After Monday’s practice, head coach Craig Berube discussed Steven Lorentz and Max Pacioretty finalizing their contracts, Bobby McMann practicing outside the top 12 forwards, and preparation for opening night.
October 7 Practice Lines
Forwards
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Domi – Tavares – Nylander
Pacioretty – Holmberg – Robertson
Lorentz – Kampf – Reaves
Extra: McMann, Dewar
Defensemen
Rielly – Tanev
OEL – McCabe
Benoit – Timmins
Hakanpaa – Liljegren/Myers
Goaltenders
Woll
Stolarz
Absent (LTIR): Jarnkrok, Hakanpaa, Mermis
Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz are now officially a part of the team. What are your thoughts on them being a part of it moving forward?
Berube: I am happy about that. Both of them had good camps. They have size and skating. They are different players, but both are very important.
What is Calle Jarnkrok’s status?
Berube: He is still day-to-day. I don’t know the timetable right now.
What was your sense of Bobby McMann’s camp?
Berube: Good and bad… Well, not bad, but there is more there. I know that. Bobby knows that. I felt that he was maybe a little hesitant at times. He is a great skater with good size. He needs to be a power forward out there.
I am not too worried about it.
What has Philippe Myers shown you?
Berube: Competitiveness and effort. This guy competed hard in camp — in the games, in training camp, in practices. He is a big guy who takes the body and has a good stick. He blocks shots and kills penalties. He impressed us.
At the end of practice, Ryan Reaves gave Myers some tips on fighting. How valuable is that? Do you recall ever doing that in your playing days?
Berube: Probably not. I was the guy doing it, so I really wasn’t giving tips to anybody. It is not a bad thing. You learn to handle yourself.
Myers has been a physical player in camp and really hard to play against. It is always good. If something happens, he’s able to handle himself.
It might be a bit of a silly question, but why do you like size so much on the blue line?
Berube: It is not all about size, but when you have size, it is hard to get around you, and you get in the way. They cover things around your net. They have reach with their sticks. It is important because there are so many quick, dynamic players with size up front, too.
They have the long reach. They get in the way. They bump you. They are just in the road a lot. I think it is an important thing.
There are obviously smaller defensemen who play in the league and are pretty dynamic, though.
How pleased are you with the special teams so far, knowing you have some more fine-tuning to do in the next few days?
Berube: We will definitely hit the special teams tomorrow, but I thought the guys picked the penalty killing up. I thought they did a pretty good job of it. Now, it is still a work in progress, and you have to keep banging away at it. We will.
On the power play, they did a lot of good things, but I think it could have been a little bit more direct and shot-based. There were times when I thought we could’ve shot pucks, hunted rebounds, and been a little more direct.
These guys have been at it with a good power play for quite some time, so they have had success. We will keep banging away at it.
What would constitute a good start to the season in the first 10 or so games?
Berube: We are in the winning business, and we want to win games. At the same time, we want to play sound hockey defensively and do things right offensively.
You want to look at where your team is at in 10 games. How is your penalty kill? How is your power play? How is the defensive side of things? Offensively, how are we scoring goals? How are they going in? There are all kinds of things to look at it, but it is stuff that is evaluated on a daily basis after every game. What did we do well, and what can we keep improving on?
We want to get the identity down so that night in and night out, there is a certain style that we play.
Are you expecting an adjustment period for the team under new systems?
Berube: There is always an adjustment with a new system when the real games begin. I truly believe that. Even throughout exhibition games, we are always looking at video with players, going over things, and making adjustments here and there. It takes time.
Historically, are you the kind of coach who changes his lines a lot or likes to give the lines a chance to establish themselves?
Berube: I work more in pairs. I feel like there are always pairs that work well together, and you can swap guys in and out on the wing.
What did you like about Conor Timmins’ camp?
Berube: I think he is a really good puck mover, for one. He sees the ice and makes plays. He has also been hard in camp. He has been competitive defensively and has done a good job.
What is the message for Easton Cowan?
Berube: I didn’t know there was a message. He is still here as far as I am concerned right now.
As you size it up, how tough do you think the division will be?
Berube: Very tough. A lot of good teams. A lot of teams that are used to winning.
