Sami Kapanen Quotations

Obviously, it's tough playing that many games on the road. It helps that we won the first three games. It gives us confidence for the long stretch.

No excuses. We have to find a way to get it done.

I don't even know when it happened, ... I guess about 3 or 4 weeks back, I think I kind of fell down just a little bit on my shoulder, and I think that had to be the one.

I had made up my mind after the conference finals that I was done. I told all the players. I told (Flyers General Manager Bob Clarke). I met (Flyers chairman) Mr. (Ed) Snider in the hallway. I called the coaching staff and I told my family.

I think it's better to fix it now than to try and play with a bad shoulder and get to the point where it needs to be fixed in the middle of the season and be in a bad spot going into the playoffs,

Last month I finally started feeling good, ... I was just anxious to get back -- with the new signings and the new rules -- and seeing as we were out for a year. Not being able to play the next couple of months will be hard.

I think they're one of the quickest teams -- especially up front -- in the Eastern Conference. That's how they try and play now, and especially with the new rules, it's been real good for them. If you look at the standings, they're right there at the top.

I think there's a couple weeks now where we don't play any regular season games, so it kind of shortens up the time you're going to miss in the season,

It hasn't been a whole lot of fun playing lately, with the aching and all the pills and needles. The time off should do some good for my body.

My body was starting to crave more workouts. When I started working out I sat down and thought about it and I said, ?Why am I working out if I?m not going to work out to get in game shape.? That?s when I decided to play a couple more years and see how I felt after that.

We played with a little more intensity, we skated better, we battled and maybe we were a little bit more physical. But overall, our effort was better. Everyone was in.

(The defenseman) was kind of standing still. So I kind of made a little move to gain some speed and drive to the middle. It was fairly easy for me because there was no hooking or holding.

We just got to suck it up. Obviously, it gets harder and harder when guys are going down. Hopefully, we'll get some of the guys back pretty soon.

We did a lot of things right, but not enough to get two points. We really wanted to win the game, but it wasn't enough.

Comparing the two, this one feels more special, coming back here and getting one in overtime. I'll take this one.

They're feeling the heat. Obviously they're hoping I play.

It's been sore ever since then, ... I still have been able to do the scrimmages and all that, but I guess it's time to fix it. ... I think it's better to fix it now than to try and play with a bad shoulder and get to the point where it needs to be fixed in the middle of the season and be in a bad spot going into the playoffs.

That's something we've got to get better at. I think I should be one of the guys and I want to be one of those guys providing some offense.

It's better to face it now. There's a couple weeks now where we don't play any regular-season games. It kind of shortens up the time you're going to miss. It's better to fix it now than try to play with a bad shoulder.

No matter what my final decision is, I'm going to feel the heat from either end.

I'm trying to get through the next three weeks until the Olympic break. I'm leaning toward not playing in the Olympics because the way my body is feeling, I need the extra rest.

I guess it was about three or four weeks back. I think I kind of fell down on my shoulder. I can't even finger-point any hits in the past, I don't know how many weeks we've been skating. It's been sore ever since then. I still have been able to do the scrimmages and all that, but I guess it's time to fix it.

I guess it was about three or four weeks back, and I think I kind of fell down on my shoulder, ... I can't even finger-point any hits in the past. I don't know how many weeks we've been skating, and it's been sore ever since then.

I didn't feel that good, I was more tired than (Wednesday). There was a big difference in my game. I tried to keep my shifts short.

He told me to take some time off and think about it. Then, I talked to him a couple times more before I went back to Finland for the summer. We talked a few times that summer. He told me it was too early to retire. He said he knew what I was going through. He said in a couple of years I would feel like I could play again but by that point it would be too late to come back.

You can sense, late in the game, when they were all over us, guys were kind of laughing and smiling towards each other. To have that much fun late in a game is kind of disturbing. We do have pride to play real hard, no matter what the score. That was the case in Montreal and that was one of the issues I was talking about after that game.