Dach Segment

[Armoured_K] Dach on what he went through, being out longer than he expected

"Yeah. I think with me personally, we just wanted to make sure we dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts, and made sure that everything was ready to go. We did a lot of preparation and got enough skates to feel healthy, to feel good enough to play."

[Armoured_K] Dach on playing with Cole and Nick

"Yeah, it's exciting. Obviously, there's some familiarity there, played with them in the past, so… I mean, the team's rolling right now, and I just kinda want to step in and do what I can do, and help the team continue to win games."

[Armoured_K] Dach on to what extent he wants to bring in some of the aspects that made Slaf so effective with those two guys

"Yeah. I think… For me, it's about getting my legs under me and playing heavy down low, winning pucks back and finding those two guys, letting them do what they kinda do best… At the same time, just kinda trust myself and trust my linemates, where they're going to be and find the open ice when it's there."

[Armoured_K] Dach on if it would be easier for him to just focus on being a winger, with the current situation at center

"I mean… [I'm] Not really in charge of making the lines or choosing the lineups, so… I feel like a team like this with the amount of depth, the amount of skill and talent we have, you're going to find yourself playing in different positions all the time, so it's good to be able to adapt, and understand different positions. At the same time, it's a pretty position-less game now. After the faceoff, everybody's everywhere, so you just have to understand what your role is in that given moment and do it to the best of your abilities."

[Armoured_K] Dach on if he knew his foot was broken right away

"Well, I blocked the one the game before, so… Yeah, I could tell there is a little bit of a difference."

[Armoured_K] Dach on how he would describe his confidence before the injury

"Yeah, I felt good. I felt like I was hitting my stride, I felt like I was back to controlling the game, the pace of play when I was out there. I had a lot of puck touches, so… Just trying to get back to that tonight and find it again."

[Armoured_K] Dach on if playing with Nick and Cole again can help him

"Yeah, I think the familiarity helps a lot. I think being able to watch for the past couple weeks, over the years too, you've kinda been able to watch their games develop and see where they kinda like to be on the ice. It's about finding the space and just creating puck battles, winning pucks back and making plays off of that."

[Armoured_K] Dach on how the team has evolved during his absence

"It's been fun to like watch, watch all these guys. I mean, for most of us, we came in here 4 years ago, and it's been cool to see the progression of a lot of guys, the excitement level we have in this room, the love we have for one another, the trust we have for one another, going out there each and every night and playing the game that's in front of us. It's been a lot of fun to get on the flip side of it and start winning games."

[Armoured_K] Dach on how different this rehab is from the last ones

"I don't think I really treat it as any different. I think with rehab, previous injuries obviously like you said, was kinda shut down for the year, but you still, in your mind as a competitor and as a player, you don't lose that edge of trying to rehab it and come back in the same year. It's always been my mindset, to get back the quickest I could, but make sure that it's completely healthy and ready to go."

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Hutson Segment

[Armoured_K] Hutson on the challenge of facing someone like Quinn Hughes. Does he still look at [up to?] him, even though he's got a foothold in the league

"Yeah, I mean, he's such a great player, and there's so many superstars in this league that are hard to play against, and he's one of them, so… I think any chance you get to face off against them and play a good team like them, it's going to be good. We're excited to test ourselves."

[Armoured_K] Hutson on the Wild being considered a contender with Hughes on board. How is it to match themselves against a possible cup contender?

"Yeah, I mean… We know they've got a really good team, really skilled, they got tons of speed. We just gotta play our game and play to our strength, and you know, build our game from last game. Just lots to clean up, but we're just going to build our game."

[Armoured_K] Hutson on if Guerin being in the arena tonight will give them extra motivation

"Nah, I mean, I try to just play the same all the time. You always want to play hard, and… You know, he's got the hardest job, he had so many players he had to look at and analyze… Definitely just going to play the same way I would play anyway."

