve, but he doesn't have big holes in his game. He just has tiny details he has to work out, and the coaches love working with a guy with that much talent.

Mario would be the guy who would take over a game with his unbelievable skill that nobody else could really match.

I think we said, 'Oh, Edmonton won,' and that was about it. There are a lot of people who want us to get ahead of ourselves but, as players, it's our job to keep our focus.

Our second period was awful. We started to play too much of their style.

I think the NHL just decided it didn't need another dark cloud hanging over it. But I accept that he has served his suspension and paid a huge price in the game and in his private life.

There are expectations to have a better playoff than last time -- there's only one way to do that. Last time, there was more of a happy-go-lucky feeling. We expected success, but we didn't demand it. Going in, it's a more mature team, a more mature outlook.

We're having a good season. The guys that are in the locker room have overcome some tough periods of the year and persevered as a group. We've been tested a few times. Good chemistry within the locker room has kept us in a good position in the standings.

To us, it's about climbing the standings. You win eight games and you're still tight with everybody. That's just the nature of the beast. It's nice to win, obviously, but you can't get too excited about it or you'll let it slide. Start patting yourself on the back too much and you're one or two games away from getting caught again. It doesn't give you a comfort zone.

We're not the team that is on the highlights every night with the pretty goals. But we're also not on the highlights giving up the pretty goals. We didn't change much this year. With this team, the emphasis is always going to be on our end.

I'm pretty far out of the loop. There's always a lot of speculation and what-have-you. I'm sure it's fun for people to watch and have fantasies of who might go where. The reality is, guys will change teams.

As opposed to living the rich life and consuming as much as possible, people have to take a step back. Instead of buying the biggest diamond or having 18 cars, do other things. Buying the biggest thing is outdated and there is no excuse for it.

We just haven't had that consistency. We've thrown some good periods together, but from game to game that consistency hasn't been there. It's something we've got to look back to getting back on track (Wednesday).

We've come this far this year and built a solid base with the guys in the room . . .

We also share in the belief we do have what it takes in this locker-room and there's no great piece of the puzzle out there we're missing.

You guys are asking questions I can't answer right now. I've got a Game 7 tomorrow. As players, we've got a lot of business before we can think about that.

Seeing people cheering for him and hugging him was almost sickening. He deserved every hardship because it was an awful thing that he did. It wasn't accidental.

There's strong character in our dressing room. Right now, it's just a matter of execution. If everybody shows up and does their job, I think there's a ton of confidence.

A few of us got a private tour of the UN. That was the highlight of our trip -- it wasn't shopping or going to buy a new suit, it was checking out the General Assembly.

After we had a successful (2004) playoff run. I think that's when the priorities changed. It's the environment everybody wanted to be a part of, with higher expectations and setting our sights higher. That's what good teams do.

I'm disappointed with myself. I went on to the (NHLPA) website where there's the (absentee-ballot) form to download and fill out. I was all ready to do it, but I missed the (deadline). I feel for the guys playing down in the States. Down there, you get no news about Canada.

But, when you see the standings every day, it's tough to consider this the dog days. So, mentally, it's pretty easy to get focused. Physically, obviously, it's a challenge. The Olympic year has compressed the schedule. The games are hard and fast, and look at the teams we're playing -- Vancouver, Vancouver, Nashville, Minnesota, Edmonton.

They want to slow it down and stretch things out, make cross-ice passes and have a lot of open room.

And that's 20 with guys keying on him. It didn't take the league long to figure out that . . . we like to get him shooting the puck. To put that many in the net with guys cheating out on you is very impressive.

It's not just because we're close in proximity. For the first time in a long time we're both battling for the playoffs in a tough division and a tough conference. When two teams, whether they're just down the highway from each other or not, are both fighting for the same spot it's going to be good, intense hockey. You should expect nothing less.

That's one of the reasons we fought so hard to win the division. But it comes down to the players. The fans can only cheer and support us so much. Within this locker-room, that's where the meat and potatoes are.

You don't want him to drop the gloves all the time because he's our star player. But when he does, nobody's too disappointed because that means he's fired up and ready to go.

It was a step back. It was a missed opportunity.

I can chant to him in the back room. We have a lot of good players and it's a team game, but he's pretty amazing.

He's not just a grind-it-out guy. He's got the offensive talent and for him to get that reward is a good shot for his confidence.