SAY WHAT: 'IT'S A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT'
A rundown of what was discussed at the morning skate in Vegas
by RYAN DITTRICK @ryandittrick / CalgaryFlames.com
MICHAEL STONE ON FACING BROTHER MARK:
"I spent a little time at his house yesterday afternoon, and then went for dinner. We don't get a lot of time to do that, so it was nice that it fell on a day like that. You don't get that time - even in the summer - because we're not the same city, so we don't get a lot of time to spend together. That's what I look forward to the most. … Probably our parents, too."
TRAVIS HAMONIC ON PLAY OF THE D MEN:
"I thought we had a good game (in Dallas). For us to play to our strengths, as a group of defencemen, I think it helps when the forwards play the way they did. They made our job a lot easier with tons of back pressure. We try to stay up at the lines and have a good gap, and when you know when you've got the support from the forwards coming back immediately, it gives you that opportunity to A) try and stop the puck at the blueline, redline, whatever it is, and B) getting in transition and giving the puck back to our forwards. They're so skilled and we want the puck in their hands, so you have to work as a five-man unit and when that happens, we're at our best here."
Video: "It's a hostile environment, for sure."
HAMONIC ON 60-MINUTE EFFORT:
"I don't know if you ever really get there, but you strive for it - try to get closer. As a group, we haven't been at our best. But you're trying to build it, trying to get better in practice and get closer to that effort. We do a good job as a group, whether it's a win or a loss, of just trying to recover, move forward and put it behind us. ... It's a singular focus every night, on the game, and the task at hand."
HAMONIC ON ATMOSPHERE AT T-MOBILE:
"It's loud and the fans are going all game. It's a hostile environment, for sure. They play in the same environment that we have to tonight, but we just try to harness it a little bit and use it to our advantage. Come out, have a good start and try to silence the crowd a little bit. Try to use the energy, try and enjoy it. These are always fun buildings to come into."
BILL PETERS ON STONE'S GAME:
"We've had lots of time together prior to him going down with his injury. We're comfortable with Stoney, we've got lots of data and film on him as a Calgary Flame... so, we're very familiar with his game and what he brings to the table. Especially on the road, I think it's good to mix it up a little bit. Gives us some balance and I thought all three pairs had that in Dallas."
PETERS ON GROUP COMING TOGETHER:
"Good day yesterday; a really good day of practice. I thought we had some tempo. I think we're starting to play quicker and that's what we have to do here tonight, is make sure we play with tempo in all four lines."
Video: "We have to play with tempo."
PETERS ON MANGIAPANE'S ENHANCED ROLE:
"He's quick, he's on pucks. It's funny, we got our video together for tonight and it's the same thing, he's very dynamic in the head-to-head series with Vegas. I think he's starting to feel more comfortable on the right side, SO we'll see how long we can go with that. He's also a guy we talked about moving around to get some other people going as well. I think he's playing at a high level with lots of pace right now and lots of confidence."
PETERS ON MANGIAPANE PLAYING RIGHT WING:
"Mangy is a young guy, still able to add lots of little tricks to the trade in the D-zone. There are still some things he's got to work on in the D zone to get pucks out. It's still a little different, you can bring pucks back, especially with his quickness and hockey sense. If he gets it high enough in the D-zone, he can bring it back and hit an active D on the weak side, so there's all those things you do differently when you're playing on the off side and he's open to it."