Mike Barnett
Mike Barnett
backs best building captain critical ideal leadership night players role seized seriously situation takes team year
Doan seized upon the opportunity. The ideal situation is when you have a captain who not only takes on the off-ice leadership role seriously as he has, but backs it up each and every night on the ice. And he and our two goaltenders have been our best players all year long. The accountability they have to each other is really something big that is building every week, and it's critical if you are going to have any team success.
backs best building captain critical ideal leadership night players role seized seriously situation takes team year
Doan seized upon the opportunity, ... The ideal situation is when you have a captain who not only takes on the off-ice leadership role seriously as he has, but backs it up each and every night on the ice. And he and our two goaltenders have been our best players all year long. The accountability they have to each other is really something big that is building every week, and it's critical if you are going to have any team success.
appreciate brian certainly conference defensive ecstatic help incredible involved players playing race satisfied savor strong time
It certainly is something that I think over time the 23 players involved will come to savor and appreciate more than in the present, ... We're in an incredible divisional and conference race and they are ecstatic that they are able to help Brian make this long-standing mark. But they are more satisfied that they are out playing consistently strong defensive hockey.
active bringing felt needed obviously players primary reduced scoring three trading
Trading three NHL players and bringing back one that's going to play on our roster at this point, we reduced our roster by two players. We're now down to 23 active players with two on IR. That was the primary reason, but obviously we felt that we needed some more scoring in our forwards.
bench effect player scoring taking
It can have the same effect on the bench as a player taking it end to end on a scoring rush,
ability cerebral dissect exploit insight opportunity pinpoint player weakness
He was such a cerebral player with an ability to dissect the opposing team, pinpoint its weakness and then exploit it. To me, this is an opportunity to get an insight into that mind.
appear bigger decision demands economics factor factors final length player players protected ruled salary today weigh
Many factors weigh into the final decision as to which players appear on the protected list. Economics today are a bigger factor than ever before. The desirability of any player is ruled by the salary he demands and the length of his contract.
expect ice monday
We expect he'll be back on the ice by the weekend, Monday by the latest.
gretzky head interested last obviously spoke step wayne
I spoke with Wayne Gretzky last night. There's obviously speculation that he will step in and be our head coach. I know he's still very interested in the position.
actively along balance burned capable good hit hits league opponent opportunity percent physical potential punishing seize solid themselves
Most of the big, physical defensemen in the league are capable of punishing an opponent along the wall, ... The good ones hit with balance and don't overextend themselves . . . . But of the many solid defensemen in the NHL that do that on a nightly basis, there's probably only 10 percent that actively look for open-ice hits because there's a lot more potential to get burned if you don't seize the right opportunity and, secondly, execute. Gauthier's one of those players.
decision regret respect seeing
While we respect the decision Brett has made today, we regret seeing him go,
captain clearly decision ideally level looked period skill step support
What you look for in a captain is pretty obvious. You look for someone who's been with the organization for a period of time, who has the durability to be in your lineup each and every night, who has the skill level to back up their comments, ideally with ruggedness to step up and support his teammates. We looked at all those things, and clearly the decision was unanimous.
captain clearly decision ideally level looked period skill step support
What you look for in a captain is pretty obvious, ... You look for someone who's been with the organization for a period of time, who has the durability to be in your lineup each and every night, who has the skill level to back up their comments, ideally with ruggedness to step up and support his teammates. We looked at all those things, and clearly the decision was unanimous.
excited retirement seen since
From that day on, I haven't seen him as recharged and excited since he retired.