Trent Yawney Quotes (43 Quotes)

Before referees make those decisions, they should take a look at that ice. It could be the worst sheet of ice I've ever seen. It's hard to make quality plays for quality players on a sheet like that. It's not acceptable. It may be the same for both teams, but it's not right.

At training camp, we had to decide what kind of player he should be. Should he just shoot the puck, or should he be a steady defenseman who could do other things He's got to do more than shoot the puck to play at this level. He had to learn that. He's still not nearly out of the woods, but he's made progress in the games he's played.

There's such a fine line. It's a little risky, but we'll make the call through how he practices. There's no right situation for him.

This isn't a development league. I spent five years developing players. The NHL is to perform. It's not about holding hands and skipping rope. Now, we can give our young players experience, but time to develop No. They've had their development time.

The teams that skate the best are not going to necessarily win all the time, but it makes it a lot easier.

I've said it before You're not going to win in this league with average or below-average goaltending. Tonight it was below average. But Crawford was awesome for a kid that was thrown in there.

This game had a lot of similarities to our whole year. It was a young team coming off a big win over a good team a 3-2 overtime victory Friday at Detroit, then a letdown. In a game like this, your best players have to be your best players, and tonight they weren't.

I'll have a lot of the guys I had at Norfolk, plus these prospect camp guys. We'll only be missing the NHL veterans. It'll be almost the start of training camp. That's how I'm approaching it.

We have the kind of strong leadership in here that maybe we haven't had since Chris Chelios 1990-99. Jim has been leading by example. He defends his teammates and is terrific at reading the game. It's time for him.

We have some guys coming back, so there is going to be competition for playing time. We can only dress so many players.

We want them to experience what it's like to be in that situation. This has been a hard year for everyone -- not just the kids, but everybody off the ice who are trying so hard to make this thing work.

The power-play goals were all missed assignments. We abandoned what worked in the first period That was shooting the puck. We wanted to pass the puck into the net.

A smart decision on his part. We're talking about a professional in a field where shoulders are important.

It's unfair to evaluate him because everything happened all at once. Any time you're traded, there's an adjustment period. He's learning new teammates, a new city, a lot of different things. Patrick Sharp went through it. He's starting to play well now, but it took him a long time to get through the initial shock.

The temptation was there after their fifth goal. But I decided against my intuition. He's got to learn to battle through it.

They're a quick team, but I told him that the puck moves faster than they can skate. He's a very, very good passer and sees the ice very well.

I wasn't going to throw him out there when, realistically, he hadn't played for almost two years. Returning to top form is a process. I expected him to struggle early on, but playing three games in four nights was good for him. He had a lot of juice.

I was really pleased. It was good to see two NHL teams playing again. It was a penalty-filled game, but hockey is back.

Our goaltending has been average and that's maybe been generous. With Adam, even in the minors last year he played very well -- he put us in the playoffs -- but there was no in-between. He was either outstanding or awful. There was no middle ground.

He basically earned it. Three goalies is a crowd. So something has to be done. I think that he took advantage of his opportunity and it's not like the other guy didn't get an opportunity.

Ellison's come on as of late. Bourque's a goal-scorer. He finishes his checks and plays hard, but when he has an opportunity, he'll bury it.

When a team makes a trade, it's obviously not happy. Our first two periods were disappointing. We weren't committed to playing together or committed to our game plan.

They (Hilbert and Munro) played well. Especially early, Adam made some big saves and it was nice to see Andy get a couple of goals. He's worked hard. Anytime you can get guys like that chipping in goals it helps, when you can score by committee.

Obviously, it's a sad day for the NHL. He's been a great ambassador for the game. ... He's probably been through more than any other superstar.

Throughout training camp, they've been our most consistent defensemen. Barker, he's coming out of junior. I'd like to see him elevate his assertiveness. He does everything at one speed, and I think he's finding, as more and more of the regulars are playing, he's caught in between sometimes.

Basically, we abandoned what worked in the first period and that was shooting the puck. In the first period we shot the puck and went to the net. Good things happen, then all of a sudden we didn't want to do that anymore. We were looking for the pretty play and the pretty play wasn't there.

We deserved our share of penalties, no question. We put the game in the hands of the officials. When you do that you'll probably wind up on the short end -- especially when you're a team that's not playoff-bound.

It epitomized this team. They don't give up.

It's all part of growing in this league. Adam has bounced back before. We've got to get a happy medium with him. He's either great or not very good at all. He knows that. We've got to get him to be more consistent.

He's a one-of-a-kind player. He has an element that is very difficult to put into somebody, and that is he's mean. People don't like to play against him.

Waivers make it more difficult. No manager wants to lose a player for nothing. To lose a player after you've invested all this time and money in him is like cutting your nose off to spite your face.

You feel bad for the guy. It's difficult coming back from one injury and then starting out with another. When we lose him, we lose steadiness behind our blue line.

We really didn't see their transition game other than the first part of the first period. Their forwards are so skilled that they can really turn something very average into something that's very lucrative in an awful hurry. We managed the puck pretty well tonight.

He's going to get a good taste of what he needs to work on. When he moves the puck, he's very effective. When he hangs on to the puck too long in an effort to make a pretty play, he gets exposed.

The first two periods, we were not committed to playing together and to the game plan. You have to be committed to play in this league. That doesn't necessarily guarantee success, but it does put you in a pretty good position for success. The probability of having success increases. But when you're not committed to each other and to a game plan, it's pretty difficult to be successful at this level.

His position is very difficult to break into, whether you're 23 or 27 and he's 20. As a coach, you hope that you haven't given him too much sometimes, but he's responded to his tough nights. The next night he's always better. He's a very focused young man, and if he remains that way, he'll have a nice career ahead of him.

I don't think our power play generated enough quality chances from the start. They've got the best penalty kill in the league.

It'll be a new lease on life for Anton. I hope he gets consistent with his game and has a real long career. I still believe Anton will develop into the player everybody thought he would.

You've got to feel bad for the man. This season's been like a horror movie for him. It's one thing when you get hurt it takes a lot to get back. But then when you get hurt again, it wears on you mentally.

I don't know about Andy's confidence. He's practiced very well, so it's more a mental thing than anything else. He'll have to fight his way through it if he wants to play at this level. The backup job was open in training camp and Andy won it, but that doesn't mean it won't change throughout the year.

We want more efficient minutes out of Adrian. It's not the time he plays that's important.

We abandoned what worked in the first period. We wanted to pass the puck into the net, not shoot it. It goes back to very simple hockey. Pucks to the net create excitement for everybody.

It's tough on everybody, but it's the position we're presented with, and we'll try to make the best of it. Whether you're young or old, there's still an evaluation process.