Brent Sutter Quotations

Like I said, all we've heard is Dec. 31, Dec. 31, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, Canada-USA, Canada-USA. Now it's here. This is the game. This is the game. Now that's a good thing.

Maybe they'll play differently against us; I don't know. I thought both teams (last night) were generally very trapping hockey teams and they waited for opportunities.

Obviously the team knows the importance of the game. Whether the kids get too high or too uptight ... we'll see what they're like during the day.

I am doing what I am doing for this year and I will worry about whatever happens later on. I don't want to get caught up in that.

He's played on two world junior teams already, ... I certainly would expect if Sidney Crosby was here at Christmas we would be bringing him on our hockey team.

Listen, this team we played (last night) played well. They're a big team and they can skate.

I think a lot of people underestimated the skill on this hockey team. I had full confidence in this team and that if they stuck with the program they'd be successful.

I think what everyone underestimated about us was our skill level.

It doesn't bother me at all. Whether you like it or not, it's irrelevant. The call was made and (the IIHF) had the opportunity to review it and they looked at the tape and decided it wasn't worth reviewing and I'm fine with that. I trust them on that.

We've talked about things that have happened here in the past. When you get on a run it's pretty amazing what can happen. You saw what happened a couple of years ago when we got points in something like 22 of our last 23 games.

The 24-hour rule is on for us with another big game coming up. We've won five of our last seven games and we have to keep it going.

We got this far playing as a team.

That was a two-hour, 45-minute hockey game. There is always the assumption these rules were put in to make the game more entertaining, but that is not entertaining hockey. It's not something you want to see in the game. We can't let it dictate how we need to play, but it makes it difficult to coach.

We really have to have a junkyard dog mentality and that's the way we have to play. I want us to be a very disciplined, committed, hard-working team and in your face.

We are not going to build a whole strategy around him. Hey, we all know he is a very good hockey player. We think we have 22 very good hockey players.

We are not going to change our philosophy and the way we need to play. We have to stick to our game plan.

We weren't cheating tonight. Our attention to detail was that much better. Our awareness was much better and our awareness on the bench was much better.

We're going to make mistakes, I know we are. But they will be corrected.

It would not have changed the way we played. We would not have changed our game plan if the Russians scored one goal.

We've got to get better and we will get better. That being said, our opponent was a tough opponent. At the end of a day, it's a win.

We all know (Malkin) is a very good player. Well, we believe we have 22 good players.

The players thought it was pretty gross because my leg was just black. I limped around until the end of January.

I'm not always going to be the nicest guy in the world, but I do care very deeply about my players. As a coach, your job is to provide guidance. Sometimes that involves a pat on the back and sometimes that involves a kick in the behind.

I never questioned that he'd do it. I'd seen him so many times this year do it and Justin was the guy everybody fed off.

I never questioned whether we could score enough goals or not. My biggest thing from the get-go was: Can we be a solid enough team defensively to shut down our opposition?

I'm assuming that's the way it's going to be from here on in. That's what we've been told. I'm assuming it's going to carry on like (Saturday) and I know that's what the IIHF wants, too.

I'm not worried at all about our intensity and emotional level.

I'm kinda sitting here wondering what is a call and what isn't now.

I knew that our level of play would get up to where it needed to be. I felt comfortable with it.

In our dressing room, we knew we have good goaltending.

If you get too caught up in what the opposition is going to do, it really affects the way you play. We're not going to change as far as our philosophy and the way we need to play. We play a certain way and we're going to play that way. We'll make some adjustments, but we have to stick to our game plan and our identity and the way we need to play. It has gotten us this far ? we're not going to go a different route.

I'm not making any bones about it: we have two or three guys who make a lot of money on this team, ... You know who they are and it's time they stepped up and took the team to another level.

Everyone, from our goaltender on out, played hard tonight. It was a big difference from the other night. Tonight, we played like we had been playing prior to Tuesday, when we dropped off a bit.

Any time you go through two games as we have and against two very good opponents, and we get goaltending like we did, it's huge. It's always a confidence builder, and even more so when you have a young team.

It's been the talk of everybody outside our dressing room. This one game now means something because we've been able to accomplish our goals from then to now.

It's been the talk with everybody since the beginning. The fans. The media. We've heard it with everybody we've seen, everywhere we've been.

They certainly rally around him. They're certainly a different team with him in their lineup.

I just like his mindset, his attitude. Nothing seems to bother him and he's a got a little strut that goes with it.

I have to disagree with the Russian coach. We would not have changed our game plan if the Russians had scored one goal.

I haven't seen anything that's surprised me, ... I saw him a lot before we drafted him. He's an impressive young man and an impressive young player. He's got a long way to go, but he's going to play in the NHL for a long time one day.

He's a heart and soul guy and when you have a team that is perhaps lacking some experience at the national level, which obviously we are, you need a real strong character and real strong person mentally that's totally committed to the way we want to play. He's probably a huge reflection of myself.

The call was made. They had the opportunity to review it. As far as the IIHF was concerned, they didn't feel it was worth a suspension or worth a review. I trust them on that.

The bottom line is we have to win hockey games and we've got to be one goal or more better than our opposition to do that. Let's just make sure we're keeping pucks out of our own net.

They had an opportunity to review it and decided it was not worth reviewing. I'm fine with that.

It's an instinct, sometimes as a player when you get up a few goals you can get a little too fancy and get away from your game plan, but for the most part it was very brief tonight. We kept the puck going ahead tonight. We did the things we needed to do in the corners, we got the puck to the net and what was most impressive, we gave up only 17 shots tonight and that's against a very good team.

It's how we play as a team, the discipline in our own game.

There were a couple of players who were more responsible about it than others and I challenged them. I told them, 'Buy into the program or you don't play and how embarrassing would that be if you're sitting in the stands at the world junior championship and you're a good player?

I am not going to get into comparing one team to the other. I said from Day 1 this team will form its own identity and it will be good within itself. I think the kids have stuck on the program.