Andreas Johansson:
- We (Johansson - David Legwand - Scott Walker) played a little bit together before - then I was
injured for 34 games. We basically have played six or seven games together this year. We came
out strong and had the chemistry right away. That was the key tonight.
- I think we were skating well right away. The Oilers are really aggressive, they pinch all over the
ice. If you can get the puck and hang on to it and make a play quick enough; they run around a
little bit and we had them running around a little bit. We had good patience with the puck and that
created some chances for us.
- Keeping the lead in the third period..thats something we have to learn from. We almost lost the
game after we had a four-goal lead. That was a big hole for them to come back from. Thats definetly
something we´ll have to work on.
David Legwand:
- We took some penalties that we probably shouldnt have and they capitalized on them. We´ve
got to be smarter about that and play harder in the third just to shut it down, keep going at them
like we were doing in the first and second periods.
- It´s a big win for us. the Calgary-game obviously wasnt our best and we knew that and we knew
we had to come out with a big effort tonight to get two points and thats what we did.
NHL-historian ensimmäisen inuit-pelaajan, Jordin Tootoon saapuminen Edmontoniin oli suuri
media- ja fanitapahtuma. Kuten aina Tootoon pelatessa etenkin länsi-Kanadan NHL-halleissa,
paikalle saapui satoja faneja ja muutaman bussilastillisen verran sukua ja tuttavia Tootoon
kotiseuduilta Nunavutista. Jordin Tootoo pelasi Oilersia vastaan viiden vaihdon verran kahdessa
ensimmäisessä erässä; yhteensä 4 minuuttia 18 sekuntia.
Tootoo on pelaaja, joka aina pelatessaan jättää oman sormenjälkensä otteluun omalla tavallaan
vähaisistä pisteistä ja vähäisestä jääajasta huolimatta. Hän on pelannut koko kauden samalla
tavalla kuin loi mainetta aikaisemmin juniorikiekossa, muuttamatta tyyliään.
- Jordin Tootoon tehtävä on taklata, tapella ja ärsyttää ja pelata koko ajan kovaa fyysistä peliä,
sanoi ottelua katsomon puolelta seurannut Kimmo Timonen.
- Hän on hoitanut tehtävänsä mielestäni todella hyvin.
Tootoon aggressiivistä pelityyliä ennakoiden Edmontonin media hypetti ottelua mahdollisten
värikkäitten vaiheiden varalta, mutta rookiehyökkääjä itse ei tunnustanut välittävänsä kirjoittelusta.
Jordin Tootoo:
- The paper can talk all they want but when the game comes on hand thats when things happen.
I dont worry about that stuff.
- I have great support from all over the place and coming back to Edmonton, this place has a lot
of character and to have a lot of fans rooting for me was unbelievable. I expected that and it turned
out to be a lot more.
- My parents were here tonight and they were happy we won. And thats all that counts. They
have been down to Nashville to see me a few times and everytime they have a chance to come down
to see me it is a special honour.
- We fought till the bitter end and we didnt want to give up anymore chances in the end. We came
out to win and that was the most important thing.
- We are using every day to get better, thats what the practices are for. Every guy in the room
knows we have to get better.
- It´s always been called "Smashville" ever since day 1 - it is not really a reflection of me coming
into the team or my style of play. Fortunately I pay tribute to the physical part of the game and
it is fun.
- I'm just taking my rookie season one day at the time and using practice to get better. Just
being around the guys is an unbelievable feeling; that is what motivates me every day.
- Mentally and physically I have to work on a lot of things and those are the things Im working on.
I know it is my first year and I have a lot to work on and that my time will come.
- The wildest meat I´ve eaten down in Tennessee? Sushi, I quess..
Eric Brewer:
- I thought we still played well in the first period, but we didnt get the bounces. We should
have hung in there a bit more, we got a little impatient. A little too aggressive on the pinches and
some poor decisions that cost us. I think the impatience was the biggest reason we lost, we were
too aggressive.
- And in the third we loosened up, just get out there and play the game. A couple quick goals
early absolutely changed the game and put them back on their heels. Again, it was one of those
one-goal games, where we were just too late.
Steve Staios:
- We didnt get off to the start that we would have liked and the penalties further ruined the flow
and we tried to do a little too much in the second period. We made some mistakes and they cost
us.
- We showed some character playing hard in the third period but we were just too deep by that
point.
- It seems like its been happening to us quite a bit lately - we get down and cant battle back to
get the next one - its not the try - we´ve got the try - we are just making some mental errors
and its costing us. We battled back in the end, showe some character in the end but it was
a pretty big hole that we dug ourselves in.
Craig MacTavish:
- I liked the way we played in the first period. I thought we did a lot of the things that we
wanted to do early in the first period and throughout the first period. It was disappointing to
be down 2-0 after the period that we played.
- In the second period we got overaggressive, we lost our composure and uncharacteristically
gave up a number of 2 on 1s of which they capitalized on the one and then we had the turnover
for the power play goal to make it 4-0.
- We talked about it on the bench at the end of the first period: just keep the game close, the
momentum of the game changes in a hurry. We played ourselves out of it. But for all the pinching
that we did and all the territorial stuff that we did we end up taking three penalties and three or four
shots in the period. The second period was our undoing tonight.
Nashvillen puolustaja Kimmo Timonen ei pelannut Edmontonissa. Torstaina julkistettuun
All Star-ottelun kokoonpanoon ainoana suomalaisena kutsuttu Timonen seurasi peliä katsomon
puolelta saatuaan kiekon nilkkaansa pari ottelua aikaisemmin.
- Torstaiaamuna valmentaja kutsui toimistoonsa ja onnitteli valinnasta All Star-peliin. Päivä oli
pelipäivä ja uutinen oli mukava alku sille päivälle, sanoi tyytyväinen suomalainen, joka oli
kutsuttu muutama vuosi aikaisemmin All Star-peliin, mutta joutui jättämään kunnian väliin saatuaan
silloinkin kiekon nilkkaansa vain muutamaa päivää ennen tähtien ottelua.
- Vielä mukavampaa olisi jos joukkueemme vihdoin ja viimein pääsisi playoffseihin tänä vuonna.
Barry Trotz:
- Kimmo is having a great season, he deserves to go to the All-Star game. He´s been a
one of those defencemen that is Mr.Everything for us, so we really miss him. It is well
deserved.
- He is making a name for himself not only as a good small defenceman; he is just a
good defenceman in the National Hockey League. He is a key for our backend.
