Quotes of the day: Kotkaniemi, Staal & Ducharme

MONTREAL - The Canadiens held a rare practice at the Bell Centre after taking their official 2020-21 team photo there on Thursday morning.

SHOP: Jean Béliveau Socks
Following the on-ice session, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Eric Staal, and interim head coach Dominique Ducharme spoke with reporters via Zoom.

Here are a few highlights from their respective chats:
Kotkaniemi on playing left wing and trying to use his shot a bit more:
"Last time I played wing, I felt I probably had a little more time to shoot and create some offense. When you play center, there are a lot more responsibilities in the middle. I'm going to create something tomorrow."

Kotkaniemi on how he's feeling at this point of the season:
"I'm okay. We're playing a lot. Every day we have a practice day or a day off, I just kind of mentally tune out from hockey and try to think about something else. Like I said, we play a lot. Physically it's hard, but I think mentally it's even harder. There are big games every night. Sometimes it's harder to get ready for the game, but we do our best."
Staal on being able to up one's game another notch for the playoffs following this year's crunched schedule:
"I honestly believe that a lot of times, it comes naturally. The reality is, it'll just happen. My whole career, every time we went from the regular season to the Game One of the playoffs, it's another level. That's just how it works. It's not that guys aren't competing or wanting to amp it up every single game, but the reality is, the playoffs are different. It's a different style, it's a different type of pace and energy. These games before [the playoffs] are extremely important for us; we don't have an X by our name. That urgency needs to be there again for us starting tomorrow. We need to put points on the board, gain confidence, and be where we want to be."

Staal on coming in to mentor the team's young centermen, and the challenges of heavily relying on them:
"These kids are good players. They compete every night, they've got great skills. With the amount of games we've had here and the schedule, I think it's just about trying to make sure you're engaged and executing every single time you're on the ice. I wouldn't say it's easy, but that's the reality of what it is. You're learning every day and you take as much as you can in. You've got to believe in yourself and we've got to believe in each other. That's what we're hoping for here for the next two weeks to finish the year, and to put ourselves in a good spot to go from there."
Ducharme on Kotkaniemi's development:
"You can't forget that, even if it's his third season, he's still a young player, but we've still seen him develop this year. For a young player, the toughest thing is consistency. KK knows it, too. His engagement, the way he skates, you could see it pretty early in the game with how he gets involved in puck battles. All that to say that often, when he has the puck, he's going to have more time to make his plays. He's going to have a bit more space to take his shot. That's how he's had the most success. To be able to replicate that night after night, that's the challenge and we're working with him on that."

Ducharme on Staal's contributions to the team:
"I don't know that he's a guy who can have the same kind of season he did in his early twenties, but you can see him around the net with the way he uses his body to protect the puck. He gets pucks to the net. He has the experience and the skills to make plays. We're asking a bit the same of Corey Perry, who's scored 50 goals in a season before. We're not expecting him to do that today, but rather contributions at key moments."
Ducharme on Tomas Tatar and Paul Byron missing practice and what that means for their timeline to return:
"For sure, not having them on the ice today complicates things for getting them back into a game, but we know it won't be long. They're going to be back in a few games. The fact they couldn't skate this morning means it doesn't look good for them for the next two games."