Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider were on The Michael Kay Show earlier today and said:

• To Trouba: What does being the Captain make you feel like, “definitely something I’m proud of, besides that, not much is going to change. People read into it as more will change than I think will or want to. We led this team with a group last year and if anything, that group has grown. It will be good.”

• To Kreider: What did you think when they named Trouba Captain, “We all thought it was going to happen a year earlier, to be honest. It’s a role that he’s filled for a while now and nice to see it finally come to fruition. He’s been that player for us for a long time. He’s been very genuine, been himself and really understands who he is as a leader. The biggest thing that we’ve talked about is his ability to bring everybody into the fold, bounce ideas off other guys, establish that leadership group and get everyone’s opinions, take everyone’s opinions in and kind of go from there. That is kind of how we operated for the last year and it’s nice to see that validation for him.”
• To Trouba, Is there more pressure being Captain of the Rangers, “I think it’s different, carries a little more weight because of the history here and what it means to be a Captain of a New York sports franchise. I intend on being myself, continue to be myself, growing as a person and leader, but not really changing and if I do change, I think I’ve got enough guys on this team that are going to grab me and tell me that I am. That is good for me and just continue to grow and be better, but not really change overnight.”
• To Kreider, How do you take that next step to win the Stanley Cup, “I think kind of understanding our expectations. Going into the season last year we wanted to make the playoffs, we understood that if we made the playoffs and gave ourselves a chance. Only a certain number of teams make the playoffs and if you get hot at the right time and are clicking and have that chemistry and you have an opportunity, you have a chance. It’s understanding that we have that ‘x’ on our back. We did kind of sneak up on teams, especially over the course of the regular season when a team like us kind of…you end up hitting teams over the head and they are hearing about you all the time because you are having success over the course of the playoffs. They are going to get up for you during the course of the regular season and our division certainly got better. It kind of feels like an arms race in our division. For us it’s continue to improve and understand that the games are just going to be harder for us and everyone is going to put their best foot forward. At the end of the day that should make us a better team and we just have to rise to that challenge and start with the goal of ultimately making the playoffs and going from there.”
• To Trouba, What did you learn during the playoff run, “I think we learned that when we can kind of come together and block out…we didn’t have a chance but to not listen to anything outside, we were playing every other day it seemed like and it was either a travel day or just basically recovering and then we were playing again and traveling. It just kind of came to the group of guys and I thought we kind of came together really well. That is what I said all along, we have the players, this guy almost wins the Rocket, Igor wins the Vezina, Foxy won the Norris, you have some of the top players in the league, there is no reason that it can’t be us.”
• To Trouba, Was there a moment in the playoffs where you realized you could go on a run, “I think Pittsburgh, we were obviously down in that series. We showed a lot to ourselves what we are capable of, how we came together for that. We kind of say that the ‘No Quit’ thing is our mantra, but we just took it one game at a time and kept progressing and found a way to win that Game 7 and I thought one of the most special feelings was winning a Game 7 on the road, I was lucky enough to do it for the second time, against Carolina and to me there is nothing better than that feeling, after such a hard series and you go play in their rink and play as well as we did and really kind of took control of that game, that was a good feeling. After that game was a pretty special feeling for everyone in our room.”
• To Kreider, Are you following what Aaron Judge is doing, “It’s hard not to, especially being in the NY area. It’s incredibly impressive, it’s been a lot of fun to watch.”
• To Trouba, Are you watching the Jets and Giants, “I saw the Jets game, that was impressive. A little bit, I’m a Lions fan, so I’m riding high at 1-1.”
• To Trouba, How was the transition from David Quinn to Gerard Gallant, “I thought it was great. I think he is a guy that came in and let players be themselves, he doesn’t over…if he has an issue, you know, if not he lets you be who you are and play how you play. There is definitely an understanding of what is expected and he’s very open and honest. If you aren’t meeting expectations he’ll go have a conversation and tell you. As a player that is what you want from a coach, let’s you play, but is honest with you and lets you know where you stand at all times.”
• To Kreider, Were you able to enjoy the big season you had last year, “I think the most fun part about it was the success we were having as a team. It was definitely nice seeing the puck go in and be able to contribute like I did since ultimately my job is to score goals, but a few years prior to that not making the playoffs and to have a team that was competing and finished second in the division and then to go on a run to make it to the Conference Finals, it doesn’t matter how many goals you score, you can’t recreate that kind of adrenaline you get from team success.”
• To Kreider, Did you take time over the summer to appreciate the season you had, “no, not really (laugh). It’s a pretty short summer, too, which I guess is a luxury when you go on a deep run. Maybe down the line when I finish playing hockey I can appreciate it a little more, but we have an opportunity here and I think we all know that, all realize that. Igor is in the prime of his career and we’ve got him cost controlled for a few more years before we have to back up the Brinks truck, so we can load up the roster and make moves and we’ve already got a great roster in place. We are fully aware of the opportunity we have here and are trying to take advantage of it.”