[Armoured_K] Hutson on a young player from the Q who hopes to be drafted in the first round in the crowd tonight. Does he think that he and Quinn can be trailblazers for smaller d-men to make it to the NHL

"Yeah, I mean, that's… The goal's obviously just to play and earn your stripes in a way, but… Yeah, I hope so. I hope to see more young skilled players come into the league, and hopefully take over the league. It's just so fun to see, and I think there's more coming."

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Carrier Segment

[Armoured_K] Carrier on if he feels they're going against cup contenders tonight

"Yeah, it's an excellent team. I think they're really well led by Hynes. Having been with him in Nashville, he's a very detailed guy, who demands effort every night. His teams are never easy to go against. Obviously, you add a guy like Hughes to their lineup… They have a lot of injuries tonight, but they have a lot of depth. They're obviously up there."

[Armoured_K] Carrier on MSL saying they focus a lot on defense in their meetings. Have they talked a lot about it, considering the game they played Saturday?

"Yes, of course we did, we talked about it today. We had a video session. Obviously, we don't want it to happen again, a game like that. Obviously, we're happy with the 2 points, but we want to have the effort for 60 minutes and the results over 60 minutes over just the win. Yeah, we hope it's just one back game that was "in our system" Saturday."

[Armoured_K] Carrier on if meetings focused on defense are longer than usual

"Yeah, normally, it's a bit longer. It demands more concentration, so, yeah, it was a bit longer this morning."

[Armoured_K] Carrier on being lucky enough since the start of the season to win games anyway but scoring a lot, even when the defense isn't there

"Yeah, well I think that pressure… Yes and no. We really want our defensive game to be better because it gives us a chance to win every night, and we know how tight the standings are. We have 8 games left until the break, and those games are really important to know where we'll be coming back from the break. It always starts with the defensive game, we obviously won't score 5 or 6 every night, so it's important to solidify that."

[Armoured_K] Carrier on this season being particularly tight in the East. Does he feel like every game is more valuable this year than other years?

"It's similar to last year, I think. When we were at this point last year, I felt like we were already in the playoffs and that every game was important. For us, we approach it that way. Obviously, there's a lot of games left, but if you have that mentality and you go one game at a time, I think you'll have good results."

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St-Louis Segment

[Armoured_K] MSL on the changes to the lineup

"Kirby will play. Tex is day-to-day. Strubes will play, Jacko's out, Dobes in net."

[Armoured_K] MSL on where Dach will play

"He'll play with Suzy and Cole"

[Armoured_K] MSL on Kirby playing with Cole and Nick a couple years ago. What does he like about that combo?

"I think he brings size, he brings intelligence, he's able to win pucks, protect pucks. He brings a bit of everything."

[Armoured_K] MSL on if resiliency is something that can be developed or if it's just ingrained into his group, considering he credits resiliency for some of their comeback wins. Did the tough stretches of the last couple years contribute in forging their resiliency?

"I think so. You don't start a game thinking that you have to be resilient. You start a game, you try to play the game in front of you, one action at a time within our principles, our rules, with effort and courage, intelligence… But you'll have moments within games where you have to be resilient. I think that when I got here, we had some sequences where we didn't win a lot of games, so you have to be resilient, you have to be strong mentally. We were never a team that gives up, and I think that's part of our DNA. I think our team wasn't "born" with it, it's something we developed. We know we have the guys to get big plays at the end of games. If you're able to not always dig yourself into a big hole towards the end of a game… Especially with the way the game is played today; teams pull their goalies early… It's something we know we can do, but it's not… We want to get better and not put ourselves in those situations."

[Armoured_K] MSL on if he thinks it can be easier for Kirby to just focus on being a good winger

"I think the big responsibility for a center that can sometimes be deflating is that you always start with a faceoff, and you have the pressure of winning it. Especially at this level, it's a big responsibility. Not have that responsibility, I think it can help the mental side for a player who often plays that position. However, once the puck is dropped, especially with the way hockey is played today, it's not necessarily about the position you play, it's the decisions you make on the ice. Aside from the faceoffs, there's nothing else."

