Ken Hitchcock Whether Quotations

I don't know whether it's the fear of getting embarrassed or whatever but we've got a lot of competitive guys and we really love to play in these type of games.

I am excited and curious to see how we respond. In games 5, 6 and 7, you get a defining message on what you are going to be down the road, whether it's the next series or whatever.

Yeah, I'm concerned. . . . You start thinking in terms of (muscular) defects going on. Right now this is a minor injury and we don't want to make anything more of it. But this is now the third occurrence in that area and that's the part concerning everybody right now. We don't know whether this is minor or we have something bigger.

They pushed the level out there. It's not about whether we can keep up. We don't have a choice.

They?re similar players. Simon probably shoots the puck off the rush a little bit better, but they?re both determined players. It?s a great feeling when you go out for a game and you never have to worry about whether a player is going to be a committed player. I never worried about that once.

About 25 percent of your job is coaching the team on the ice and about 75 percent of your job is all of the stuff that happens off the ice, whether it be preparation or putting out fires. I think he's going in with his eyes wide open about that.

It's really up to the players whether this is a bump (in the road) or a (big) hit (to the team). This is a good wake up call... I am hoping that the players realize what we have done and that we continue to move forward and (the loss) was just a bump.

That second period felt like the longest period I've ever been through as a coach. The first question was whether we could skate with them. We can. They've got speed and so do we.

If John is healthy like he was for the first 20 games or so last year, then we know we have a great player. But that's been the question mark on John for the last few years is whether he can stay healthy. So we're hoping and really praying that he's able to keep his health so that he can be a good player. If he's healthy he's going to be an impact player. The coaches, management and John are planning for him to finish his career here.

If you can't get ready for the best team in the league, you're in trouble. They've taken on all comers this year and they've really eaten up some teams. I don't know whether it's the fear of getting embarrassed, but we've got a lot of competitive guys and we love to play in these type of games.

I phoned and left a message for Brett but haven't heard from him. A player knows before he even comes into training camp whether he has one foot in the door or both feet out the door. He knows that. Brett knew that. But he was a special player.

He's not playing. He got hit (Monday) and he had concussion symptoms again, so he's out. We don't know until he feels better whether he's going to come back or not, but he's certainly not playing Wednesday or Friday, that's for sure.