Pre-game comments ahead of Wednesday night’s game versus the Blue Jackets.
Mike Babcock
A chance that Eric Fehr might get in as well tonight?
Babcock: Yeah, he is in.
What does he bring to the lineup against a good team like this?
Babcock: Well, a good veteran guy. Right-hand faceoff guy. Guy who can play on the power play, penalty kill. The big thing is I’ve been waiting to get him in; wanted to get him in but haven’t had the opportunity. Here’s an opportunity here tonight. We’ll see what he can do.
What is the outlook for Soshnikov?
Babcock: He got banged. He’s not feeling as good, so we’ll just err on the side of caution and get him ready.
What has been the key to your club’s discipline in the last two physical matchups?
Babcock: I think just skating. If you recover with your stick, you’re lazy, you don’t move your feet and you hook guys or hold guys, you go to the box. If you don’t play a lot in the d-zone, you don’t go to the box as much. I think we’ve done a good job of that and that’s important here tonight.
You’ve used Rielly and Polak together as a pairing a bit more lately. What do you like about those two together?
Babcock: Well, just depending on the matchup. What we tried to do is… it wasn’t going as good as we wanted with our D pairs, so we tried to find things that work. It’s kind of a little better here of late. I think Riels is really starting to play again, which is important for us. It just helps our team.
A couple of great young players showcased again tonight. Can you recall a time when young players — rookie players — have had an impact; not just an impact, but leading their teams?
Babcock: Yeah. I don’t know the answer to that for sure. There has been a lot of good young players that have come into the league. The teams that have them spend the whole season talking about them. The teams that don’t don’t bother talking about it. I think it’s more prevalent here and in Toronto and any place they’ve got kids than it is in the rest of the league.
It is becoming a young man’s league. Has it always been that, or are we just noticing it more this year?
Babcock: I think I’m in agreement with that. It’s become way quicker and we give these guys these opportunities quicker. Partly it’s the salary cap, because we don’t have any room to pay older guys, so we pay the kids because they’re cheaper.
You talked about William Nylander playing a friend and getting up for the Bruins. Matthews and Werenski are pretty tight. Similar situation whenever you can play against a friend?
Babcock: Yeah, I don’t know. I just know what works for Willy. I think Auston is pretty good each and every night. Obviously, Werenski is a real good player. They’re good players. They’re trying to finish high in the standings and have home ice right through and we’re trying to get better each and every game. It should be a good game. We didn’t play very good the last time in here. We didn’t start on time and we weren’t competitive. We’d like to respond to that.
With the back-to-back here, are you looking to split the goalie starts?
Babcock: Yep.
Zaitsev and Werenski — obviously two young defencemen. People have always said it’s the hardest position to learn for kids coming into the league.
Babcock: I think one’s different. How old is Werenski? Is he 19? The other guy is 24. He’s played in the league. I think they’re different. I don’t know where he was taken. Eighth? That’s a pretty good player at eighth. All this stuff you do to finish in the different spots… you’ve just got to select the right guys.
Eric Fehr
Excitement, as a veteran with as many years as you’ve had in the league, to make your debut for this club here tonight?
Fehr: It’s always exciting to get a chance to play hockey. Obviously, we’re playing a good team tonight. We’re going to have to bring our best game and I’m excited to be a part of it.
How important is your experience, especially the past few years, at this stage of the season against a club against Columbus that you’re very familiar with?
Fehr: Hopefully it comes in handy. Definitely familiar with this team. Played them a lot over the last couple of years. A team that plays real physical and plays real fast. They’re going to be a handful, but I like our chances tonight.
What have you learned about this club just from watching them over the last seven or eight games?
Fehr: We’re a really fast team. We play together. We play as a five-man unit on the ice. That’s the way we’re successful — when we’re all playing together, doing our own jobs and playing fast. That’s when we’re successful.
There is never a bad day in the NHL, but how has your patience been as you’ve waited for this chance here tonight?
Fehr: It’s tough, but it’s exciting when you get the opportunity. You know it’s going to come. You’ve just got to be prepared for when it comes. I think I’ve done everything I can to be ready for it.
As tight as time and space has been on the ice, with your experience going through the 23 games last Spring, are you starting to see similarities or is there still room to get tighter going forward?
Fehr: It gets tighter yet, but you can definitely see the shot lanes are smaller, and the time you have with the puck on your stick is getting shorter by the day. You can tell the intensity is ramped up. Guys are fighting for playoff position. That’s when the games are fun.
