Stanley Cup Media Day Quote Roundup: Part 1
By
Pens writing staff @Penguins / Pittsburgh Penguins
Rutherford on trading for Hornqvist: "He's given us what we had hoped. I've never met a player like him. He never has a bad day. We could lose 10 in a row and he'd be in the locker room as if we won 10 in a row."
Sullivan on coaching the Pens: "I can't tell you how rewarding it's been to have the opportunity to coach this team. I'm so grateful to have been given this opportunity. Every day I come to the rink, I'm excited to get on the ice with this particular group of players."
Sullivan on facing Laviolette, another American-born coach: "The fact that there's two American coaches that are going to play against one another here, I think it speaks a little bit about the progress that hockey has made in the United States. I think there's a lot of really good coaches that are working extremely hard to be the best at their craft. There's a lot of real good American coaches, just like there's a lot of real good Canadian coaches and European coaches and others."
Crosby on possibly winning one more Cup than Lemieux: "He's done so much. He's won two Cups, but he's done so much for this city. He's had such an impact. I don't look at it as far as comparing numbers. He's got two as an owner and two as a player so he's got me there."
Crosby on his motivation: "The opportunity. This doesn't come along often. We said it last year after not being back for seven years. Knowing we have another chance at it, we're excited."
Crosby on playing his career with Malkin: "We're really lucky, really fortunate to be on the same team, to lean on each other, to go through different experiences and grow through that, especially from a young age. There was that language barrier early on, but after this long we have a pretty good understanding of how lucky we are to have that combination."
Malkin on his son Nikita: "He has no idea I play hockey or in the Final. He's starting to walk. I know when he's 2, 3 years old he'll understand. I hope he will be proud of me."
Malkin on his personal recognition: "I don't think about that. I want my team to win. I just focus on my game, focus on what I need to do and try to help my team win. My record is Cups. I don't think about points. It's not my goals. It's only the team."
Kessel on repeating: "I think we are all hungry again. We know the opportunity we have here to do it back-to-back. It is a special thing. For a lot of us, we may never get a chance to play for it again and get this far. It's tough to get here. When you get a chance to do that."
Hornqvist on the trade: "I didn't see me getting traded. I signed a five-year deal there and played one year and had my best year and then got traded in the summer. I didn't see it coming but obviously it worked out good for me and for them."
Hornqvist on facing his former team: "It's going to feel a little special, for sure. Playing your old teammates in the Final, you don't really think that happens too often. So that's going to be a special moment for me. Go out there and have fun with it if I'm playing. Just raise the level."
Kunitz on defending the Cup: "As athletes, you like the challenge. You like to fight adversity. Nobody wants to be sitting on top of anything. You want to always challenge yourself to get better. That is the competitiveness we all have. The challenge is to make yourself want to work harder than the guy beside you and I think our leaders do a good job at that."
