Practice Day Quotes: April 10, 2018

The Colorado Avalanche was back at practice on Tuesday at Family Sports Center, as the players took part in the second day of on-ice preparation for their first-round playoff series against the Nashville Predators.
Colorado practices on Wednesday in Nashville before playing Game 1 on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Here is what the Avs players and head coach Jared Bednar had to say following the session.

On any takeaways from last playoff experience in 2013-14:
"Not really, it was four years ago. Obviously, it's nice, it's the second time in the playoffs so it's not totally new, but it was a long time ago. We have a different team, different situation. Definitely a new challenge for us this year."
On postseason excitement:
"Yeah that's what we play for, we want to give ourselves a chance to win and we have. You know, it took until the last game but we got in. Anything can happen now. We're excited, we're excited for the challenge. Obviously, it's not going to be easy against the Presidents' [Trophy]-winning team."
On the season series against Nashville:
"I thought we had some good games, lost in OT, some close ones. We just have to play our game and make them respond to us."

Center Colin Wilson

On head coach Jared Bednar:
"He's definitely a players' coach, I think. He's asking us our opinions, what we think; giving his input as well. I think when you kind of have that group mentality, it helps the whole team."
On his communication with former teammates in Nashville:
"There has not been too many text messages exchanged. I think both sides realize what this is about. When the puck drops, there's not going to be too much friendly play out there."
On playoff hockey:
"Everything steps up; the excitement, the energy, the play is faster. It's just all-around a completely different game. There's nothing that can necessarily prepare yourself for it because it's just such an intense situation. I'm looking forward that our group gets to be a part of it, and I'm hoping that we make a run here."

Center Tyson Jost

On being in the playoffs as a rookie:
"It's unbelievable. It's everything I would've wanted in my first year, to make the playoffs. It's something I thought about a lot in the summer on how cool it would be to be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now it's here. It's really cool, and I can't wait to get things going. It's something I've dreamed about for a long time."
On carrying over the momentum from the final game of the year:
"That was a playoff game, that was playoff hockey. We've proved to ourselves that we can play in games like that, we've proved to ourselves all year, we've proved a lot of critics wrong. It's been a really fun year coming to the rink everyday with this group of guys. We definitely can carry over some momentum from St. Louis. It was really a fun game, and I think you saw the pace and the excitement that we played with. That's something we've got to bring to Nashville."
On secondary scoring:
"It's huge. Our line's talked about that a lot. Ghetto (Colorado RW Sven Andrighetto) and Kerfoot (Colorado C Alex Kerfoot) and myself, we always talk about that after games, after practices, is trying to produce. I think you saw in the last five or six games there, we went on a little bit of a roll and started putting pucks in the back of the net and that's what we're going to need if we want to have a chance to win. We know what the stakes are, we know that we're going to have to step up too."

Defenseman Mark Barberio

On celebrating Saturday's win:
"It was just a pretty relaxing Sunday. Went for breakfast with a few of the guys and watched The Masters and that was it. Just kind of let it sink in a bit and came back to work yesterday, back to practice, get ready for Game 1."
On defenseman Samuel Girard's play:
"I think everyone's been impressed just because his poise and going down the stretch. Obviously, a lot of injuries on the backend and for a 19-year-old, who was asked to do quite a bit, I thought he did just a great job stepping up. In that last game, he got us going with that big goal in the first period and get us some momentum going into the second. He's just been a really great addition for us and the future is definitely really great."
On embracing being the eighth seed:
"I think in the modern game now, it's just getting into the playoffs. Doesn't matter which seed you get as long as you get in. There's so much parity in the league, you know, there's big teams that aren't making the playoffs. Once you get in, anything can happen. Eighth seeds have had some success, and if you look at what Nashville did last season when they got all the way to the finals. And a few years back, the L.A. Kings managed to win the cup as the last seed in the Western Conference. It's definitely things we can take some inspiration from."

Head coach Jared Bednar

On Blake Comeau's status:
"Yeah, he's a little bit banged up so he's been getting some treatment and some maintenance here. He should be good to go."
On carrying over momentum from Saturday's game:
"I'm hoping a lot. I don't know, it's hard to say. I think our guys should feel confident in what we're doing and what we did Saturday night. It's a good, sort of measuring stick for how we're going to need to play in Nashville. Hopefully it gives us a little bit of confidence so we can continue to play that way against another good team."
On how preparation is different playing multiple games against the same team instead of different teams every game:
"Well there's always adjustments in between games and within games. You tend to study them a little bit more after games and see what your strengths and weaknesses are and things you can do better, on the offensive side of things and defending side of things. There's a little bit of a chess game going on there, matchups and what-not. You got to make sure you're paying attention to all the analytics, who's having success against who and often times on the road, you're not in control of that anyway, but it's certainly something you pay attention to."
On previous matchups against Nashville and the takeaway:
"I learned that we have to continue to play on our toes. I feel like against certain teams in the last two years we've given them a little bit too much success and playing safe isn't our strong suit. I think we have to be an attacking team, we have to be a puck-pressure team and most importantly, you have to use our legs to create offense and defend quickly. In that game (March 4 vs. Nashville 4-3 OTL), that was the best we've been at it against Nashville. We've played certain stretches against Nashville really well over the last two years, but we've failed to put the complete game together and I felt like that night that we had earned a chance to win that game and they scored with the empty net and got one in overtime. One was a lucky break, one was their top player coming in in overtime from a bad angle. I think that should give us a little bit of confidence because we've gradually gotten better against them, and that was our best game against them."
On having extra time to prepare:
"Yeah, but everyone's getting it. Everyone's getting the same time, so it evens out. It's important. It's important for our group, especially being young and having not been here. It's a time to sort of take a deep breath and reset, but we're still excited about it. Going into this, to be somewhat over-prepared for it, but still keep our daily routine for Thursday for game day is nice."

