Alain Vigneault Quotations

We've already made the decision. Most teams put five, but we're going to put six.

We're in for a grind, since they've beat us they've really gotten on a roll here. I don't know if we gave them confidence or whatever. We know what we're up against. Hard work is their team identity.

We're going to take that on a day-to-day basis, it depends on how the groin reacts. He's improved every day that I've seen him. (Tuesday) night was his best game so far. Obviously, he's got a ways to go but that's only going to come with time.

We're going to see probably one of the hardest (working), most physical teams in the league coming in. They don't score a lot of goals, but they play hard. A lot of times, they don't even want to play the puck, they just want to play the man. It's Calgary, in-your-face, finish-checks hockey. It's going to be a big challenge for us and the bigger the challenge, the bigger we're supposed to respond.

Three wins by 1-0 scores -- obviously, our goaltending has been solid.

We're trying to work on Sami to get through that and shoot the puck. MacInnis shot the puck all the time. If there was a fool who wanted to stand in front and break an ankle, tough luck.

We brought him [Raffi Torres] in because he was an emotional, physical player. He's had nothing but a great attitude and a great work ethic with us all year long. He comes to play, prepares himself real well. We need him to play the way he does. You know, he's a little bit sometimes outside the box, but you've got to let him be who he is.

I played with Joey Mullen back in Salt Lake City before he got called up to St. Louis. He was the first player ever to score 20 goals in the American League and 20 in the NHL. I've kept in contact with him and he's a great guy.

Guys, I don't want to tell you half-truths, unless they're completely accurate.

You can't control the opposition, but you can control how you play, your energy level, your intensity on the ice. That's what we're going to do.

We always got together on my mom's side and I was about six-years-old. It was the last year my grandfather on my mother's side was alive. Everybody got together and he had a heart attack a couple weeks later. That last Christmas with him just stands out in my mind.

We might be a little off as far as our timing goes. But our guys are going to be fine. This was a well-deserved break for them, they should be re-energized and happy to get back to work.

We're looking at getting him 50 games, plus the playoffs. He didn't even play 50 last year combined with the playoffs (Flaherty played 48 total), that's why I've been careful with his playing time and rest time.

One of our mandates with Vancouver is development and they'll decide whom we develop and who we don't. The other side to this is that we think we've got a pretty good team here and we'd like to have a shot. We're going to be in the playoffs and if we can keep a similar (roster) we have a chance to compete and do well. Obviously, we'd like to see the group stay the same but if certain guys get called up or are moved and go to the NHL, we'll be happy for them. We'll just have to wait and see.

Obviously when something like that happens, there is major disappointment and status quo is not going to do it. There are some good players there and some people that were working the players. Why they didn't come together? I don't know because I'm not there. Everybody has got a theory on it and we'll let everybody work on their theory and we're going to focus on the Manitoba Moose, playing this last game well and getting ready for the playoffs.

Obviously, it took Jason a little bit of time to get his groove but I like the way he's been playing. We're going to need him to play that strong and even better in the playoffs. He's the type of guy that with one shot, he can find the back of the net. He's a shooter, he needs to go to those tough areas and he understands that.

Obviously, if we lose Flats, we've lost a big part of our team. There's a lot of speculation right now. Who knows what's true and what's not true. We'll just have to take it in stride.

If this was a playoff game, he could play. It's not serious.

He will practice with us (this) morning and we'll probably take him on the road. I'm not sure if he's going to play yet.

He gets to the net and uses his speed. When you have speed on the penalty kill, it's a pretty good thing. It's useful for us. On your fourth line, you want energy and guys to be momentum shifters. When you have speed like Brownie has, it enables you to change the tempo.

This was one of his strongest games all year long, at both ends of the rink. He made some really solid plays in our end, along the boards. And when you do that, a lot of times it pays off at the other end.

He's been very useful for us in a whole bunch of different areas this year.

Greener is a veteran who is supposed to bring an offensive touch to the game. I thought he was all right in the first game but just so-so in the second. He had a long layover and it showed. Hopefully, a good week of practice here should help him.

Our PK was good, and not to take anything away from Philly, but they were last in the league on the power play. You still have to kill off the penalties we took. Our power play got us one goal in the first game and nothing in the second. That's one area we strive to improve.

Out of the 21 players that were dressed (last) night, theoretically, seven of them are going to leave (today).

Rest is as important as anything else right now.

Part of gearing up for the playoffs is playing well. So we lost that game. We've got five more to play and if we catch up, we catch up. If we don't, we'll be third and finish from there.

That's what happened there. The guy didn't do (his research), and he paid the price.

Without a doubt we expected to win that game. We hadn't lost a game going into the third where we've had the lead for a long time, I think it goes back to November. I don't know why we weren't as good in the third. It's tough to say, you'd have to ask the players. Mentally, we weren't as sharp. I don't know if they wanted it more than we did or if we were tired. We didn't generate anything offensively in the third at all. I don't think we had a (scoring) chance.

We've got some guys who aren't here and they've got some guys who aren't here who will be in the playoffs. I just want us to continue to play well. The guys are feeling good about themselves right now.

We generated zero chances in the first. Nothing. I believe we've got a better offensive team than we've shown the past two games here.

When you win, you feel good about yourselves. That's what the focus is going to be on these next couple games.

We played with the urgency and desperation that the situation demanded. We scored two and that was an improvement for us.

We played where we wanted to play and took a lot of their skill away by making the right decisions and finishing checks and being gritty in certain areas.

