Practice Day Quotes: April 11, 2018

The Colorado Avalanche traveled to Nashville on Wednesday and practiced at Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators, in preparation for the first game of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Here is what some of the Avs players and head coach Jared Bednar said following the on-ice session.

On the keys to playing the Predators:
"It is important for us to come out strong and to make sure that we are on the puck, we are playing good offensively and defensively. We now they are pretty good on both sides of the ice, so we are going to have to play a great game I think."
On getting ready for playoff hockey:
"It is going to be more intense for sure. We are in the playoff and I have been watching the playoffs when I was young but now I am playing. I know that is going to be a speed game, a physical game, it's going to be a playoff game and for sure more intense than the season."
On adjustments for him once the playoffs begin:
"I am going to be ready, I need to be ready, that's playoffs. Maybe I am going to have to adjust myself for the first shift, couple shifts and after I think I am going to be good. I am going to try to adjust myself for the first and second shift and after I am going to have to play my game and make sure that I am good offensively and defensively."
On getting ready for the Predators:
"We need to put the focus on us. We know they are a good team on the other side, but I think we need to focus on us to use our qualities and to make sure that we use our speed and to play a simple game."
On his growth as a player during the season:
"I learned a lot this year, I am still learning right now. Like I say all the time, the veterans here help me a lot, a guy like Barrie Johnson on defense and offensively, MacKinnon, Landeskog, Soderberg, Comeau. All of those guys have a lot of experience in this league, so they help me a lot be a better person and a better player on the ice."
On the toughest thing he dealt with during the season:
"I don't think it was pretty hard this year. I had a tough month in January I believe, but I came strong after. So when you got a hard moment like that, you need to respond back and make sure you come back in the game ready and have some confidence in yourself as well. Like I said, all of those guys helped me a lot to come back with my confidence and everything. It was a pretty nice season with them, and right now in the playoffs we are pretty happy to be here, and we are ready for the game tomorrow."

Center Carl Soderberg

On practicing at Bridgestone Arena:
"I think it's good for the guys, we haven't been here in a while. Feel the ice a little bit, it's pretty good for us."
On the team's experience in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
"We don't have that much but sometimes experience can be bad too, if you have a bad experience, so it's not always good. Just go out, skate, hit and hopefully we can score some goals tomorrow."
On the season series against Nashville:
"I think we played pretty well the last two games at home. Even with the losses, it was still tight games so we bring that with us and I think we, not just the result, I think we played pretty good as well so keep that going and I think we can match them."
On having a few extra days to prepare:
"For sure (having extra days to prepare helps), but at the same time we have played against them a lot the last two years so we know how they are playing, they know how we are playing, so we are excited to go."
On the Predators:
"They are a deep team, they have good forwards, good D's, good goalies. Obviously try to get the first goal, that's always a good thing in a game, and play tight."
On gaining energy from the Nashville crowd:
"It will help. Not just for them, for us too."

Head Coach Jared Bednar

On Colorado goalie Jonathan Bernier
"Goaltending is such a huge position, No. 1. You got to give him credit, I mean (Colorado G Semyon Varlamov) got hurt midseason, he comes in and he wins 10 games in a row and then he is out spending a bunch of time out of the lineup with various injuries. He comes back in and he's building his game back up and he comes in, doesn't miss a beat, and wins us some important games down the stretch. The net is his for the series. One of the more experienced guys on our team, so we lean on him heavily for sure at these times."
On practicing at Bridgestone Arena:
"I just think that it's good to get an extra skate here, get used to the rink, the boards. To get in and have some meetings and have a little bit of extra time here today, instead of flying in right before dinner. They can get settled into their rooms and what not and there is going to be a lot of buzz around this city. It is an exciting time of the year and to get settled into the city that you are going to play the series in as early as possible, I think is important."
On playing in a loud arena:
"Players love to play in front of an energized crowd and a full building, and here is no different. It's a fun place to come and play because its loud, it's noisy, its hostile. I think you have to embrace that and enjoy it and enjoy trying to take some two points out of here."

On his team's experience in big games:
"I am pretty happy with where we are at to be honest with you. We were basically playing playoff hockey down the stretch and a lot of other teams with us there, I think our guys will learn from that experience. It felt like they were must-win games for a couple weeks and most importantly, the last one which is basically a Game 7 to get in here. Talking with our leaders and the guys in the room, I like the way that we are responding to this. I think that we are excited to be here but not taking it for granted and we are certainly not satisfied where we are at. We are coming in here to make this a real tough series and we will see how it goes, but I think our guys are looking forward to the challenge."
On being the underdog:
"I mean we have enjoyed being the underdog. I feel like our guys have kind of had that mentality that we had to prove people wrong all year. They have done that to this point to get here and this is just the next step. That's Phase 1, this is Phase 2 and that's the way we got to look at it. I think that I would pick them too. They are 117 points, they were in the Final last year. That's all great, but our guys believe that we can get the job done and I believe we can get the job done, so it's up to us to prove that."
On finding Nashville's weaknesses:
"There is not many, it's a deep team, we have done our homework on them. We have some input from our players, we have some input from people around the league and we have looked at a lot of video between four coaches in the last four days. We put together a package for our guys so that's our work and now we have to implement it. We will have to make adjustments along the way too, as they will, as the series gets going but the most important thing is we still have to play our game. We know what makes us successful and there are some minor adjustments that we are going to make, but for the most part, especially Game 1, we got to get out and get on our toes and pressure the puck."