It feels good. I think everyone is real excited about it. We weren’t able to do something everyone is passionate about and loves doing.

I laugh at them. I think they’re pretty funny, but that’s about the extent of it.

You have to really pay attention. He expects us to be very businesslike, that’s how he is, and we have to respond to that. It’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment.

For me, 03-04 … was it 03-04 or 02-03?

Either way we’re going out west. There’s nothing easy about that. First round, right off the hop, it’s pretty demanding travel-wise and that’s something that we realize but that’s just unfortunate, us being in the...

Cheli! The old fart. That’s why he keeps playing — he wanted that title.

So you realize that our division just got that much tougher with the upgrades that all these teams made. They’ve turned themselves into some great hockey clubs.

Out of all the teams in our division, we were the least active because of how much money we had tied into players,

That’s something we can’t control. Columbus had one of the best records in the league the second half of the season. We feel good about what we accomplished during the regular season. Now everything counts,...

The last three or four years I’ve played all three positions and I’ve enjoyed that. It’s a different game, a different look, and it’s an opportunity, hopefully, I can take advantage of and get things...

Right up until I got that phone call I wasn’t sure. And when I hadn’t heard anything by about 4 o’clock (Wednesday) afternoon, I thought, ‘Well, I didn’t make it.’ But then right after that...

Why are you sitting next to me? Get out of here.

Here at the Joe, guys are getting used to the speed and the body positioning. Teams that can skate and have a good defence will be a step ahead. You won’t have any choice to...

It seems there’s going to be a lot of specialty teams. Basically, how are we going to adjust to it is what it comes down to.

Obviously, we would love to have him in our lineup,

We’ve done a lot of good things but a complete game, we haven’t done that. That’s something that bothers everybody in this dressing room.

Everyone’s going in on a whole new learning curve, … Figuring out what the rules are going to be, what the roles are going to be with the new coach, and that’s all going to...

It was huge. Some pretty important power plays were killed.

Tomorrow night is the start of four games in five nights, and we have to prepare ourselves for that.

Those two kids are special. And the new rules are going to be exciting for them.

Not only were we not able to get Pavel signed, we also had to buy out Darren McCarty , Ray Whitney and Derian Hatcher ,

He and I are struggling right now.

It’s definitely affected us a lot, … It kind of handcuffed Detroit. We had a lot of money tied into a lot of players. (General manager Ken Holland) had to step up and make some...

I don’t think anyone realized the extent of how deep it went. It’s tough when you see a friend and former teammate go through something like that.

Actually it was easier than you’d think. We were the guys who had the opportunity to play for something. Only 26 players on the eight teams had that chance. We would wake up in the...

It ‘«s going to be a fun game for guys who like to get out there and skate, … So I ‘«m just going to go out there and do what I can.

We have to play to these new rules, but we play to the system implemented by the coaches. Hopefully for the sake of the game, the coaches want to open it up.

Guys are committed to opening up the game, making it a lot more entertaining and letting guys go out and use their talents. But I don’t even think we’ll have it down pat by the...

He was one of the last guys to get in town, … It’s going to be nice. We have a four-hour bus ride, and Hank’s going to probably take the most abuse on the bus,...

After they took four points from us back home, we wanted to come back and answer, which we were able to do.

During the game, we didn’t notice anything.

We’ve been playing some games here for a while now that haven’t really meant anything standing-wise. Now everything’s over and done with. The playoffs are coming.

They’re part of this team. We’re not going to put any added pressure on those guys.

We’re back where we should be. This is always a game when the schedule comes out where you take a look at who you’re playing, and it’s always nice. It’s something that people plan to...

It did feel good. Hopefully, that can get something going offensively.

That first goal, they moved it around real good on us. We got down 2-0. We still took some penalties. We took a 5-on-3. Guys killed it off. That’s the important thing.

Down low, it’s going to be a whole different mindset. The coaches are going to have to coach to the new rules and that’s going to make for a lot of changes in philosophy.

That’s what Mike has been preaching to us all year. Get the puck to the net, get guys to the net. During the regular season he was preaching that’s how you score playoff goals.

I’ve never been part of it. I’m really looking forward to it. After Vancouver and Calgary and what we’ve heard about the way it is in Edmonton for the playoffs … it’s pretty special for...

To be able to go out there and let guys skate and make plays, … that’s how the game should be played.

We’ve lost two in a row, and we have to respond. To beat the elite teams in the league, it’s got to be start to finish. We haven’t done that the last couple of games...

I thought we were going to wait until the buzzer sounds after tomorrow’s (Sunday) game, but the Americans have gotten a jump on us. The wheels will be turning for the next 24 hours.

Right off the bat, Mike is stressing the kind of system he wants to play. He wants to play a high-tempo game and he wants a lot of energy and intensity.

One thing we wanted to do was take away Blake, with that big one-timer he has. We wanted to get into some shooting lanes, and we did that. We talked about how important specialty teams...

It’s something I definitely want to build on.

We had the master of the manipulators, playing for Scotty (Bowman) . We’ve seen all the tricks before. The game is going to be played on the ice. Not talking or stirring things up.

Cujo is the reason we won the game,

We’ve got to get better. We haven’t done it for a couple of games, and we’ve got to find a way real quick.

We feel good about what we’ve accomplished so far, but there’s still a lot of the season left.

He’s a guy that can dominate a game. He just makes players around him that much better. He’s a guy that can score, and he’s a very gifted passer as well. The best thing to...