Hawk Talk: From the Dressing Rooms

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Friday, May 7, 2010
7:00 P.M.

By Brett Ballantini
CSNChicago.com

A glimpse inside the dressing rooms after each of the Chicago Blackhawks-Vancouver Canucks semifinal seriesGame 1, May 1, 2010: Canucks 5, Blackhawks 1
Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo

Canucks teammates, noting the massive crowd around their netminder: Is that Tiger Woods, or Lu?

Good or bad, its just one game. Were here to win four games, not one. But its nice to get the first one out of the way.

By no means are we satisfied. Well enjoy tonight, tomorrow we focus & make adjustments andwhens next game?on Monday we do it again.

On whether this performance is redemption for last year: At the end of the day, its a new year. We still have a long way to go.
It was nice to see so many shots 17 early. We hadnt played in a week. Saves are my job. My team counts on me to make stops for them.

Vancouver defenseman Christian Ehrhoff

Were not looking to make a statement. We just want to win a game on the road.
Vancouver forward Mason Raymond

Roberto is coming into his own every game now. He wants to get back at the Blackhawks just as much as everyone else does.

Chicago forward Patrick Kane

Seems like the Canucks have gotten a lot better from last year.
To start off at home like that, theres really no excuse. Its not that we were trying to lose Game 1, but it was hard to tell.

Chicago center John Madden

Asked about the Blackawks falling behind in four straight playoff series: Ive only been here for two, so I dont know.

Lots of teams find themselves down after the first game. We made some bad choices.

Noting that it was a mistake to shift to a more open game being down three goals: We made some bad decisions for some reason, and they capitalized. The Canucks are skilled enough to make you pay, and they did tonight.

On what lessons could be learned from the loss: That its just one game?

Chicago forward Kris Versteeg
Thats why its a seven-game series. Its only Game 1. Were fine. We played the way we wanted to except we had a couple lapses.

Game 2, May 3, 2010: Blackhawks 4, Canucks 2
Chicago goalie Antti Niemi

On whether, as Joel Quenneville insists, his demeanor makes him especially dangerous in the playoffs: No, but its a great thing that theres trust from him.

Its not harder to sleep after a loss. Its hard to sleep after any game. It takes a few hours to replay.

Chicago forward Marian Hossa

We cannot start like we did tonight. If we play five-on-five we have a better chance to win.

Chicago forward Patrick Kane

This was a must-win. If you go back to Vancouver down 0-2, youre dead.

Chicago captain Jonathan Toews

On what he said to struggling teammate Kris Versteeg: Nothing. He knows to keep shooting the puck.

We have to stay out of the box and be smart with our sticks after the whistle. Vancouver will be trying to pull us into penalties.

We all felt better as the game went on. We all stuck with it. Weve been down in this building before and found ways to come back.

Its tough for any team on the road to protect a lead when we have the momentum in our favor.

It wasnt the start we wanted. But we kept up the pressure and had the momentum into the third.

Chicago forward Kris Versteeg

Falling behind early was a wake-up. We had to figure it out and kick some ass. Otherwise, were the ones who end up on our butts.

It takes a few games to feel each other out in a series. This was a lot more emotional & rougher than the first game-the first game felt dead

Looking a little bewildered in response to questions about his early struggles: I felt really good out there tonight.

On the game-winner: The puck came to me, and I just shot it as hard as I could.
Chicago forward Patrick Sharp

Clearly these are two teams that dont like each other much. But we have a lot of respect for each other.

We took the day off to regroup, and maybe coming out we were too fired up.
Story of the game, big kills and lucky bounces. We got em. And I almost got em twice with shorties.

Game 3, May 5, 2010: Blackhawks 5, Canucks 2

Chicago center Dave Bolland

On Dustin Byfuglien, laughing in wonder: Hes a big boy. He was hitting hard, using speed, doing everything. Nobody in Vancouver likes him.

We got in Vancouvers faces, but you cant take stupid penalties.

Chicago forward Marian Hossa

On Byfuglien (a.k.a. Hoss to Hoss): He was flying tonight, really using his speed. He was dominating in the corners. That first goal definitely gave him confidence.
Its hard to score on a first shot vs. Luongo, so were taking second and third shots to get ugly goals.

Chicago captain Jonathan Toews
Luongo is such a great goaltender. We know nine out of 10 times hes going to make first stops, so we have to keep digging on him.

When we get leads on Vancouver, theyll try to run us physically. We dont want to play soft against any team.

On Niemi: Hes been there for us every single time weve needed him.

On Byfuglien: Ive battled against him enough times in practice to know that you cant move him.

Chicago goalie Antti Niemi

He said there was some luck to his terrific first period, and as for his strong start, in the middle of the game you dont want to think too much about it.

Niemi didnt think the first period was one of the better sequences of his career, but did acknowledge, You just want to keep doing what youre doing.
Chicago forward Dustin Byfuglien
On his celebration on glass after his second goal: Its just something that popped into my head. I didnt even know the puck went in.

On playing with Toews and Kane: Theyre fun to play with. I get them the puck and let them work with it.

My job is to stay focused and make the Canucks work around me.
On his two-goal night, later amended to a hat trick: Its been awhile since Ive had a goal, and sometimes you work hard and things just happen.

Vancouver is still a good team. Weve still got a lot of work ahead of us.

Brett Ballantini isCSNChicago.com's Blackhawks Insider. Follow him @CSNChi_Beatnikon Twitter for up-to-the-minute Hawksinformation.

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