CBJ AFTER DARK 🌙 Blue Jackets Speak Ahead of Tonight’s Matchup in Vancouver! | Pregame Media
not going to run it down because we’re not 100 uh% yet. Um we’re going to uh make some decisions here after we talk um as a group and talk to the trainers and what have you. Obviously, we got some people that are a little banged up. So, um we’ll save that to to warm up. We’ll save that for warm-up as well. You skated the whole team today. What was it? What was behind the full skate on a game day, which you ordinarily do not do? Yeah. Well, we’ll we’ll do that if we had the day off um yesterday, which uh to your point. Um you know, we skated yesterday. Um but just a little different uh you know, change some stuff up. Um little different feel obviously. We uh you know, we had a couple of days off, so um practice yesterday, but we thought it was important to have one more um skate before tonight’s game. We didn’t work on power play yesterday as well. That was a factor. We wanted to get a little touches with our power play here this morning. Um so that was a factor in skating today as well. I know you don’t want to go deep in the lineup, but Dbell’s up. Can you say whether or not he’s in or is that also a late afternoon decision? Yeah. No, I cannot. Okay. With that in mind, Adam, you got to kind of be prepared for anything tonight, right? I mean, we see things on the ice that look like changes, but coach says maybe, maybe not. So, you have to be kind of ready for anything tonight. Is that basically the deal? I didn’t know that. Yeah. As far as I know, I’m playing with March and Ronnie. Um, and that’s what I’m preparing for tonight. Obviously, you’re ready for anything any game anyway. Like, if coach wants to make the switch mid game, that’s his his prerogative as a coach to do that um based on what he sees. But right now, I’m getting ready to play with those two guys and I’m excited to do so. We know what kind of success the three of you had together last year. How much can you build on that tonight? A lot. Yeah. Um obviously like um they’re two great great players, very skilled. Um March can play make some great plays off the rush. Ronnie’s really good below the goal line. I think I can complement that really well with what I do. And um like like we said, we did it last year. So I’m excited to do it this year, too. And also, Adam, we saw what it did for your game last year. Does that kind of give you a little extra jump knowing what how it helped you last year? Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s no secret I got to be better regardless of who I’m playing with, but um playing with those two guys uh is going to be a lot of fun. March’s been hot recently, so hopefully I can feed off that, too. Um first opportunity for you, uh Luka, what does it mean to you here? Yeah, I mean it’s always important to have a good first impression. Uh yeah, I mean obviously it’s always super fun to, you know, be up here with the big club and uh you know, get another chance. So, I’m just trying to show what I can do out there. We’re seeing different lines, different looks out there. Do you know what kind of opportunity you’re going to get tonight? I’m not too sure. I mean, I’m just at the end of the day, happy to be in the lineup and, you know, like I said, it’s just another chance to show what I can do and obviously I’m getting a chance to play with two really good players. So, uh, yeah, it should be fun. Yeah. What uh what has your year been like so far in Cleveland in terms of the way you’ve been satisfied with it and how do you want to transfer that up here? Yeah, I mean I’m I feel like, you know, I’m trying to play with a little more pace and uh play a little more north south. Uh so yeah, that’s something that I’m trying to bring here tonight and uh yeah, hopefully it works out. Yeah, we don’t really get to see a lot of the games up there. I saw you scored, I think, three goals in the last three. Is at least nice to kind of the puck goes in the net, you build a little confidence before you get a chance to come up here? Yeah, 100%. I mean, anytime the puck crosses the goal line, it feels good. So, uh yeah, definitely builds confidence. Yeah. Do you feel like you say the some of the changes you tried to make to your game? You talked about pace north south and you talked about hitting the weight room in the summer. Have you seen that kind of stuff bear out on the ice in the seven games up there? Yeah, I feel like it’s helped me a lot with faceoffs, netfront battles in the ozone, little things like in the Dzone, you know, uh keeping guys on the glass and uh just winning puck battles. I feel like it’s helped a lot. So, uh obviously I still have a lot of work to do in in that area, but I feel like I’ve taken a step. Yeah, I think it felt like you were probably one of the last guys sent down knowing how close you were to this roster. Did you have a feeling that this opportunity, you just keep playing your game and this opportunity is going to come at some point? I mean, I’m not trying to think about it too much. Uh, I’m just trying to do what I can do and, you know, play hockey at the end of the day. Uh, and, you know, hopefully my my my number is the one they call when I get a chance and, you know, lucky enough uh, I was. And, yeah, it’s awesome.
Head Coach Dan Evason, Adam Fantilli and Luca Del Bel Belluz catch up with the media in Vancouver ahead of tonight’s game.
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