George McPhee Ready For Challenge Ahead In Western Conference Final

George McPhee is a thoughtful and measured man who can take his time to ruminate on a subject. He can also be decisive and entrenched on topics which hit a visceral nerve.
Suggesting he's done his job and should be satisfied with getting his team into the final four of the NHL's Stanley Cup tournament clangs with McPhee's competitive sensibilities like a doctor's mallet on a funny bone.
Ken Holland, the much-revered GM of the Detroit Red Wings with four Stanley Cups on his resume, says getting to the conference final is in many ways, mission accomplished for a manger.
"Winning the Stanley Cup is the ultimate prize but that's one team out of 31," reasons Holland. "If you get to the final four - you've generated playoff revenue for your owner, created a buzz in the city and won a lot of hockey games. Any owner should be pleased with a manager who gets his team to the conference final."
Holland's premise was recounted to McPhee on Monday morning, a few hours after his Vegas Golden Knights had punched a ticket to the Western Conference Final.

"That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is it doesn't happen very often and you don't want it to end," said McPhee. "If not now, when. There isn't a single person in this organization that doesn't want this thing to continue. Now we're focused on winning the first period of the next game. We all know ultimately where we'd like to be. During the season, we weren't thinking on those terms at all. We talked about the game in front of us and that's where we're going to stay focused on. Getting to this stage, doesn't mean anything other than we've got another game in front of us to prepare for."
McPhee spoke with the media on Monday and here are highlights from his conversation:
Thoughts on how important the expansion rules were regarding on where your team is at now…
It had a big impact. The rules were favorable. It gave us something to work with and gave this team the opportunity to be a good team. It was a lot of work. We're delighted with the way it turned out but it was important to the league and to Las Vegas and Bill Foley that this franchise had a chance to work. The people that were coming to the games could enjoy the product and become real fans. We grew some deep roots in this market place and get boys and girls playing and adults playing and do all the things that come with it. I didn't mind the rules.
Thoughts on if making the Western Conference Final is a validation of you and the job you did with the expansion draft and Gallant and the job he did with coaching and the players and the job they did with their roles on this team…
Well I don't think you can point to any one thing. Everyone has done their part. Our staff certainly had done a good job of getting the right people here on the ice and off the ice. Gerard has done a terrific job of making us a team. He deserves credit. And for developing players. He has really brought a lot of players along and they've played better than they've played anywhere else. And really developed some of the young guys which is what we've been looking for when we hired Gerard. Certainly to be able to bring a sense of calm and the plan to an expansion team, to develop some of these players and be patient. And certainly the players have done their part. They came to camp some of them not knowing if they'd make the team. There were opportunities there that a lot of them grasped. And they became a team quickly and there's something special about them from day one it seems.
Thoughts on Fleury's play and if you thought he would have as good of a season as he had this year…
Sure. We certainly knew what we were getting in terms of ability. He's a very talented guy. We were certainly happy that we were going to get that kind of leadership too. Because we heard great things about him in terms of being a great leader. We like the calming effect that he has on this team. When he plays, he's really good when you need him the most. And needless to say, you don't get to the third round in this league unless you have a goaltender that's playing well. One of the things that appealed to us about bringing him in was Dave Prior thought that he can make him an even better goaltender. Obviously he studies goaltenders all around the league and looks at the way that they're playing the game. He either believes that they're playing it right and can make them better or they're doing all the right things. He was excited, he really advocated for him in our meetings. And thought that he can make him even better than he's been.
Thoughts on how much Bill Foley has been building up his knowledge on hockey…
Well there aren't many managers that do it this way. In my time with the Islanders, Garth Snow had that kind of relationship with Charles on the island. I thought it was kind of neat, I typically like to sit alone in the box and try to focus on being as analytical as I can be without distractions. I thought that I would try I this way, so Kelly and I sit with Bill and I spent the early part of the season trying to explain to him what we were seeing out there and what we were trying to do in certain instances. I think it's been a good education for him. And then certainly I've learned from him how competitive he is and what the games mean to him. And the pressures that owners can feel. Sometimes you feel like you're the only guy in the building that's feeling the pressure. It's obviously more than that. You have a building full of people that are excited to be there and are looking for a home win. You really want to deliver, and there's some pressure that comes with that. So I think it's been a good experience for all of us. We get to know each other better through this process and I guess that can only help the relationship. If the relationship is good, then the team will be in good shape.
