TALKING POINTS: Woodcroft talks at end-of-season press conference

EDMONTON, AB -Oilers Head Coach Jay Woodcroft addressed the media on Wednesday afternoon during the team's end-of-season press conferences.

In the media availability, he discussed a variety of topics including the play of his rookie goaltender Stuart Skinner, the lessons learned from a difficult series against the Vegas Golden Knights, improvements in the team moving forward, and more.

Read the full transcript and watch Wednesday's full media availability below.

Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on the players saying they can improve in their commitment in the defensive zone and not gifting the opposition goals:

"Yeah. I think that's important to point out. There were moments for us in games where we certainly can better. It could be a 90 second span here, it could be shift after a goal here, those type of things. I think how do you build the plan? I think you carefully review everything that's happened. You spend a summer really looking at new ways of doing things that are appropriate for the personnel that you have and then you implement that over an 82-game schedule so that in the playoffs, those habits that you've built over that schedule show up under pressure."

On what he learned going through playoff runs and disappointments with the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks and how he hopes to apply those lessons to the Oilers:

"I've been fortunate to be in my 18 years with three different organizations to be around some really good players and some really good teams. Some that are ones that reached its ultimate goal, but a lot of teams that knocked on the door. I think in situations like us falling short this year and that is what we did, we fell short of what our expectation internally was, that's never something fun to go through. I think Ken used the word devastated. I would echo that. I think you go through stages. The first one is feeling that way. The next one is learning how to repurpose that disappointment. The way you do that is by learning some lessons and you use that experience to serve as your motivational fuel. What do I mean by that?

When you're in a workout and it's the middle of June that helps push you forward when maybe your family or friend group is pulling you in a certain direction, you have this experience or this pit in your stomach to help serve as motivational fuel for the things that need to happen in order to set ourselves up to have a really good training camp, which is the first step. Those are all part of the process of learning lessons along the way of gaining experiences, sometimes painful ones, but in the end you hope the payoff is that if you continue to knock on the door and you learn some of those hard lessons that one day that door opens. I've been fortunate to be around one team where that has happened.

On how he would assess his own performance in his first full year:

"Well, the first thing I would say is that I'm in it with our players. Our coaching staff is in it with our players. We're utterly disappointed that we're not preparing for Round 3 today, utterly disappointed. If you're going to talk about our year, kind of big picture wise, it was an interesting year. I thought there were some challenges that our group overcame. I saw a group weather the adversity of having four or five top-nine forwards out of the lineup and figuring out ways to compete on a nightly basis given the grinds of an NHL schedule. I saw our team take a real step in the month of January, which has traditionally been a tough month for our organization and our team.

I saw a team that really took off post-Christmas, and then the way we took a step post trade deadline and then to finish the regular season 14-0-1 and challenge the Vegas Golden Knights for the first spot in the Western Conference. I saw a lot of positives, I saw a lot of positive narratives and storylines for our team, including the emergence of certain individual players. I saw our team post back-to-back 50 win seasons since the mid 1980s. Those are all positive things, but I can tell you that the coaching staff and I are in it with our players. We share that same disappointment. We share that same pit in our stomach, and we will leave no stone unturned in trying to help make our team better over the summertime."

What did he learn about himself and what can he bring from this experience to move forward?

"I think anytime you continue to play hockey or coach hockey in the month of May, you're learning lessons along the way. Last year I think we played until the middle or beginning of June anyways, and this year it's the middle of May. There's some good and there are some things that we're going to use. We're just like our players. What did I learn about myself? I learned how much of an appreciation I have for being the head coach of this team, this organization, and how much respect I have for our players. I can tell you that when we said goodbye to the group at large yesterday, that was the end of 236 days together, working together, grinding together, and we all, to a man, felt that it was too early."

On trying to start the next season with a stronger first half performance than the last two seasons:

"I think it's important to get out of the gate. Well, I would say that our team 7-3 in the first ten games and then there were some extenuating circumstances with Evander Kane getting stepped on and having that horrific injury. Then I would also say that with Yamamoto going down, McLeod, Foegele, those guys get hurt. You don't plan for that. I thought we did what we had to do to continue to gain points and survive that adversity and that set ourselves up as we moved down the stretch. But I think the game plan is always to get out of the gate as well as you can. In the end, I think we had 109 points and one team finished ahead of us in the Western Conference and if you were going to go by regular season regulation wins, we were second only to the Boston Bruins. So, there was some good there. Can we better in the regular season? We can be. Part of that is making sure that your start isn't just 7-3 out of the gate, it's over a longer period of time."

What message would he give Jack Campbell and Dylan Holloway who saw their roles change from the start of the season:

"I didn't see Dylan Holloway's role diminish. I saw him get sent to Bakersfield and then get hurt in his first game in Bakersfield. As for Jack Campbell, I think Jack Campbell came into this season as a free agent signing and maybe it didn't go his personal way out of the gate. I thought we stuck by him and I thought the emergence of Stuart Skinner kind of alleviated some of the, not the issues, but Jack's start. So, on the one hand you had Jack who maybe didn't play as well as he wanted to out of the gate and then Stuart Skinner emerged as a real positive story. I thought Jack had moments in the season where he really stepped up.