On inexperience playoff team:
"I think the differences are the atmosphere in Nashville, the excitement around it. There's a lot of buzz around that city, especially knowing what they did last year. Sort of getting started on the road, for us there's a lot of excitement around our team as well and our guys have earned that. So it's something they have to deal with. The level of play and the intensity is going to elevate. To be honest with you, last couple weeks of the season for us, we've kind of felt that pressure and intensity the whole time, playing against teams that have been in the exact same boat as us fighting to get in. They've been meaningful, so we should be somewhat prepared for what we're going to see."
On the team playing better hockey than Nashville at the end of the season:
"I don't know about 'better,' if that's the right word, but I think that certainly the experience we've gotten in the last month. I said last week, we've been playing playoff hockey but we've known it's been longer than that, the importance of these games. We've had good stretches, and we've faltered a little bit. Hopefully the game against St. Louis is something we can come to expect from our team, that consistency and that commitment and determination that we had. That's the mindset we have to go into the series with. We feel that we play our best, we'll get the results that we want. Having played these games for so long, and they're important, I think it's certainly good for our team specifically."
On handling the physicality of playoff hockey:
"I think we'll be fine. I just look at recent games and how we responded to that and how we competed in some physical moments. We're not a team that's going to look to mix it up after the whistle, it's just not us. I don't see a purpose for it. Unless you're going to dominate the game in that fashion, I don't see a need, and that's not us. I look at the game in Anaheim, first period, second period, they were coming at us trying to mix it up. And I think we probably could've pushed back at the right times and in the right areas and build the lead there. I didn't like the third there, but I don't think it had anything to do with the physical play. We then went into L.A. and played a big, heavy team and played pretty well. And the St. Louis Blues are certainly no pushover physically, so it wasn't an issue. We have to be hard to play against in our own way and that's using our speed and being tenacious on the pucks."
On the team's waiver-acquired defensemen:
"I think it's opportunity and wanting to make the most of their opportunity. That's what drives a player. There's players on every team that feel like they want more and deserve more. We're fortunate that our guys that want more and deserve more are happy to contribute in any way they can. That's the culture you need to win. If you look at a team like Las Vegas for example, they're a team full of guys that wanted and probably needed and maybe deserved more opportunity, and then they come out and have the year that they had because a lot of those guys are getting that opportunity. It's good to have depth and some of those players were picked up from teams that have a lot of depth and that was all the opportunities those teams had for those guys, but they were ready for more and they're proving that in Vegas. I feel like some of our guys have come in here and done that, it's the exact same situation."
On how the team plans on shutting down Nashville:
"Well first off, you have to be really good at reloading the puck. On the forecheck, you got to make sure you're finishing them off. They're elusive guys, they can all skate and move the puck and they're not scared to hang on to the puck and make plays. A lot like Sam Girard. When he's going back for a puck, he's not just looking to bang it off the boards and get it out of the zone, he's going back and he has confidence in himself to able to shake the first forechecker and move up the ice. Our forecheck has got to be real good. They have four guys that can do that. If you're forechecking, you got to reload and do the early work to sort of deter them from joining the rush and prevent them from joining the rush. And in D-zone coverage, you got to be aware of where they're at and we'll make a couple of tactical changes, just slight changes, that can hopefully keep their shots down. They have the highest scoring D-corps in the league and a lot of their offense is generated based on what those guys do both on the rush and in the offensive zone."
On the Denver Nuggets in a similar situation as the Avalanche was, with the playoffs on the line in the regular-season finale:
"It's crazy to believe that both situations are the exact same. I wish the Nuggets were playing at home, it would be awesome for their fans to see. I've been following that just a little bit, I don't really follow basketball throughout the whole year, but I got to meet coach Malone and I'm certainly a fan of the team. I just watch what they're doing here recently, and I feel there's similarities to their team and our team: young groups, young stars, they're thirsty for it and they're playing their best basketball. That's kind of just speaking off the cuff, but it seems like they're playing pretty well lately and buying into the team concept. So I think they're giving themselves a real good chance and you win one game and you're in, and I think they're playing their best ball right now."
Quotes compiled by ColoradoAvalanche.com's Scott MacDonald