David Quinn met with the media prior to the game against the Devils and said (NYR):
On the lineup, “Buchnevich is game time decision, Gilmour and Smith are out. Brickley will be in if Buchnevich can’t go.”
On John Gilmour, “he’s got greet feet and one of the things that can happen is that your strengths can sometimes be your weakness and that you can skate yourself into trouble. It’s a hard situation, you get called up and thrown in and play in a lot of situations, all the sudden you make a couple of mistakes and lose your confidence. I think one of the things he needs to do is be a little quicker mentally recognizing situations and being a little more physical defensively but I like what I have seen so far, he will get in at some point.”
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On patience and development, “Patience in this day in age, no matter the situation, is a key characteristic for a coach and organization. Patience certainly isn’t running rampant through society in any way shape or form. We are in such a now lifestyle but you have to have patience with the way our league has gone and with younger players and guys are going to make mistakes. There are different reasons for mistakes that you put up with, some you don’t and as a coach you have to remind yourself of that. It’s an emotional game and we all get emotional and sometimes you have to manage your emotions as a coach and look at the big picture and I think that is what you have to do no matter the situation.”
On Tony DeAngelo, “Tony and I, believe it or not, have always had a good relationship despite the fact that he sat some games and had some disagreements but the thing I always come back to is he wants to be the best player he can be and understands that we are trying to make him the best player he can be. Sometimes there are disagreements on that with every player, they all have their views of what they have to do to have success at this level. We are trying to help him. I think he has matured and is playing a much more well rounded game. He’s got an elite brain and passing ability, he sees a lot of things people don’t see but I also think the other areas of his game a have improved.”
Was this what you were expecting, “obviously after last year’s letter we made an organizational decision to make some changes and go in a different direction. That was clear to me as the whole process took place. I know what I signed up for.”
How difficult is it as a coach, “It’s hard, for sure, you want to win hockey games, you are in the emotion of the moment and want to win and when you get eliminated from the playoffs it hurts but we have a job to do and we have to stay focused on getting guys to get better, we have guys over the last 2-3 weeks that have gotten better and continue to improve and that will carry over into next year. I can’t unsee what I have already seen, we are all evaluating people 24/7. Your circumstances are what they are and we are no different as an organization and I am no different as a coach.”
On Henrik Lundqvist and his evaluation, “for sure, no one is immune to it, everyone is getting evaluated.”
On Howden finishing strong, “It’s good to see how he is progressing and the direction he is going. I thought last night was really good for him. I thought he had a great start, then he hit a little bit of a wall, got hurt. He just turned 21. I think this has been a season to build on and take it into the summer and put him in a good mindset for next season.”