Blackwood & Avs Happy After DOMINANT 6-2 WIN vs Panthers + Claude Lemieux

Blackwood & Avs Happy After DOMINANT 6-2 WIN vs Panthers + Claude Lemieux

What is so different about how you guys play at home compared to on the road? Like you guys play well on the road, but you dominate teams here. I don’t know. I feel like we just have good mojo here. Maybe it’s we get our matchups on the line changes. I don’t know. But uh it’s fun. We buzz here. How easy does this team make it for you when when they put on a performance like that? I mean, pretty darn easy. Uh, you still have to make a couple saves, but the quantity and volume are a lot lower than, you know, a lot of other places that ask a lot of you. So, they uh they make my life pretty pretty darn easy. The Panthers coming off the back to back, their momentum was a little bit kind of lax coming into the game tonight. Was that just a little bit easier for you to get more to like get engaged and stay engaged? Um, I mean, yeah, it’s always tough playing back back to backs as you know from from when we do it on the road, but um, I still think, you know, we had pretty busy road trip there ourselves and, you know, guys have been run down. So, I would say we weren’t necessarily full of juice, but we did a heck of a job pushing today and uh, it was fun to watch. I was going to ask you about that just given what happened to Wedgewood last time you guys were here. You played a lot on the road. You get the one game off, but you’ve just kind of been in a rhythm, you know, more so than a month ago. like how are you feeling right now? Pretty good. Um I mean it’s still like every every goalie every game you ask them you know how they’re doing. They’ll always be like good or you know there’s stuff I need to work on. Everybody needs to work on stuff but overall I like where my game’s at. Obviously want to clean a few things up but um trending. A lot of the guys in the locker room talk about treating each game the same, treating each opponent as a dangerous opponent. Does this one feel kind of nicer knowing that you know they’re the reigning Stanley Cup champs? Well, obviously like we know they’re dealing with a lot right now with injuries and you know it’s not necessarily what you’re going to get come June. So, um it’s always nice to be a team like that, but you know, we know that uh the best of the best is yet to come. So, they still have a lot more that uh that’s waiting kind of on the IR and you know, when they get rolling. So, um but yeah, it’s nice tonight. Thank you. Nice. Good. Yeah, I mean, uh, 3 weeks felt like a pretty long time and, um, it was a big game for us and I thought everyone played well and, uh, yeah, big win. When did you see, uh, Lucky just creeping up, getting open for that break? Honestly, Taser, I wasn’t really expecting to get it, but Taser gave me the puck and kind of just peaked my head up and Lucky was wide open. So, um, hell of a finish by him and, uh, he was that open. 10 games coming back and coming back from a 10ame stretch. How are you feeling just kind of after everything you feel like you’re kind of finding your game pretty well in your first game back? Yeah, good. I thought first period was obviously the pace was pretty high and both teams were pretty fired up and um but after that I feel like coming in the second period kind of settled in a little more and um was more myself and obviously the guys help out with that. We got a pretty good hockey team and um yeah, just fun to compete with these guys and that was a big win. when you miss 10 games like that, what what do you kind of see from, you know, sitting and just being able to observe this team? Yeah, I mean, first of all, I I think you see how how good players are from from afar. It’s pretty impressive. And um they’ve helped me so much come in here and just be myself and be able to play my game. And um but yeah, I think you learn a lot from watching the games from above. um you just I don’t know different teams, different players, different you see different plays develop and um yeah at the end of the day I do think it helps but um I think getting the reps on the ice is is the most important. When you pass concussion protocol from the first injury early in the year I ran into you on the elevator and the first thing you said you you yelled I passed and then and then you you missed 10 games. What was your mindset entering this game? The same energy you just came out had a great game. Yeah. Um yeah I don’t know. I think uh when you’re you’re healthy, you’re healthy and um I feel like uh Nashville was kind of the target and um yeah, I I I felt good today and um was pretty jacked up to play and big game like I said and um just wanted to get back in there and and help the team out in any way I can. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to kind of get your legs back and when you’re coming back from injury, coach was pretty confident that you were going to pretty much kill it tonight than this game. And is that more pressure on you coming back in? Yeah, I don’t know. I I think at the end of the day, it’s still hockey and um injuries happen. Injuries happen all over the league and and guys get hurt. Um but uh I think the response is the biggest thing and um trying to get back to your game as as quick as you can. I mean, sometimes it doesn’t come come as fast as it did tonight like producing like that, but um yeah, still a lot of work to do and a lot to improve on and um yeah, just keep going from here. Guys always work while they’re out. what are the kind of the things he works with you to make sure that you are ready to hit the ground running when you come back. Yeah, I mean he touched on everything. He’s obviously a really well-rounded skills coach and and really good as a job and um I feel like it’s just a comfortability thing of what you want to work on and things that he’ll mix in with you and um just stuff to get you healthy and and get you ready to play. Brent said he thought it was the haircut that led to the production tonight. Yeah, I don’t know. Kell’s uh shirt me pretty good the other day about my hair, so um yeah, I had to had to get it cut. Uh yeah, I don’t know. We’ll we’ll see what happens from now on, but maybe I don’t know. Yeah, we’ll see for you tonight. