Jay Feaster Quotes (48 Quotes)

Danny is an important part of the core of this hockey club. When you look at what the market has become for mobile, puck-moving defensemen who have an offensive upside to them, I thought it was very important both short term and long term.

Thus far, there has not been a real sentiment to move players for draft picks. People want bodies back.

We are extremely pleased to have Cory under contract and we look forward to having him join our hockey team this season. Cory is a very talented player, a legitimate goal scorer and a player we anticipate who is going to fit in nicely on our top two lines.

I just think that what happened with Gerald in terms of his maturity, is his mental toughness improved dramatically last season. I think that mentally he is very, very strong. He really did respond last year. A lot of times guys will pout, they'll bemoan their situation is not fair and all that -- none of that from him. Whenever they asked him to go in, all he did was stop the puck and win. I think he has matured tremendously, and we're excited about the possibilities with him.

We are very pleased to have Andy under contract as we believe he has an incredibly bright future with our organization, ... He came into training camp and through his play earned himself a contract now, as opposed to us going through another full year of evaluating his play in junior hockey. At the same time, it was the consensus of the coaching staff that we would not be furthering his development by keeping him in Tampa as the sixth defenseman right now. We want him to go back to Prince George and have a big year for his team, make the Canadian National Jr. Team, and help lead his team into the playoffs. We are confident that Andy is going to have a very long career with the Lightning, and getting him signed today and returning him to his junior team are the next steps on what has been an incredibly positive path thus far.

Certainly we hope there is nothing wrong, but I also hope that there is a physical reason that something is going on that caused that Monday,

This is a very tough thing for me. What bothers me most is that when we started to achieve success is when we stopped the revolving door. We had stability.

I think you'll see that hunger and that desperation in the playoffs. But the trick is, you have to make the playoffs. You have to take care of business and survive the grind of the regular season.

We want to improve our hockey club if we can. We have lines in the water, but there is nothing happening right now, nothing is imminent. A few of the teams that I have spoke with have mentioned that they have four or five games left before Thursday and there is still a sentiment among many teams on whether they are buyers or sellers. So from that standpoint it's a little more complicated because that hasn't really crystallized yet.

We are now the greatest cheerleaders in the league for seeing that every building is sold out every night, ... If we're not right about this sport taking off again, if in fact the revenues go the other way, it's very risky.

Jay Rosehill is a prototypical Tampa Bay player. He is physical, aggressive, he likes to hit and isn't afraid to drop his gloves when necessary.

What I go to bed praying for, and what I get up thinking about, is that the Tampa Bay eight (the seven players plus Dan Boyle, an alternate for Canada) stay healthy. It's a big-time concern. Look, we're damn proud of our Olympians. But at the end of the day, the issue for us is the NHL season. From that standpoint, so little good can come from it, and the negative could be catastrophic. We've told all of our players to light a candle.

Actually, everyone showed up at five to seven. Already, everyone is on Tortorella time.

But we were incredibly pleased with what he showed us this camp. We told him that he should be extremely proud of what he has done. He came into camp and he wasn't even really in the mix, but he played himself into a position where he almost made the team.

The fact that he was willing to take less and give up the chance to explore unrestricted free agency demonstrates his commitment to our team, his teammates, our franchise and our incredible fans. We are thrilled to know that not only our MVP, but the NHL's MVP, is back in the fold and will be here in Tampa Bay for a very long time.

Where might that have gone He was a player who when we drafted him we believed was going to be part of the mix. In our opinion, he revealed a great deal about himself with his unwillingness to be challenged and by backing out of the deal.

It was a very, very difficult time. Sitting and playing two or three minutes a game was not what he felt he signed up for.

The atmosphere in this building is so good, ... Our guys play like they are 10 feet tall in here. There's no question our players get jacked up when this place is rocking.

From all accounts, everyone who knows him calls him an incredible teammate and a true leader within the locker room. He is a perfect fit for our organization.

Right now we have some guys who are fighting it, not just the goaltender. We have to get back to who and what we are, the hardest-working team in hockey.

Martin St. Louis is the 'heart and soul' of our hockey team.

When you have a veteran player who desperately wants to be with your hockey club, I think it's important that you be mindful of that.

What is fragile so often is confidence, and that's the thing. Prior to the Olympic break we really thought we had that swagger back, that we were going to find a way. We will beat you 6-5. There was, I thought, a real confidence about us. Then we take the break and we come back and it's 14-4 against in two games on home ice against teams that are chasing us. So that's the concern that it is a fragile situation, and the only way to get through it is to be mentally tough about it. We have to stick together as a team.

