Press Conference Review – November 7, 2024 MTL@NJD Pregame: Fearless Hutson and Former Teammates Edition

St-Louis Segment:

[Pengu] MSL on what allows Hutson to play fearlessly on the ice: "The way he is wired. He competes on every puck. No matter if it's a big guy, small guy, he's calculated on how he wins pucks. His compete level has impressed me a lot."

[Pengu] MSL on what he's learned on being a student and how Hutson makes adjustments: "He corrects himself very quick. Very intelligent. Very aware. I feel like every time I have a conversation with [Hutson], he gets it right away. It's not like I got to show it or I got to practice it. Everybody learns the same way, but he's a fast learner."

[Pengu] MSL on how he feels about the group right now: "I feel great… We have to enjoy the grind. I'm very happy with the group and their mindset. How, what we're attacking and why we are attacking. The group's been great."

[Pengu] MSL on if Caufield has changed at all over the past year: "He's been in the process the last 14 months of being more than just a goal scorer. Playing a 200 foot game and playing defensive side of the puck too. He's still going through his process. He's a young player like the rest of our team and that's what we're after."

[Pengu] MSL on what he remembers about Sheldon Keefe as a teammate: "Quiet, hard worker, good guy."

[Pengu] Reporter said that Sheldon Keefe told them this morning that MSL was a healthy scratch and that he's playing. MSL laughed and said: "Oh yeah? No comment."

Ghule Segment:

[Pengu] Guhle on playing with more hits against the Devils: "That's the recipe that you need. Any winning team, they're physical, they're hard to play against. Obviously, you want to have skill, make plays, and do what you do. You need to have that physical aspect in the game. I know when I play certain teams, you know they're physical and that they're coming hard and you know that coming into the game. You know that's part of their identity. It's definitely something that we've tried to focus on a little more. If you seen our practices in the past few weeks, its been that. It's something that we definitely needed to put into our game and it's coming along too, for sure."

[Pengu] Guhle on if the physicality will bring the emotion that the team needs: "Exactly. First five minutes and you're physical. You're in the game right away. Our starts haven't been great. We're trying to bring that along. It's gotten better the last few games. The first 5-10 minutes, physical, engages you in the game too. Take a hit, make a hit."

[Pengu] Guhle on Condotta's physicality: "That's a big reason why they brought him up. He's a big guy, physical. He's not afraid to use his body. Gets to the net. I know it's not fun to go against him in practice. He's another guy that brings that physical aspect… It will be fun to see him out on the ice."

[Pengu] Guhle on what it is about Hutson's make up that makes him appear fearless on the ice: "He's been ready for this for a long time. You watch him in college. You watch what he does now. Every player, you come up from junior, college, wherever you are, this is what you're working towards. You're working towards the NHL. I think he knew that he was going to be here. He's has that quiet confidence inside him. He's just been ready for it. He's got the opportunity to play big minutes and be a top guy on our team and he ran with that. Kudos to him. He's ready for it, you can see it. I think he has fun with it too. He's a quiet guy, but he loves the game… It's fun to watch."

[Pengu] Guhle on if he's becoming less and less surprised about what he's seeing Hutson do on the ice: "Yea. It's standard now, for the stuff he does on the ice, for the moves he makes. It's on par for the course for him. It's fun to watch. I'll never try that stuff and will never be able to do that stuff, but it's fun to watch. It'll be fun to see him grow over the years and see his game grow in other ways. Offensively, what he's doing with the puck, I think he's doing alright."

[Pengu] Guhle on what he sees going when he sees Hutson's compete level: "Just the love for the game. He's a competitor. Any lead athlete competes in anything they do and when you put him on the ice, when you put him with the team, he's a competitor. You see it in practice too. He competes all the time, he competes hard. He wants to win. He wants to be the best. That's another huge plus for him, is his compete level. He's always in there battling."

[Pengu] Guhle on if it is fair to say that Allen and Kovacevic were very good teammates: "They were great. [Allen] being a little bit of an older guy, he was huge. He was such a good guy to have in the room. He was great for me, great for a lot of us young guys. He set up a lot of the team events. He was one of the first guys to set up something in the group chat or plan a Christmas party or whatever. He was always there. And [Kovacevic] too. It was me and him and all of us young guys, we went through the first couple of years in the league together. We grew up together in a sense. We went for dinner with him last night, a bunch of us, so it was good to see him again. He hasn't changed a bit, which is good. It will be fun to see them on the other side and play against them."

Dvorak Segment:

[Pengu] Dvorak on the team having a recipe now: "For sure. We looked at some things and ironed some things out. Especially defensively. We've looked good on that part of the game on the last couple of games. We've got to make sure that we stick with that and continue to hone in on that. Offensively, I think things will turn around for us. We like where our game is at and I think the results will come very soon."

[Pengu] A reporter noticed that Dvorak skates faster in Montreal than he has in the past and asked if Dvorak hared the same observation: "Yea, I think so. I feel good right now. I had a good summer. Previous summer, I was rehabbing for the knee so it was tough to work on speed and things like that. So it was nice to have a full summer healthy. So worked on that. I feel good out there. You want to keep going and help the team win."

[Pengu] Dvorak on rebounding from games that the team weren't playing at their best and if there is anger that fuels that: "You always want to rebound after a tough game or stuff like that, but you can't always ride the emotional rollercoaster for an 82 game season. Not all of them are going to be perfect so sometimes you have to turn the page and look forward and come back and rebound and have a good game in the next game. It's the kind of things you learn as you play as long as I have in the league. You learn that you can't let one game turn into two. That is where my head is at."

[Pengu] Dvorak on how he feels about playing in a smaller role than he has in previous seasons: "Accept the role and do what the coaches ask me to do. Fourth line, PK role and the strategy. Do the best I can at that and I always want to make sure I am good defensively too and chip in offensively. That was where my head is at and you always want to keep playing good and move up the lineup."

[Pengu] Dvorak on if he thinks that with an elevated role, there is a chance to turn things around: "We're right there. We easily could have won the last two games and it was just the result that wasn't there for us. We just got to stick with it and not get too frustrated. If we play like that, things will turn around and be in a good spot."

____________________________

Full Presser (Video Links):

St-Louis Segment

Guhle Segment

Dvorak Segment

____________________________

Last Presser