TALKING POINTS: Hitchcock talks team enthusiasm, young wingers and more

Q: There's the potential here for a playoff environment. Do you sense your team has a higher level of excitement and lower level of squeezing their sticks going into this next game (against Calgary)?
A: I think we just got a higher level of, I don't want to call it excitement, but enthusiasm because we see light at the end of the tunnel. We see we're in a race. We're going to be in a race when we come back. We're playing, the last two games, we've really started to make inroads. Players look and see Klefbom skating early this morning, so there's excitement level (there). They're coming into the rink and he's just coming off the ice from an hour-long skate. There's a lot of enthusiasm around the team right now because we feel like we're starting to play really well. We know this is going to be a big test; these three teams have quickness and are built differently than we are. But there's a lot of confidence in our game now.

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Q: What are your memories of the environment in the playoff games you coached with Dallas?
A: I said this when I came here: You don't play the Edmonton Oilers. You play the whole city. Until you understand that, it can be overwhelming. Very overwhelming. I mean that sincerely. You can't go anywhere, you can't do anything. Everybody knows what's going on. Everybody's pushing, pulling, and wants the best for the team, and everybody is doing whatever they think they can do to help. And I think there's a lot of people who believe they can help by the way they support and the way they cheer, and the way they try to intimidate as a fan base. I stood on the bench for a number of years and you had to either pat guys on the shoulder or you had to kick them that their line was up because you couldn't talk to them. It was too loud.
I've seen it here a few times. The noise level in a 1-0 Calgary hockey game was incredible. I'm hoping people are beginning to see that we've got some wind in our sail right now and we want to keep playing well. We know this is going to be hard but I think people are starting to understand and appreciate the way we're playing, and we're putting everything we can into it. We'll see where this goes but anything they can do to help we're more than willing to get it if we can.
Q: You've got two 20-year-old forwards. How do you balance trying to develop them when you want to win games?
A: You don't. You don't try to develop them. You run them until they run out of gas and when they run out of gas, you back them off and work with them again. When we play them and put them into the lineup, we don't treat them as 20-year-olds; they're players. The next day, like today, when we talked to all of our young guys today we had little individual meetings today, we asked them how they were doing and we asked them where we could help but when they put the sweater on, they better play. That's their job and that's what they got to do, and they know that.
Individually and collectively, they're finding it really hard. This is, I wouldn't say a surprise to them, but it's a little bit overwhelming at times because they found another gear since Christmas time in the League that they didn't anticipate. So, they're having a difficult time. We talked to Jesse about it today and he can't believe the difference in the temperature of the games now. And it's going to take some getting used to but like I said to him, you're expected ti play and you're expected to play well when you put the sweater on.

Q: On Yamamoto, you've only had him for two games, Ken - you've seen Jesse for a longer time - what have you seen in Yamo's game that you feel can help your team right now? What do you like about his play?
A: He gets the lines on the ice. There are three major lines on the ice obviously and he knows how to play in all three. That's something that's been taught to him well ahead we got him. He understands the lines of the ice and what to do with the puck and how to play within those lines. So, there's a trust factor that goes on. Jesse is just learning about those lines. Jesse is still learning to play from it. To me, he still has a lot of big ice to his game and he's learning how to play on the small ice. Whereas Yamo grew up on a small ice game and he knows how to play within those lines on the ice. They're both close to the same age but one guy has more experience with the small ice game.
Q: In terms of his game, has Yamamoto seemed to have learned that he has to score differently and create offense differently than he might have done in junior where he would be far and away more skilled than guys?
A: I don't know about that. I think right now, he hasn't had the wear and tear of the season that Jesse's had. This is a hard go for a 20-year-old when you're counting on 20-year-olds. It's not like we slip them in and we play them once in a while and stuff like that. We're playing these guys every night, so we know that Yamo is going to hit the wall here in a month or so. That's just the way it is. When you decide to make and play these younger guys and you know what their top end is - the top end on both guys is good - we just have to go through the peaks and valleys and you have got to be there for them. But you also have to know when to scale them back. It's going to be there with Yamo just as it was with Jesse. This has been a hard week because Jesse found a new level of hockey that gets played at this time of year and I think Yamo is going to find the same thing.
Q: What's been different about your game that has led to this little run and how does it set you up for one of the top teams in the league tomorrow?
A: I don't know if it sets you up for a top team, I'll tell you that at about 10:30 tomorrow night. Our game is getting better because we're understanding the lines on the ice and how critical those lines on the ice are. We're understanding what our game is and our game is checking and controlling tempo. We have a couple of players that play outside the box and they've got the freedom to do that and they've got a flashing green light. Everybody else has to stay inside the box and when they do, we're very effective. We're playing inside the box now in a proper manner and it shows up in the limited chances against we give up and the chances for we're getting. It's a hard way to play but it's a winning way and I think our players are starting to buy into it again. We've bought into it before and it's hard to stay with that type of program but we're buying into again and that's a good sign.

Q: (Khaira) has talked about being more comfortable on the wing. I know his goal was shorthanded and wasn't necessarily as a winger, but it was a really nice goal. You've promoted him up with Nugent-Hopkins. What do you see from him that could help you down the stretch? Where's his ceiling at from what you've seen and where he can go in his game offensively?
A: He's a really good third-line winger. Can he become a second-liner? I don't know, but we'll see. Right now, he's a very good third-line winger and his best game is breaking ahead of the play. When he gets ahead of the play and gets on the hunt, that's his game and you can't do that as a centre. You're always coming from underneath as a centre, but when he's able to get ahead of the play and he's able to put pressure on people, he's dynamic. That's what we see. We're going to give him as much power-play time as we can afford here and see how he can do on that, and if he can start to score in the games like he scores during practice and shows offensive flair, then we're going to get a top-six player which is good.
Q: You ran Gravel/Petrovic and Benning/Manning as pairs. Is Petrovic going to play or are you still not sure?
A: I think it's somebody else's opportunity. When Matt came back from his grandfather's funeral, his game went up another level. It's hard to take a guy out that's playing that well. It's a little bit on me because I don't like taking players out that get hurt, but Matt was out for an obvious reason and came back and has elevated his game to another level, and I don't think we want to dismiss that. Right now, Petro is going to have to wait his turn, and when it is he's going to have to go, but we're not unhappy with him at all. Quite frankly, Manning and Benning have become a very good pair for us and very dependable. We'll probably stick with that tomorrow.
Q: Calgary will want to show there's a separation between these two teams tomorrow. From a coach's perspective, what's the concern heading into tomorrow?
A: We can't play their game and they can't play our game. If we play our game we're going to win, and if we play their game they're going to win. We have a certain way we play and it's very effective, we showed that in the 1-0 game, and they showed their flair in the game they beat us in Calgary. For me, whoever get their game out there is going to win, but we're not afraid to play them. I know they've had a heck of a year, but we're coming on and we'll see.