Brendan Shanahan Quotes (58 Quotes)

Shortly after that, we got a couple of power-play goals because we fed off of those penalty-kills. That was the story of the night, the penalty-killing.

I thought he played a solid game, especially considering he's been off for some time. It was nice to have him on the ice again.

From a players' perspective, and from a league perspective, when the markets are doing well and the season-ticket sales and the fan interest and the merchandise and all these things are going and improving and there's buzz - it's money in everyone's pockets,

The league knows that the enforcement of the rules is really going to be judged in the second half of the season and in the playoffs. It will all mean nothing if the standard changes during that time.

Our approach going in was they were a desperate team and if we could get of to a good start we could get them to press. It's certainly a lot easier, a lot less taxing to play with the lead.

The first time that there's going to be a shootout, the fans will be very excited,

I see a lot of young players today who are supposed to be the future of the game and I shake my head. Guys who dive. Guy who don't put the team first,

The hockey mentality is that when we're challenged, we grow tighter together. One player or two might speak out and it might reflect (poorly) on the union, but 99 percent of the union will band together.

The worst thing is going home feeling so-so about a tie. Those highs and lows are what get you excited about the game and get you buying a newspaper the next day.

It's not pretty hockey but that's what makes the trap so successful.

He just knows how to play the game. Most times, I'm the one standing in front but if I'm not there, he has no fear of going in there and doing that job. The goal isn't scored unless Steve's screening the goalie.

I sometimes shake my head at the some of the things that J.R. says, but in the end, L.A. is a great market and I hope he puts us on the front page there every week.

I feel bad for Joey Harrington. I think he's taking a lot more heat than he deserves. He's a very simple, easy guy to point the finger at, and some people do it for good reason, other people just do it because they hear everybody else is doing it. That's not good.

Seeing as I'm on the competition committee, I support the rule changes,

It feels good because obviously, you please your teammates. They're not just meaningless goals. You play to win games. You want to be in a situation to get a big goal and provide a win. It's a nice milestone. I don't really care too much for most of those but this one I'm happy with and hope to build on.

I think the fact that referees are going to have consistent partners, and they're usually only going to work just one conference - they'll get more familiar with us and we'll get more familiar with them - we hope that improves your ability to predict what a referee will and will not call.

Let's be honest -- the same way fans were getting bored with the game in the past, players were too. So in a game like this, with all the excitement and guys coming at you with speed, players like Chris Chelios react to that.

We lost some guys from last year, but I think they did a good job of keeping this team intact, and we think we've got another good shot at a Cup here. With Colorado, it's always going to a special game for both teams. There's been such a great history of great hockey between us.

I don't mind that people are counting us out. My first year here was 1997 and that's when a lot of people thought the Red Wings had missed their window of opportunity and we won our first of three Stanley Cups together.

Since I was 15 years old I've never been able to spend Christmas, Halloween or Thanksgiving (with friends and family). This was the first time I was able to enjoy a Super Bowl.

I think Mike Babcock is really going to be good for our team. It's just what we needed at the right time.

We've played a lot of catch up hockey. That's not good. Our start is very important. It's time for us to come out with a lead and have them play that catch up hockey, which we've been doing.

Sergei is a great player with world-class talent. Adding a player like that, I'm sure Columbus is hoping it'll get a lot of their young guys excited.

It's definitely disappointing, but as teammates, we'd like to think the door's not closed on Pavel coming back. I think the expectations remain high. This team has a lot of depth. We'd all rather have Pavel, but when you compare us to other teams in the West, there's no reason for us to use that as a crutch.

To come out and play the way we did and just have a letdown where all of a sudden, you know, they're scoring at will, it just reflects how the whole series went. It's embarrassing that we were in such control and that we gave it away like that.

We lost a couple players and our rotation got a little messed up. We found a way to win. Obviously, this is a team on the other side that has been finding ways to win. There's no quit in Columbus. We knew they were going to come back. We maybe have to show a little bit more poise in our own end late in games.

You're not going to get easy, open looks against this defense. Our goals were not pretty today. That's the kind of hockey it's going to be.

We were all hoping he would get it. I asked him before the third period and he said he didn't think he'd had one since before Scotty (Bowman), I was like, that's a long time.

They do a better job at marketing their sport. NHL players are a modest group, and the NHL doesn't show our best moments on TV. Fans want to see more. We traditionally put a muzzle on right when things get exciting.

It's such a playoff failure for our whole team. This was, really, I felt, a very, very strong team and a very strong potential playoff team that we had built. What a blown opportunity this was by our team.

It definitely is going to test the depth. Hopefully these aren't serious injuries for these guys. Sometimes a little rest at this time of year can be a blessing in disguise for players like that. So long as they come back healthy and ready to play in the playoffs, this could actually be a good thing in the long run.

The fans spoke, ... They told us what they wanted and we tried to deliver while minding the hockey traditionalists as well.

It's been like that in every arena. Talking to other players, they say it's the same thing. Fans love it. It's the best way to decide a game. A simple way to do it. One on one, everyone understands it. It's been very successful.

In a lot of ways we missed the game, but we did our best to take advantage of the time off.

It's something that's separate from the game of hockey and we're not going to try to prostitute it into wins and losses.

This is the way we started games earlier in the season, and we need to get back to that. When teams have to play us from behind and are forced to open things up, we're at our best.

In this league, you can never look past opponents. You'll get yourself into trouble. Start thinking about the future, it's going to mess up your present.

A lot of the changes that are being made in the NHL, he should get a lot of credit for, ... He's been talking about these things for the last 10 years.

I was surprised, but I knew he was having a bit of a tough adjustment here, ... But there are a lot of guys who decided to call it a career after the lockout. You can't blame a guy for trying to come back and being 100 percent sure.

Playing hockey is fun. Going out and hooking and holding really isn't fun.

Are guys going to get discovered Sure, we've got over 700 players we're going to have the odd guy. But I've been playing for 18 years, and I've never heard a player talk about its benefits, I've never heard of a player taking it I've never suspected a player I've played with is taking it.

I don't think there was anyone on this team that didn't think we'd have to win in Edmonton. The road is a place where we seem to play our best hockey, so it's on to Game 3.

It's a nice milestone. I don't really care about most of them. But that's a big build up.

Since the first day of training camp, he talked about us playing more like a playoff team and scoring playoff-style goals. It's a theme we hear every day. Sometimes you don't like the news the coach is delivering, but he's the coach. It's not his job to fit in with us. It's our job to fit in with him. You need one guy in charge, and he's the guy.

Scoring a goal is special. Scoring a hat trick is special. I don't think you ever get tired of it. You know, obviously, once you get the second one, you start a kind of run for the puck and the net.

No one can accuse me of self-interest in all this. You could make a case that a lot of the new rules don't help my game out at all.

I want all the members of the media to know that I finished sixth in the (team's season-long) football pool. And Dan Cleary finished ninth.

You don't spend that much time cheering for guys on other teams in the playoffs that much. But Darren is a good guy and with all the things he's been through, it was nice to see him have good fortune for a change.

I really haven't thought much about it. I've just enjoyed going out there and playing. It's been enjoyable.

Some people told me that, with the lock-out, this was the wrong time to do something like this. I thought it was absolutely the right time - even the only time - to do it.