Mike Babcock Good Quotations

We have an eight-game playoff series. We're excited about it. They have a real good team. Let's get there and get going.

There are a whole bunch of teams right now that think they have an opportunity. Everybody looks at us and says, 'If they did it, we can do it.' The measure of a great coach, player and organization is the test of time. Being recognized as good isn't a one-time thing, so you have to hang around to earn that. That's what Detroit and New Jersey have done by each winning three Cups in a 10-year span. If you want to be a benchmark team, you have to do it again.

We just did a good job on the specialty teams. They (the Blue Jackets) played with a lot of passion and urgency. (But) what do you do when your (the Blue Jackets') power play isn't putting them in, and the other team is?

I don't know why Shanahan plays so well against Nashville. He gets all excited because Nashville is such a good hockey team.

I didn't think we were mentally sharp in the third period. So it was good to see Manny back on his game.

We want him to feel good and be an important part of our team. He told me the other day that he feels he's skating well, and that his leg doesn't hurt. Well that's great news for us. He's dominant in the face-off circle, his brain works all the time; he knows how to play in all situations.

One of the things that happens when you win all the time is, when you lose in overtime and lose the next night, it feels like you haven't won in months. But it's unreasonable; you can't go through this league without losing. Our discipline was good tonight and our defense really managed the puck.

Can you imagine how good you must be for them to do that? This is Canada. They're saying you can't wear that number. You must be pretty good, and pretty good for a long period of time. How good must you be?

They have really good players in Edmonton, they really do. I've got to tell you, I'm surprised we're playing them.

I thought the goalie was really good early when the rest of us weren't.

I thought the goalie was real good early when the rest of us weren't. He'll be real humble here tonight and he'll say the players played real well in front of him and all that stuff. If you set a record ... you should be proud of yourself. At least for a few minutes until we start yelling at him tomorrow.

The Quincey kid looks like he's got a real good feel for the game.

Dan has played real good when you start him on the fourth line and then you move him around. When you put him in this situation ... we'll see how he does. Some guys can't do it. It's up to him.

I think Howard has been good and I think the two guys that are supposed to be good have been good.

Good for him. He's played hard, he's practiced hard and when he's on the ice, he's determined out there. That's great for him. It's fantastic. He should feel good.

Four games in five nights and playing a good defensive team on the road, we must be doing something right.

We weren't ready. Between the players and myself, we didn't get the job done to get out and get started and get after them and set the tone. We hung on good enough defensively, and Manny was good enough to give us a chance to get ourselves going and then I think we took over.

We have a good team and the guys came out and played hard. With a short group you don't want to get behind and battle back. We talked about being ready right from the start.

I looked at this as a five-game mini playoff series. We played Nashville, Dallas, Carolina, Philly and the Rangers and came out of it winning 3-2. With the exception of the Dallas game, we played real well. When we bear down and have a good focus, we're a good team.

He's got a good backhand, but the fake he made on his forehand to freeze the goalie, then to go to the shelf, showed us his real skill. We're real fortunate to have him.

We'll see where he's at, ... I'm hopeful of the positive side of things. You're always concerned about good players being hurt.

They're a good team, and they're finding ways to win a lot. They found a way to get four points out of here, and we only got one (an overtime loss). We have to get back on track and find a way to score against them.

He was as good with the puck and as hard on the puck as he is now, relative to the skill level. He was a committed guy then. I coached his older brother and his younger brother as well and they're good people.

Edmonton is quick, and it works hard, ... Edmonton just squashed Nashville (Tuesday), so it'll be a good test for us.

I've coached some real good players -- he's the best player I ever coached. He's classy as they come, as humble as they come. This guy just makes people around him better, and that's the key to having a successful team. He's the easiest person I've ever coached.

I've coached some good hockey players, but he's the best player I've ever coached. This guy, I always knew he was a good player, but I had no idea he was this good.

Just like everyone here, I'm shocked at our situation. It's hard to look at our team and think we didn't do a lot of good things to prepare for the playoffs and you would expect to have success.

You want guys selected for those teams. It means you have good players.

To be passing Gordie Howe - holy mackerel! That's unbelievable. That's how good you've been and that's how long you've played. And that's how good of players you played with.

With the Olympics, and the so many guys away, and the no equipment (Olympians' equipment being lost early in the tri), all the stuff going on, we knew it would be tough. Going into this trip, we knew if we could get points (early) we'd be fine. I knew we'd be good today after a couple of days off.

When you have 55 points at this point, you've done some good things.

It was good to have Hank back. He adds a dimension of speed and he hounds the puck. He's obviously going to make us a better team.

He's good defensively, but tonight he made plays with the puck, which was nice to see. Sometimes as a defensive defenseman on an offensive team they always want you to do more than you're capable of doing. His game has gotten much better with the puck.

He's good defensively, but (Monday) he made plays with the puck, which was nice to see. Sometimes as a defensive defenseman on an offensive team they always want you to do more than you're capable of doing. His game has gotten much better with the puck.

Everyone knows that they're going somewhere and everyone's going to do their own thing, but they're poised, they're going to play. They play good teams. We want to carry momentum into the break.