[Armoured_K] MSL on what the best version of Bolduc can be, now that they have more than half a season as a sample

"His perks are his skating, his shot and his physical side. So, it's about checking the boxes every night. His skating isn't necessarily about getting a breakaway, sometimes, that can be about going on the backcheck, it can be on the forecheck. Physicality, it's the same. It's not just on the forecheck, sometimes, it's on a backcheck, sometimes, it's playing physically in your zone when he's the one on the puck… And for sure, getting his shots off, playing on the inside and working away from the puck to anticipate where the play is going and keeping balance as a 5-man unite, and sometimes in that balance, you have to go inside… And he's a guy who can tip pucks on the net, so… I'd say that it's about continuing to check the boxes, and I find he's starting to check a lot of them."

[Armoured_K] MSL on whether he sees Bolduc as a guy who's still looking for his "NHL player" identity

"I'm not sure he's looking for his identity. He's still a young player. I find that it's more about playing to his identity with more consistency, and I find that we have that recently. That still doesn't guarantee success or production, but I find that he's raising the percentages. He keeps making those actions. We know he has a really good shot, but me, I don't work on his shot. I work on other things that can help him get more shots off, and that all starts far away from that action."

[Armoured_K] MSL on if he hopes Kirby will bring the same thing Slaf was bringing to the first line to raise their games

"I mean, obviously. It's the ideal scenario, bringing in an ingredient that complements the other two. I think he's able to do that. He hasn't played for a while, and it's about being a bit patient, but I think he can do that. They played together before, and he brings physicality, he brings robustness, he can keep pucks to let the play evolve, and he's often around the net. I think he has all the tools to help, to complement the other two."

[Armoured_K] MSL on how Ghule can really get back on tracks

"I think it's not one thing. The game demands reads, winning battles, being able to not get your shots blocked. There's many things, and he's able to do all those things. However, when you miss time, it's hard to get back to doing all those things to the level you could before. It takes repetitions, and that's what he's doing."

[Armoured_K] MSL on if it's getting harder and harder to come back from injuries, as the game is getting faster and faster every year

"I don't think the games speeds up soo much year after year. I think the game evolves, but I wouldn't say it does every year. This year, the season with a lot of games in less time, with how the standings are, it feels like every game is played at a higher level than it was last year at the same date. There's external pressure [standings], too. I think it might be harder right now to get back in after missing time, just because of external pressure that makes things go faster on the ice, not just with your feet, but physicality as well, and… It feels like there's more on the line right now."

[Armoured_K] MSL on Hutson often being compared to Hughes. Every time Hutson goes against Hughes, it feels like he steps it up. Is that a sign of his character as a competitor?

"It's probably a part of it, but I think Lane has a mentality of [putting it all in] every game. When you have that mentality, well…. Sometimes, is it random that it comes out in those games? I don't know. But for sure, I'm sure he's a player that Lane has watched for a long time, and he probably thought "If he can do it, I can do it too."

[Armoured_K] MSL on what the key was to Slaf getting to where he is now

"Himself. It always starts with the player, you know? There's nobody that's going to help you more than yourself. As coaches, we're trying to steer him in a direction, try to not to overcoach him, try to expand his mind, you know? And most times, the young player, it's very narrow minded; it's NOW, it's in the now. We've had an approach of yeah, we care about the now, but we care about the future more. But everything you do with the player, it starts with the player."

[Armoured_K] MSL on if he thinks there's ever going to be a day in the NHL where a player will be openly gay

"I don't know. I don't know. I think, forget the sports, I think we're in a society now that people do come out."

[Armoured_K] MSL on if they've given any thoughts to the fact that they often lose against teams playing in the second game of a back-to-back

"It's a hard league. Everybody has a lot of games in a short amount of time. Are we more rested than them? I don't know, I haven't paid attention to exactly how many games they've played the last ten days. It's just a condensed schedule. Whatever happens tonight, we're not going to use an excuse because they're more rested, and they're probably doing the same thing."

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