Stanley Cup Final: Sharks coach Pete DeBoer on special feeling in San Jose
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San Jose Sharks coach Peter DeBoer spoke briefly with the media after practice on Monday morning. Here are the highlights:
On Martin Jones and the curious case of two first-year starters in the Cup final: "It is pretty incredible. You've got two guys with the experience these two guys have. I think they're special. I don't think it's a common thing. I don't think you're going to see it yearly. I think it's rare.
"But there's been many instances in the history of hockey where a young goaltender has led a team to a Stanley Cup. I think it's all belief. When our guys go in the room and talk to Marty Jones or play in front of him, they're not looking at him like he's a rookie or a 22-year-old or a guy that's played only so many games. They look at him like he's a seasoned veteran because he carries himself that way."
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On the importance of former Penguin Paul Martin: "Paul's great. He's so understated as a player. His personality is the same, but there's so much substance to his play and as a person. I can't tell you how important he's been, one, on the ice, working with Brent Burns, his veteran leadership and his composure. And two, just the way he carries himself around the room. He's a classy guy. He's a lot of fun to be around. He's fit in seamlessly with our group. We wouldn't be here without him."
On changing anything based on his Cup final experience with the 2012 New Jersey Devils: "I don't think so. I think our approach all along has been business as usual. I think the guys have realized as we got through the L.A. series ... as we got through a really tough St. Louis team, even at the different points of adversity facing elimination against Nashville, we didn't change. There was no magic speeches. There was no big line combination changes or roster changes or changes to our system. There's a belief in what we do and the people we have. We're going to keep rolling that out until someone hands us a Cup or tells us to go home."
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On understanding the importance of this series to Bay Area fans: "There's a sense. [This is my] first year in the community, so I didn't realize kind of the baggage that was carried around. [Then you have] 25-year season-ticket holders coming up to you with tears in their eyes and crying. There were some moments there after where the gravity of what they've been through and how important this is to them [started to sink in]."
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On potential lineup changes involving his bottom-six forwards: [Matt] Nieto came out because of an injury. [Tommy] Wingels jumped in, did a great job. Nieto is healthy [now, so] we've got decisions to make. We have a nice mix of guys down there that bring different things. [Dainius] Zubrus is a big-body guy that plays a real heavy game that's effective this time of year. Nieto is a speed guy. Wingels is an agitator and a guy that finishes every hit, [makes himself] hard to play against. [Nick] Spaling does his thing. The guys in that part of our lineup are interchangeable and they also bring different things. We'll make those decisions as the series gets dictated based on what we feel we need."