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Gavin. Congrat. Or what do you cherish the most about it 30 years later? Yeah. I think it’s when it’s happening, when you’re in the middle of it, you don’t quite appreciate it as much as as you should and then it’s gone. So, you kind of get to relive it uh now. when we take the time to, you know, chat a little bit about it and get up and wake up early and grab a coffee and look who’s in the lobby and talk about the old days cuz that’s what we’ve done the last few days. So, it’s great. You uh they’re putting on a show for you. Has this team got Stanley Cup championship talent? Absolutely. Yeah, I think uh I love I love watching them play. They’re they’re exciting. They’re uh I think they got all the pieces. Um it’s still, you know, a lot of a lot of games left, but um they need to figure out their power play. Um look at the hockey guy. Yeah. You know, you got to the power plays got to be clicking in order to win. But aside from that, um they’re they’re great and they’re fun to watch. I I guess it’s said that if it’s a true brotherhood or it’s true friends, 30 years can go by and you get together and it’s like you it’s like old days. It’s just like never missed a beat and uh you know last night was like really special. We got to it’s just like being in a locker room again and jabbing each other and talking about um each other’s you know past and stories and it was great. That’s what I really want to know. How long does it take for friends to each other? It takes like five minutes. Yeah, it’s like we’re so comfortable with each other. We know we know each other so well. So, we’re just talking about kind of how the game’s changed over the years. Yeah, of course. And uh we think we’re better. No, we’re just kidding. We we you know, the game’s changed. It’s not as physical as it was, but to counter uh that physicality is they got so much more skill. So we we appreciate the game. We appreciate their skills and everything they bring. Is it true the older you get, the better you work or? Not really. I’m I’m definitely not one of those guys. I think that uh I I appreciate what what the kids uh bring. I think the game is cleaner. Um less, you know, all out brawls like we had in the old days. I think it they’re going to live a healthier life. We want them to to be healthy when they retire and and live long lives and uh um the game is uh leading them in that direction which is healthy. We’re getting the best players from around the world so it’s really good when you’ve got the cup sitting there right in front of you. I mean how vivid is that memory for you guys just like lifting the cup celebrating that? Yeah, it’s uh it’s always great to be around the Stanley Cup. I was fortunate, you know, I got to do it four times and I four days with the cup myself and taking pictures and enjoying it with my family and to again to be here and it’s it’s exciting and you know for us it’s about being downstairs in locker room hanging around hanging around the young guys this morning and talking hockey and you know analyzing a little bit tonight their game what they do great what they need to work on and uh we hope would bring them good luck and inspire them to win another cup. When you got traded here early in that season, did you ever in a million years imagine Patrick Wall would be here a couple months later that I didn’t see coming and that was a pleasant surprise. Definitely a gift from Montreal. And um but I knew this team had, you know, mostly everything that it uh that it needed. I didn’t know the team as well as I got to know it by Christmas. I felt and especially once we landed Patrick, I felt that we had all the pieces and we were going to be as good as anybody and we had a great chance to win it all. That’s that’s what I want to ask you. I mean, you won championships before you got here. Is there a feeling I mean the playoffs, anything can happen, right? You and I both know, but is there a feeling in the room at some point during the season Yeah. with a championship group that knows, hey, we anything is possible and why not us? Yeah. And I think the teams that have won, once you’ve won as a group and if you have if you haven’t won as a group, if you have four or five guys or at least, you know, a few guys that that have been there, it becomes contagious and and it builds up. They talked about a lot about last night, when did you know, when did you know? And what was the hardest to me was in the second round. The first round is the hardest. When you haven’t won, you got to start somewhere. So you got to build up. And that’s what happens. It becomes contagious. You start with the first round. You you start building on every win. You get your first round under your belt. You’re a better team. You feel more confident. You get into second round. You can’t look past. You just got to go round by round, game by game. And uh this team knows what it takes. And they got players, quite a few of them that were on the, you know, 22 cup and uh I think it could be the 26 cup. Which of you guys have aged the best? Oh my god, that’s all for me to say. I don’t know. We all have our our bruises and you know some of our uh some of us losing losing hair hair going white you know but uh I I think I think the guys that are hanging out in the sun get to hide a little bit better. So the guys that are living here living in Florida like I am we get to hide the the scars a little bit better. But when you get to be this age, you’re going to lose some teammates. Does it does it hit harder when you when you hear the news of teammates passing? Yeah. Well, it’s just the reality of life. I was uh cleaning out my uh my uh contact list on the way here and and and you know, deleting guys that have passed and that’s that’s reality. It’s going to happen. We don’t know how many more years we have. Hopefully, we got another 30 or 40 or who knows. um like I have great genetics in my family and grandma lived till 100 and her dad till 99. So, but it’s very difficult and especially um with Chris and passing at such young age and a few other teammates that are not doing well. So we have we have to count our blessing be gratefuls for the days that we have and uh and enjoy and you know appreciate those those times when we get together in uh that series against Detroit obviously everything that unfolded and how the rivalry started like how intense were those games in that moment? It was as intense as uh anything I lived prior to that series and then the years to follow. So, uh, I think it, uh, it built up one of the greatest rivalries of all time and, uh, it was great. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Mackenzie Blackwood, Gavin Brindley, & Claude Lemieux Press Conference After Colorado Avalanche WIN at home 6-2 vs Florida Panthers

Timestamps:
0:00 – Mackenzie Blackwood
2:23 – Gavin Brindley
5:45 – Claude Lemieux

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