Mike Babcock discussed the progress of Morgan Rielly, the challenge ahead against LA on Tuesday, and provided an injury update on Matt Hunwick after Monday’s practice.
Morgan Rielly plays his 250th game this week. 22 years old. What does that say about him?
Mike Babcock: It says he was talented young, and now he’s got to get better everyday so he can be a high, high-end player in the league. He’s a high-end player for his age group or he wouldn’t have gotten to play on that team [North America at the World Cup]. Now we need him to be a real high-end guy in the league. I think him and Zaitsev have a chance to be a real good pair.
Where have you seen the growth of his game?
Babcock: Just his fundamentals without the puck, his ability to box out, his ability with his stick, his ability to play the rush, his ability to gap up – all the things that allow him to play against the good players. When you first arrive, there are other guys on the team. Dion was here for a long time. He took a lot of heat for a lot of kids and kept the flies off them. Now [Rielly] is at a point in his career where he’s got to be the guy for us.
Is the club playing with a greater edge this season, do you think, compared to most? I know it’s a small sample size right now.
Babcock: I don’t know the answer to that question. [Matt Martin] gives us confidence, obviously. I think it’s important, with our speed, that we play fast and try to get on the other team’s D. Obviously, you get into some battles when you do that. But we need to continue to do that to have success.
Kadri has avoided any discipline. With blindside hits, there is some debate about whether they’re going to be phased out moving forward. Can you legislate that? Where do you see it going?
Babcock: The great thing about that is it’s not my job. I don’t have to worry abut it. We’ve got good people at the league. Obviously, we feel they made the right decision and we’ll move on.
Would that LA team coming in, they’re heavy along the boards. Does that board play and the play along the walls change at the pro level compared to the amateur level?
Babcock: It changes at every level. As the players get bigger and better, they’re way better on the puck and they understand how hard it is to get it back, so they want to have it. Obviously, LA’s plan is to wear you down and make you make mistakes. We have to do the same to them.
Do you think the youthful energy and the fact that the kids like Marner and Matthews seem to be really having fun out there rubs off on the whole group?
Babcock: I think so for sure. Having fun is an important part of the game. It is a game. You’re supposed to have fun every day. When you’re working real hard, and you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, you tend to have success and it becomes a lot of fun. Obviously, energy is contagious. We want to have a lot of energized people in here. When good players come in here, they make you better. I think that leads to having fun as well.
I don’t think the third period versus Vancouver is something you want to see every night, but what does it do for a team when you win your third in a row and you have all that emotion ?
Babcock: I think it’s great. It’s good for our group. We’re 4-1 at home. We want to be really good at home. We’ve got to get going better on the road. I thought our team played well last game and we didn’t give up very much. Being able to win a game without your goaltender being first star is nice. We’re not against [Frederik Andersen] being first star, but we don’t need it every night. I think it all just leads to confidence. It was a nice day off for the guys. They worked hard here today. We’ll be ready tomorrow.
With Hunwick, is there a sense it might be long term?
Babcock: Nope. He skated today and it sounds like he’s just around the corner.