We played a really strong first period and it was 0-0. I don't know if we lost our legs because we definitely found them in the third. I'm not sure what it was. They outplayed us in the second period and that's where they won the game.

We left it totally up to the players. In Bolduc's case, he had just signed with us, so there wasn't really much sense for him (to go).

We're not quite sure what they're going to do, but they're going to let us know (today). Somebody is coming back.

The only thing that would be up in the air are those final games against Cleveland. There it will be what (Flaherty) feels is best for his game. The other thing is we need to have Max playing well because we might need him. You never know what's going to happen.

Those teams are playing really well right now. We're in a tough division, a good division. You've got to get better every week.

We were ready, but nothing transpired. For us, we're just in reaction mode a lot of the time.

We score three goals a game and we've got to find a way to win it 3-2 and 2-1. That's been our identity all year long and it doesn't seem like it's going to change down the line here.

We should be geared up for that final stretch and we should go into the playoffs with a good rhythm here.

We limited one of the best power plays in the league to nothing. And if it weren't for a giveaway in the third period, we could have shut them down completely.

Flats is the guy and everybody knows that.

There's no game tonight if Flats is not sharp. You have to be honest with the performance he put together here. Wade Flaherty was the difference. I've challenged him a little bit lately and he responded like a real pro.

Off the bat there, our guys were thinking that there were four days before the next game and were (going through the motions). That's not the way to get better. Sometimes, like anything else, you need a reminder. And I'm the reminder guy.

Anybody's who watched any hockey in the last 10, 15 years knows that (Keane) doesn't go often, but when he does he's pretty good at it.

As far as the skill and quickness, I saw some things that I liked. He was able to get into some holes.

A win is a win, but the guys weren't happy -- they would have preferred to do it in regular time. It's a big win for us and I liked a lot of parts to our game.

That was a big momentum shift. To give up that goal really, really hurt.

You shouldn't need a carrot. There are eight, nine teams right now that are in a tight pack and we're right up there with them.

They took the lead, and we just didn't stop. Even though it was a 2-1 game, it was one of the more entertaining games of the year. Both teams played with a lot of courage.

This is two games in a row where our offensive opportunities are as high as they've ever been. The chances (to score) must have been 25-5 tonight. I'm happy with the way our guys played. Obviously, I would have liked for the power play to put the game away ... but the guys are working hard.

They're a very strong team, like Syracuse, like Toronto, like Rochester. Our division is probably the toughest of the four, so whoever we play against it's going to be a huge battle.

A big momentum switch there. Our power play had some great chances, to give up that ... (it) really hurt us.

It's a tough loss. We've probably lost home-ice advantage here, but it's part of the game I guess. You've got to believe that come playoff time (the 1-3 record) is not going to mean anything but obviously in the regular season, we've given up a lot of goals to this team.

It was a typical Toronto-Manitoba game. It was hard fought from start to finish.

It should have been obvious to everybody that Vancouver was going to look to get a little bit more depth at that position. Knowing Wade, I know he's going to react like a professional.

It's not going to stop him from playing (today) ... to my knowledge. He said he's going to be fine.

That hurts us off the bat. Yes, we were up 4-2 but I never really thought we had our whole execution down pat.

It's great they're getting this opportunity. A lot of times you hear guys saying 'you never gave me a chance.' Well, now they've got it. They've got the football, let's go with it.

It's really pushed our physical and mental preparation to where it needs to be. The pressure is going to be there, but our preparation has been good and that's going to continue.

Any one of those teams can win, that's how strong our division is. The fact we've been pushed in our division from Day 1 is great.

That's fair to say. He's got some upside and he really helped us against the best team in the league. Hopefully, he can keep it going for us.

That's bush-league. I haven't seen that in pro hockey.

In all the games, we worked really hard. This was a tough grind here. The schedule was backwards. It made it that much more challenging for us. I'm happy with the way we played throughout the trip.

In any league, to come back from a two-goal deficit is a challenge. The effort was good and I didn't think the execution was bad. We just stuck to it and came back.

I know this group and they've got to be looking at the standings. You've got to be motivated and sharp to play these games. I think we're going to be fine.

I knew this is really challenging for him not playing, but if we ever needed him there was never a doubt in my mind that he would be ready.

I liked what he brought to the table -- I saw a little bit of the same player I saw in Vancouver. He was all right with and without the puck. He brought a lot of energy, and he's got in three scraps in two games. He's doing what he needs to do to grab our attention and to stay here.

I'm not sure what they're going to do, we'll wait and see. We'll be in reaction mode, but we'll find a way to get it done.

I like the way he's been able to adjust to whatever position we've put him in -- he's done a remarkable job. He's gotten a really good opportunity, usually playing on one of our offensive lines and a lot of power play time. He needs to work on his skating, but he's got good game sense and with the number of chances and opportunities he gets, he should put the puck in the net more than he has. But his work ethic and overall play this year is solid. He took the opportunity and ran with it and did a good job. He's earned it.

If you look at the overall season, he's been a very consistent and steady force back there. He's very poised and plays within his limits. That's been his strength.

In our league, the referee doesn't have the luxury of replay. He was right there, but he wasn't sure and he couldn't make the call. I looked at the replay and it was pretty evident the puck was in.

If you want me to talk about the referee, I can't say a word.

If he wants to play in the NHL against good teams, now he's playing against one of the top teams in the American League and he's got to find away to make a difference in the game. The only difference I see is that Max doesn't play the puck as much around his net as Flats (Wade Flaherty).

I don't see this as any different from any other time. We've got two good offensive lines, a couple grinding lines and guys on D who are going to get a lot of ice time.