Thoughts on if any moment or decision throughout the season had a bigger impact than you thought it would…
Well no, I think it's sort of the laws of accumulation. If you keep making the right decision and doing the right things based on what's right for the organization, the organization comes first, and the individual comes a close second. That was an observation from someone else outside of our organization and saw what we did. Maybe they were having some issues with their organization in terms of where people fit. We just tried to make it clear to all of our players, it started with camp obviously, but it's been this way all year long. It doesn't matter where you were drafted in your career, how many teams you've been with, what your contract status is, what your age is. You're going to be on this team if you're a right fit and a right personality and ready to work. If you're that kind of person, we'll find room for you. That's how we operated, and it's really helped in creating this great culture that we have. I've said that a number of times, that culture is important. It's an overused term but I think we all know if you go to different companies, different companies have certain cultures. You know when you walk in the door, you have this feeling that they're doing it right or they're not doing it right. We wanted to get it right here, and we really put a lot of time and effort into that. And I guess that is one example of what we've tried to do.
Thoughts on the series and why your team emerged victorious and whether this feels like your first year in Washington…
To answer that part of your question, no, it doesn't. I haven't thought of that run at all to be honest with you. It seems like a long time ago. This series was a really good series. I thought the two teams played similar styles. They both played hard and honest, it wasn't cheap. It was good, fast paced physical hockey. Lots of scoring chances. Entertaining hockey. That first series as you know was really tight. LA played a different style and they were taking different ways to get there. Their style won them a couple of cups. So as I said to you the last time we met, I wasn't sure where the series would go, who would prevail, we just tried to get ready for the first game and try to win the first period of the first game and we did. And we ended up winning the series. I talked to their GM last night, who was first class all the way. Did a really good job with that club. Peter DeBoer did a really good job of coaching that club, really good job. But Doug Wilson said you were the better team. It didn't really feel that way to me but we came out on top and I guess if you win four games, you were the better team.
Thoughts on there being 13 franchises that haven't won multiple playoff series total in the last seven years, and your team doing it in your first year, does that make you emotional…
I may have years ago but I'm not now. I've been doing this long enough to know honestly there are different ways to look at this. For me, it doesn't mean anything yet. We'd all like to win someday, and if not now, when? None of us want this to end. So I am really happy that we have another game to play and a new series that begins. We have a game to focus on later on this week. We don't know who yet, but we'll focus on the way we play in the next couple of days and see where it takes us. And I think I mentioned maybe last time around, sometimes we operate in silos, like we're up there this morning. We played Friday night and met with our Taxi Squad 6:45 the next morning. Our scouting meeting started at 8. And it goes on and it goes on. The players and coaches get a day off today, the rest of us are trying to do what we have to do to keep this organization in the right place and get ready for the draft. Pro scouting and so on. You keep working away, you keep working away, and one day you wake up and something special has happened and then you can enjoy it.
Thoughts on the depth of the team…
I haven't been around a team like this. This feels like more of a team than any team I've ever been with at the NHL level. The interesting thing is we have some depth. I was worried about that before the trading deadline because we were banged up. Reilly Smith was out, some other guys were out, Luca Sbisa was out. Some guys were playing hurt. As a manager, you worry about it unraveling. I just thought this team was good enough that I never wanted to put that at risk. We added some players. Integration hasn't been easy. To come in to this team, it's been hard for Reaves and hard for Tatar. It's been hard for Ryan Carpenter. Carpenter didn't get to play for a month. The other guys haven't played as much as they want to play. The guys that were here from September have been pretty special in what they've gone through and how they've developed. The really neat thing is that Gerard can figure out what flavor he wants for a certain game or against a certain team. He's pushing all of the right buttons. The guys go in and they get these big games. Jon Merrill was playing really well. Didn't want to take him out, but it was time to give Sbisa some games. Carrier gets hurt and Reaves goes in and gives us a great game last night. Our fourth line was terrific. Oscar Lindberg hasn't played in the playoffs yet and he goes in and he's given us two very good games. He played that way in the playoffs in New York last year. I give the players a lot of credit. They have to be good, they have to be good teammates. There's been no whining about not playing when they're doing the extra skating and there's no game in sight for them. They're working their tails off because they might get in someday. It's not easy when you're not playing, but guys have gone in and played really well. I give the players a lot of credit and I give Turk a lot of credit. He makes those decisions. As a manager, some nights we talk about things and sometimes he puts the lineup in without me having to talk about it. My instructions to him have always been, 'you dress who you think you need to dress to win the game.' That's it.
