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Ontario Postgame Quotes: Stothers and Kempe

Head coach Mike Stothers, on the game overall:

I thought it was a great hockey game. Two good teams, you go into overtime, it’s 3-on-3, anything can happen so I was happy with the way we played. We played a good hockey game, I thought they played a good hockey game. Both goalies played well. I think we saw a little bit of everything and, you know what, I’m looking forward to tomorrow afternoon.

Stothers, on Kurtis MacDermid:

I see an extremely large man that can get around the ice pretty well. You know what, he’s making some plays for us, he’s definitely a tough individual, but he’s working on all aspects of his game and I think that’s important. The big thing in hockey now is size, and you know what, he does bring that, and I think he can play. We know how tough he is, we just want to make sure Kurtis is playing, and playing well and making plays to be a hockey player not, not just a guy who is a physical presence.

Stothers, on what MacDermid needs to work on most:

You know what, it’s like all the young guys. It’s just experience. He’s gotta adjust to the pace. It’s a little bit tougher for a defenseman. Sometimes it’s a little bit tougher for a bigger guy to get the big frame moving up and down the ice but, you know what, I think he’s done a good job. I think he’ll continue to improve this and I think the fact that he’s been paired with LoVerde helps his development as well.

Stothers, on Derek Forbort:

He comes down from the Kings, so he’s not coming here to sit on the bench. If he’s doing that then I’m not talking to you after the game. You put him on the ice, that’s just the way it is. He’s been up there, he’s earned the right to play with the Kings. It’s been tough for him to get in the lineup and he’s with us here for however long and then I’m sure he’ll be going back up to the big club and helping them out.

Stothers, on the battle the team had after falling behind in the third:

You can very easily get discouraged and we don’t. We’re trying to instill the same type of demeanor that we had last year. Again, we don’t get too pumped up with wins, we don’t get pumped up when we score and we don’t get discouraged when we get scored upon. Stay even-keeled, stay focused and, you know what, there was still a lot of hockey to be played, there was still 10 minutes I believe, of hockey. We’re confident in our abilities to battle and that’s part of it. When things are going good it’s easy, but you know what, when you’ve got some adversity, it’s how you dig in and I was real proud of our guys, I thought they did a great job.

Stothers, on Peter Budaj’s goaltending:

Buds has been great. You can see why he’s had the career that he’s had, he’s been very reliable. He just settles things down out there for us. Comes up with the big saves when he needs to and we try to pride ourselves on not giving up a whole lot of opportunities. But we know when he’s there he’s going to make the save for us. Having said that, Ray is going in for us tomorrow and we know he’s going to do a good job for us tomorrow as well. So we feel real good with our goaltending.

Adrian Kempe, on his move to center:

I played center like my whole life until I started to play pro in Sweden, then I got sent to the winger, so I was a centerman… in juniors, too, so, I know a little bit how to play. It was a couple years ago, I played, but it was a little bit different, but I think I felt pretty good, though.

Kempe, on returning to old habits as a center:

Yeah, a little bit. It’s like the same play almost everywhere, except almost you gotta be a little more low than a winger, otherwise you play like in the offensive zone you can play high or low, but like in the D zone, if the guys talk to me I’ll be a low guy. It’s a little bit different, but not so much.

Kempe, on how he felt initially:

Yeah, I get a little bit more comfortable after a couple of shifts there. I was a little bit weird in the first shift but I think I got into it pretty fast.

Kempe, on how communication differed with his linemates:

I got to talk a little bit more with the D [defensemen] than when I do when I’m the winger because I’m low and play D [defense] with the D so I got to talk to them more, I think, that’s the only thing.

And from Lindsay Czarnecki, aka @ReignInsider:

Adrian Kempe, on his move to center:

It was good I think, I’ve played center before and think I’m a pretty good center. I like to come low with my speed and carry the puck through the neutral zone. It was bit weird in the beginning … but I think I got into it.

Kempe, on how the team can bounce back:

They’re a good team, it was a tight game the whole game so I just think we need to keep doing what we are doing and keep shooting the puck and probably get more goals tomorrow.

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