Say What - 'Everybody's Excited'

Ryan Lomberg on the anticipation for tonight's game:

"Everybody’s excited, man. Everybody’s even. We’re excited to start this thing for real, and prove some people wrong."

On keeping up intensity and the role of the fourth line:

"Everybody’s got to do it, it’s definitely on us when guys aren’t. I think the fourth line of our team has to be our identity line, and has to be doing it night-in, night-out, doesn’t matter the score, we’ve got to be doing that. We’ll definitely be looking forward to bringing the speed, intensity, all that stuff."

Sam Honzek on the morning of his NHL debut:

"It’s pretty good. Day has been, so far, awesome. Good morning skate, and ready to roll tonight."

On getting a skate in at Rogers Arena before puck drop:

"It was nice to skate here, so far I’ve been here just as a fan; now, (I’m here) as a player. I would say I’m a little bit nervous, but (it’s) another game for me."

Nazem Kadri on his excitement level to begin the year:

"Just like every other year, always excited to get the season going, and a great building to do it in. We’re looking forward to it."

On Honzek and Klapka's nerves ahead of opening night:

"I still get (butterflies), I couldn’t imagine how they feel. I think they rely on their teammates to try and uplift them, help them out a little bit out there. I think (Honzek is) paired with a couple of good players, so I think he’s going to be OK tonight."

Ryan Huska on opening night:

"You’re excited. When you look at our group, we’ve got Mikael, I think this is 17 for him, and then we have some young guys that are in their first game, so it’s an exciting time of the year. They work hard through training camp and the exhibition season, and now they get to play for real."

On giving the opening-night start to Dan Vladar:

"We knew who we were going to start a few days ago for this game, but we have a couple days between our next game, so that just gives us some time to re-evaluate, and see at that point. Win and stay in, I don’t think is the best way to do it for a goaltender, but at the same time, we want that competition. The expectation is that someone’s going to step up and take more of the starts."

On equipment manager Mark DePasquale's 2,000th NHL game:

"He’s the best in the business and we’re lucky to have him. 2,000 games behind the bench for Mark, that’s a lot of games, and that’s a lot of travel, that’s a lot of crazy hours and that’s a lot of players that he’s helped along the way. We’re thrilled to be able to celebrate this day for him, with him, I know our players are excited about it, too, probably just as much as DePo is. We feel he’s the best in the league, we love the guy, so this is a great touch."