Thoughts on the team's style of play and if the rest of the league could copy any of what they've done to succeed on the ice…
I'm not sure. Can you replicate what we've done coming out of expansion? We sort of got a group that's similar in age. It's a younger team. We've got a few young players in the lineup, but not too many. We've got the right amount of veterans. There aren't huge salary disparities. Can other teams do that? I'm not sure. But I think all managers have tried to get balanced teams. You can roll the four lines, you can roll with 16. We all want that, it's just hard to get sometimes. Whether it's salaries that they get when they do certain things, we pay them more. Then it's harder to fill up other areas of the team. We tried to make the team as good as it can be, everyone is talking about speed. It's about speed, having the right size, the right team construction, some guys that can finish. It's a lot of different things. You need some mobile defenseman, but you also need some guys that can defend with their size. Some experience back there and some physicality. It's a pretty well-rounded team. It's what we were trying to accomplish when we put it together.
Thoughts on the growth of Alex Tuch and Shea Theodore this season…
It's probably a good example of one of the things that happened along the way that we did right, that made the team better. We weren't sure whether he or Shea Theodore were ready to play in this league. In the middle of the summer, you don't know that. But when they came to training camp, they played so well that we had to make room for them. We had some roster issues at the time; certain players we didn't want to lose. So we had to massage some things and work through some things. We told both of those players that they were going to be back sooner rather than later. As soon as we could get them up from the American Hockey League, we made the moves to make it so. They've been very good for this hockey club. Turk has been very good for them and bringing them along. He did a really good job with Theodore and being patient with him. He's turning out to be a really good defenseman for us. Alex Tuch has been terrific. He brings speed and he's scored some big goals. He's done a real good job for a young kid.
Thoughts on if he ever had a turning point where he thought the team was the real deal…
I don't think I ever had that. I don't think as a manager you can allow yourself to think that way. I told everyone when we get to the deadline we'll see where we are and figure out what we need. At the deadline, we were playing well enough that we wanted to try to help the team so we added some players in an effort to try to make them even better. We weren't going to try to dismantle this. I can't say that there's any point during the season where I ever thought, 'this is a really good team and could do something special.' You don't ever want to jinx yourself, I guess. I'm not superstitious, but I do things just in case.
Thoughts on the next round and starting on the road…
Well whoever it's going to be is going to be one heck of a team. They finished with more points than we did. With each round, it gets tougher and tougher. It may not be a bad thing to start on the road this time around. Something a little bit different. We're going to spend the next few days trying to get ready for that first period in the next game. I'm certainly happy to be here and have the chance to do it.
Thoughts on Nate Schmidt's development as a player…
It's another example of something that went right. He wasn't playing a lot with his previous team. I think they planned on playing him a lot this year. We saw something in him that we thought we could use that would be good for our club. The speed, the mobility and the commitment. He happens to be a great kid. It's funny how things go. We signed him as a free-agent out of college. He was as quiet as a church mouse; he never said much. Now he's sort of comfortable in his own skin and not so quiet. But he's talkative in a good way, in a fun way. He's really good for this club. Really delighted with the way he and a lot of these players have developed this year. It's all on the coaching staff. Not just Turk, Ryan McGill has really been good with these defensemen. The rest of our coaches have done a terrific job.
Thoughts on Bill Foley hiring him and his tenacity to get back into the game of hockey…
Well interestingly enough, it's been interesting watching Bill operate in the way he hires people. He makes decisions quickly. He's very decisive. Your first instinct is the best. I really wanted to manage again. I thought I had something to offer. I thought that I had a lot of experience and knowledge that would help an expansion team. If you look at the history of an expansion team, those that hire experienced people usually did pretty darn well. The ones that didn't, didn't do well. I was hoping Bill was aware of that before we met. I tried to make my case when we met. We put together a heck of a team in Washington that's been a really good team for a long time. Had a bad year, got fired. Learned some different things working with the Islanders and shared with them things that I thought I knew. I thought the experience with Team Canada-- I worked three international tournaments with them, two World Championships and then the Spangler Cup at Christmas. We had a great run, I think we went 23-1 in the three tournaments and we won every tournament. I learned a lot there with respect to coaches, so I just felt that you have something to offer. I'm just grateful that I got a second chance like almost everybody else here that was rejected in one way or another. It's nice to have another chance.