I thought specifically in January, Stuart and his wife had a child, and that opened the door for Jack to kind of make an impact on our team. I think he had at one point won nine games in a row for us. I think there are positive points to Jack's year, and the biggest positive is the way he conducted himself, the way he found a way to win games and contribute to a team that won 50 of them. I think him working through that little bit of adversity sets him up for a real big summer and will serve as his personal motivational fuel heading into next year."

On what Connor McDavid said yesterday about wanting to win as a group and how that can galvanize a team:

"Yeah, I agree with Connor and I agree with your question and I think that is the message that most of our players would carry forward. It was the message that our leader Ken Holland walked into the room with and shared some of his personal experiences, having won four Stanley Cups himself, and how some of the disappointments along the way served as learning experiences to set the group up going forward. I think everybody here is disappointed that we're not playing, but it has to go farther than just being disappointed. It has to go to learning some valuable lessons along the way. The National Hockey League is an unbelievable test on a night in, night out basis. The tournament to win the Stanley Cup Trophy is a two month grind where certain things have to show up over a two month period and in your quest to vanquish four worthy opponents. I think along the way, some of the scars or some of the disappointments end up serving you well. If you continue to knock on the door, you have to put yourself in position to knock on the door, and you want to make sure that those lessons aren't lost on you. You cannot be deaf to the lessons. I think if I was to speak to our leadership group or the people that have been here for a long time, the one thing I know about them is that they're proud, they're conscientious, and they're hungry to win."

On beating Vegas three times in the regular season but getting eliminated in six games in the playoffs:

"Yeah, if I look at that regular season, were 3-0-1 Jim against them. One of our wins was in overtime, and I think that was kind of late November-ish and that was the only game Mark Stone played in for their team. I think teams grow and change and evolve over the year. I think in that game in November we let in three goals. I think we went in January and maybe let in three goals. We lost one at home here in overtime. I think we let in four that game and then I think the last one in Vegas, I think we won 7-4 and we got up on them early. Their team changed over time. Our team changed over time.

I thought there were moments in the series that specifically we can be better, individual moments and sequences in a game where we can better. Part of the coaching staff's job is to go through that series with a fine-tooth comb and do our work to ensure that doesn't happen again. The one thing I would say is that we lost to a team who finished higher than us in the standings. That's a 111-point team, that's a program over there that I think has gone pretty deep four of the last six years or so. They're a worthy opponent. They did a lot of good things. I think for us, our disappointment lays in some of the moments that we feel we can handle better."

On if there was any specific tactics he would change in the series with the Golden Knights:

"I'm not going to stand up here and say we just have to do what we do, we have to do it better. I think part of evolving as a team is adding layers to your game. If I were to look at the games, I think we had the lead in every one of them, so we were doing some good things as well. There were moments that we think we can handle better. Is that a tactic? Is it individual execution? That's part of the work that we're going to do. We're serious about it and as I said, we are in this with our players. This is not pointing fingers in any one way. This is about how do we collectively come up with solutions and find answers."

On trying to generate more offence in the dirty areas of the ice moving forwards:

"I think right from day one you start incorporating habits that are going to help you have success in May and June. Now I'd also say this, I think we were the highest scoring team during the regular season. I look at that series versus Vegas, and some of the fancy stats would tell you that what we created and what our finish was different. I think were 8th in finishing in the second round, so I look at what we created and what we finished. Sometimes that's things that you're doing. Sometimes it's things the other team does as well, and they might do some good things as well. I think you worry when you don't get the chances. I look at that Game 6. I think the final shots on net were 41-22. I think in the first period, the shots on net were 15-7. There were things that we were doing that maybe we didn't finish at the rate we wanted to, but there was some good things. But all of that said, we are sitting here today disappointed. We have to honestly self-assess every aspect of our game. That would be one of them."

On players playing banged up and if he wants to reveal any injuries:

"Yeah, I'll leave that to the individuals, because in the end, what I don't want to do is make excuses. Our players don't make excuses. Our coaching staff doesn't make excuses. Our manager stood up here and he doesn't make excuses. If individuals want to share that, I'll let them share that. Rest assured that it's playoff hockey. There were numerous bumps and bruises, but every team has them. And for us, we're not going to make excuses."

On if he feels he played Stuart Skinner too much down the stretch:

"Well, what I think is that those are things that we're going to revisit. I would say that Stuart's narrative on the season was probably one of the best things about our team this year. He made the All-Star Game, first time a drafted and developed goaltender in a while. I think won 29 games for our organization. He helped calm some of the waters back there down the stretch. We were competing for the first-overall spot in the conference, which has some advantages, including having home ice in the second round. But those are things that we do think about. I think the one thing with Stuart is that he's a young man. He's capable of handling a heavy workload. I personally saw that. I thought there were moments in the playoffs that, just like every other player, and just like the coaches he would like to have back.

I thought the games that he was pulled in, it wasn't all on him, it was sometimes on the team. The one thing he showed was a bounce back ability and he proved that over time -- from Game 4 in LA to winning Game 5 in here, from Game 3 versus Vegas and winning Game 4. He's proven that over time, that's also a belief or an experience that I have seen at different levels with him. In the end, our team lost the series and those are all things that we think about, talk about, examine, discuss, study and will eventually inform a lot of the things that we do moving forward."