Mike Babcock addressed the media after practice on Wednesday, discussing preparation for the playoffs, Travis Dermott’s status, Frederik Andersen’s rest, the team’s leadership, and more.
With two games over the course of the next eight days, what do you look to finalize here in regards to resting and getting ready and looking forward to what will happen next Thursday?
Babcock: I mean, we’ve got to be the most rested team in hockey. We’re going to have four of eight days off and freshen up that way. We’ll still have time to practice and prepare. Obviously, these two games are the best preparation. We’ll play a real hungry Devils team that played real well last night. I think that’s a real good opportunity for us to continue to evolve our game. We’ll just keep plugging away.
What is Travis Dermott’s outlook?
Babcock: I think he’s fine. He’s going to skate with our guys again tomorrow and then I think he’ll probably play in that last game against Montreal.
Patrick Marleau has made what seems like a seamless transition. Were there any reservations about a guy leaving a franchise that he was with for 19 years to come into a market like this, as far as how he might fit in?
Babcock: The way I look at it is, we worked hard to get him to come. Patty is a guy I coached a number of times and had a pretty good feel for as a person and a player. He’s done a ton for us on the ice, which is measurable. You need that. You can’t make the kind of impact he’s had on our group without being as good as he is on the ice. In saying all of that, though, his leadership and his professionalism have been second-to-none and that’s a huge, huge thing for our team.
Is that something you and the team zoned in on after the last playoffs, with getting him and Hainsey and Tomas Plekanec — leadership?
Babcock: I think it’s obviously something you talk about. Unless they’re there, you don’t have the opportunity to get them. We’re fortunate to have all three of them. Obviously, Ronnie and Patty have been here longer, but Plek — as he gets more comfortable here — we expect the same [from].
Some of his teammates were marvelling at the fact that Marleau jumps in the cold tub in the second intermission. What has stood out to you about the way he keeps his body ready and has this iron-man streak going?
Babcock: I just think it’s the professionalism. That’s what I’m talking about. When you see him practice every day, when you see him play hard, when you see him track, when you see him forecheck… when you see him do all of the things that lead to winning, he doesn’t let any guy who thinks they’re a good player off the hook. They get to see what it’s like. They get to watch him eat. They get to watch him live right. All of those things lead to being a good pro.
Do you have any thoughts on the Sedins announcing their retirement and the impact they’ve had on the game?
Babcock: Obviously, it’s fantastic. I’ve coached against them a ton, whether it was in Detroit or in Anaheim. They’re as good of cycle players as there was and they’re as good of power play players as there was. They represented Sweden well, but the things that impressed me was all of the stuff I used to hear about them — how hard they worked, how hard they prepared, what they did for the team.
To me, any time you are in a Canadian city and people love hockey and you’re the face of the franchise as long as they have been and are revered the way they are, you’ve obviously done a lot of great things. It sounds to me — and I don’t know them personally; I just know them as competitors — that they’re unbelievable people. They’ll be missed, to say the least, but obviously, they’re going to go onto the next chapter. That will be exciting for them, too.
What have you seen out of Frederik Andersen’s game over the past few weeks?
Babcock: I mean, we gave him a rest here for sure. We need to get him in a groove like he was early in the year. It’s important going into the playoffs. Especially if you hope to have a long playoff run, your goalie has got to be outstanding and make big saves for you at key moments. We need that from him.
We’ve done everything we can to freshen him up, and yet, if you go through with the times in the league when he struggles, it’s usually after a break. So, there are no breaks coming. Here it is. You get two games to get ready to play. We need him to be good, just like everybody else.