We're very pleased to have Nolan Pratt back for another season. Nolan has been a valuable member of the team and contributed significantly to our outstanding season last year. We know he will come into camp ready to battle for a spot in our top six on defense.

It's quite an offer, quite a contract that he received. It's something that we couldn't match ... in order for us to try to what we have to do to keep this team together as much as we can.

We never wanted to lose him, so the fact that he is back means we're exactly where we had wanted to be coming out of this year's waiver draft.

Dave Andreychuk walked into our locker room four seasons ago and helped us find our way. He helped our young players grow and develop and mature more quickly, and he helped establish an expectation level in terms of expecting to win each and every night through hard work and commitment. ... Having his veteran presence back in our locker room, and his perennial 20-goal contribution on the ice, are huge factors in helping us attempt to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

When I sat in my office and looked at the line board, ... I kept seeing that gaping hole on the right. Modin, Richards and a blank space. There is not another player in our system, not another player who is out there as a free agent or you could trade for, who would fill that gaping hole. When I say Marty is the heart and soul of this team, that's not hyperbole or blowing smoke up his backside.

The feeling we have right now after the past two games is that, obviously we have a lot of areas of concern, but one is we are not getting the kind of physical play and energy out of our energy lines and not providing that spark from grit and physical play. That's the one thing that these guys do.

We prepare them as best we can as far as what to do over the summer. It's obvious who has made a commitment over the summer and who hasn't. And you can't hide over these two days.

The game is so much in him and is so much a part of who he is and what he is. The thought of retiring, the thought of not having the game every day, is something he can't wrap his mind around. I never believed after we won it that he would ride into the sunset, a la Ray Bourque. I think it's everything he is, the game.

Brad Richards is a very special hockey player. The key for Brad is to continue to build on his performance and help move our club into elite company as well.

That's where he played while we were in Traverse City for rookie camp, that's where he has played in camp here with us and he is a forward as far as we are concerned. That's where we feel he's going to play in the NHL.

We are absolutely thrilled to have Dan Boyle back in the fold and we are deeply appreciative of the fact that from the very beginning of negotiations, Dan bought into the concept of being willing to take less to try to keep our team together and take another run at winning the Stanley Cup.

We're still looking. We check the waivers every day. We're still looking to talk to teams to see if they have strength at that position, so nothing is guaranteed. These two guys have earned the opportunity.

We are confident that, given his age and his maturation and development, he will only continue to improve and become even more productive and more of a complete, all-around player for this franchise.

Obviously, any time you lose one of your top players, it's a huge disappointment.

What has happened in the past is truly ancient history. Now the objective is to come in here and have a solid training camp. ... We can't afford to get caught up in the hype. It's about having to do it again. You can't rely on what you did 18 months ago.

We've had some personnel changes there, and as much as anything, we're hoping we can get a spark. We need to start winning some games if we're going to make the playoffs there.

Some of the guys who are coming in here battling for jobs didn't do themselves any favors today. You're not going to win a job (in the first two days of camp), but certainly you can dig yourself a crater and we have some guys who are are looking for ladders right now.

As we've said repeatedly during the past three years, Brad is one of the cornerstones of our franchise and it is great to have him signed and ready to go before the start of training camp.

I think the biggest thing we're trying to find is consistency in our game. Through the first 41, it has been in spurts where we have put the entire game together. ... I don't know that it has all come together for an extended period of time.

In terms of right now - while we do like the six - there is a gap, so that's always a concern. If we don't add any depth there we better be lighting more candles than we have been lately.

In terms of the money itself, we have room. I don't feel we're constrained because we are so tight up against the cap. Being able to bring in a contract worth 3 million, that's pretty good.

We are extremely pleased that Matt has decided to begin his professional career. We had tried to sign him last summer, but he was committed to returning to North Dakota and helping lead his team to the Frozen Four. He obviously had another great season at UND and he continued to mature and develop as a player. We believe he has a very bright future with our organization and we look forward to getting him to our summer conditioning camp, Traverse City Rookie Tournament and main camp in Tampa.

I'm not worried about that, ... When you look at most 30-year-olds, there is a lot of wear and tear on them. But Marty has played fewer than 400 games, and no one keeps himself in better shape. I think Marty will still be an outstanding player and a key contributor.

We did consider that alternative, but in the totality, that wasn't for us. We made a decision that as far as Curtis Joseph and the other free agents available, the right option was to sign Burke.

I've said it many times in the past and I continue to maintain that Martin St. Louis is the 'heart and soul' of our hockey team. Dating all the way back to the summer of 2004, there was never a moment when we were not firmly committed as an organization to getting Marty signed long-term.