And so, the Blackhawks begin their summer vacation a little earlier than last year.
But not before facing the media.
(The links will lead to the video on the Blackhawks website.)
Top priority to re-sign: EVERYONE.
Re-signing Crawford: “a top priority. It’s nice to know we’ll have stability in goal next season.”
NHL experience gained by the new kids this season: “There’s a lot of things to be excited about.”
Offseason priorities: “This summer is much different, fortunately, for us. We’re not in the crunch that we were in a year ago.”
Re-signing Sharp: “It’s no secret here — Patrick’s been a huge part of our success over the past four or five seasons.”
On Brouwer and Campoli: Brouwer: “His offensive production was down a little bit, but he was one of the more physical guys on the team.” Campoli: “It’s like he fit right in with the system we play here.”
Coach Q Color Watch: Peach
Joel Quenneville on…
Peak performance: “We felt we were making inroads there.”
Motivation: “I expect the excitement level to be there from the beginning of the season.”
On Hossa and the team needs: Hossa: “I think Hossa’s got a lot of good hockey in him.” Team needs: “Our middle is always an area that we felt we were depleted in this year.”
Toughness: “Being tougher to play against is an area we’d definitely like to be better.”
Raising the bar: “I think we should all expect more of each other.”
"You just gotta find ways to stay motivated and wanna win those games."
Year-end press conference: Jonathan Toews
"I'm proud to be a Blackhawk and I'd like to stay one."
Year-end press conference: Patrick Sharp
"Being in the playoffs is the funnest time of year." Yes, he said "funnest."
Year-end press conference: Duncan Keith
"It was a good year for me, I think." Understatement of the season.
Year-end press conference: Corey Crawford
"It was a long season." This might be the second understatement of the season.
Year-end press conference: Patrick Kane
"You didn't dream of drinking beer out of the Stanley Cup when you were five." Oh, Seabs.
Year-end press conference: Brent Seabrook
There was also a press conference with Niklas Hjalmarsson, but I can’t get it to load on my computer, so no screen shot from there. Sorry.
