Toronto Marlies head coach John Gruden discusses his team’s Eastern Conference title after a 4-2 series win over the WBS Penguins.
On winning the East as the fourth seed in the North Division:
It hasn’t been easy. It’s not supposed to be easy at this time of the year.
A lot of the credit goes to the other guys; we have a really good mix of great, older guys who have been around, have great leadership qualities, and who led us. And then we have a bunch of younger legs that followed.
No one was expecting anyone to put on a show. They just played as a team.
Those are stressful games. I have to give credit. That is a really talented team that we just beat. They’re fast. They’re quick. Their transition game is second to none.
I am proud of our players for sticking with it and getting the job done. That one felt good. We have to enjoy this. We will, and then we still have a lot of work to do. We are excited about the opportunity.
On former WBS Penguin Alex Nylander scoring the OT winner to clinch the series victory:
You could just feel it. I thought he played one of his better games in the series. He was outstanding today. He stayed patient, and he ended up scoring the big goal off the faceoff.
Huge game from him. He spent some time here, so I am sure it feels pretty good for him, too.
On Easton Cowan responding to his mistake in Game 4 with big Game 5 and Game 6 performances:
We talked after the game and said that the mistake won’t define him. What will define him is how he responded. How much does he grow up in those 24 hours after that turnover?
To score a couple of big goals and be a huge contributor for our group — he showed a lot of character, and it is a great sign for our group and the Leafs‘ organization.
On how his team adjusted to a sloppy ice surface:
At the end of the day, both teams have to play on the same ice. We just know that they will still be dangerous if we don’t manage the puck. I thought we did a really good job of establishing a forecheck. We spent some time in the offensive zone.
It was a great hockey game. We had to adjust and make sure that they would have to go 200 feet. Our guys did a remarkable job of that.
On the importance of getting this series won in six games and avoiding the Game 7 situation:
We don’t want to talk about that because we want to make sure we are still focused regardless of the outcome of this game, but in the back of the players’ minds and our minds as a staff, we knew we couldn’t continue to go to elimination Game 7s all the time and think we would just get away with it. We knew it was so important to close this one out. They did exactly that.
On Artur Akhtyamov giving up just two goals in the last two wins of the series:
When guys see him battling like that, and with how he has grown throughout the playoffs, our guys dig in, too. We talk about the leadership, and a lot of it is at the backside of it. They made sure that if they were going to get one chance, they weren’t going to get two or three. We did a really good job of eliminating those second and third chances to give Artie a chance to make those saves, but he has been outstanding.
I can’t say enough good things about him. I can’t say enough good things about anybody. It is a great group of guys in there, willing to sacrifice and do what is best for the team. All they care about is winning.
On what he learns about the players in deep playoff runs like this:
We went through the ups and downs of it, too, so that is when you find out the most. Our players have come together so well. Again, I can’t say enough good things about our leadership group, led by our captain, Logan Shaw, who has been outstanding in these playoffs as well.
On why the Marlies have won so many road games in Wilkes-Barre over the last few years:
I think it is just one of those things. We went through the same thing with Cleveland. I couldn’t really put a finger on it. It was the same thing; we hadn’t beaten them in the three years I was here.
It is what it is. It is great for the stat book. In the end, it was an incredible series. I have no answers for that one.
On the hard work all season paying off when it matters most:
They believe in how we need to play to give ourselves a chance to win. They’re doing that. Our consistency continues to get better as we go on.
I still think we have better hockey. We’ll need it. Whoever we face, we know how tough it is to win that last one.
Again, we will enjoy this, get some rest, and go back to work on Tuesday.
