Dan Myers: You scored your fair share of goals and points when you played, but undoubtedly, you also went through your fair share of offensive droughts. When you went through them as a player, like the team has in recent games, was there a tried and true method you used to snap out of it?
Bruce Boudreau: You know, I would always refer back to my dad telling me, "How many shots on goal did you have?" He always used to tell me if you could get five or six shots on goal per game, you'll score all the time. If you're in a slump and you have no shots or one shot, you're not going to score, you're not shooting enough. That's the easy way to calculate getting out of a slump instead of staying in one.
DM: The Wild gets a four-day holiday break this year, which is a day longer than most of the teams around the League and a day more than you've had in your two previous years here. Is it a good thing? A bad thing? Just right? What are your thoughts on the length of the layoff?
BB: I don't know, because I've never had a four-day layoff. I do know this: This team, in the past, coming off the five-day bye week break, we've come out and we've won and we've played well.
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DM: Out of this holiday break, the Wild plays six of its next seven games away from home, and against some pretty good teams. Do you get the sense that those first couple weeks out of the break could really play a major role in which direction this season goes?
BB: Absolutely. My vision, quite frankly -- which is why I get so upset about this -- was that we would now be in the midst of a six-game winning streak, going to Chicago and winning and going into Winnipeg on a seven-game winning streak being right in the hunt for everything. Obviously, it hasn't gone to anywhere what my expectations were or my thoughts were. Now, every game is just so vital. I'm trying to look at it positively. The last time we went on a seven-game road trip, we were pretty successful.
DM: This season has been kind of strange, hasn't it? At the beginning of the season and for much of the last week or two, you haven't been allowing much, but the wins were tough to come by. And in between, when things were going well, you were giving teams many more chances.
BB: It's backwards, and I agree. When we were winning, we were getting 35 to 45 shots on goal against, and then we started losing and we have 20 to 25 shots on goal against. It defies what the logic of normalcy is in the NHL. I look at it, we're in the top 10 in the League in power play, top two in penalty killing and in the top 10 in defense, and if you just look at those three numbers, somebody would say, "Wow, they gotta be in first place at the top of the division." It just hasn't morphed into that yet, but hopefully, if we stay with it, we will.
DM: What was your parting message to guys as they went out the door for the holiday break? Will this be an opportunity for them to sort of hit the reset button and come back with a clear mind?
BB: I told them, "Take a look at yourself and how lucky we are to do what we do and what we love and to just enjoy the moments with your family. But know that when you do come back, it is hit the reset button, and our second half starts now." I always look at it as a golf game and that you can have a horrible first nine holes. But you can still make it up and have a great back nine and have a great score. That's what I'm looking forward to.
Related:
- Bruce Bites: On Laine, dwelling on wins and losses and transistor radios
- Bruce Boudreau answers readers' questions
