Interview With Brad Staubitz, “We haven’t accomplished anything yet . . .”

Summary of an interview with Brad Staubitz today on TEAM 1200/Dave Gross and Garry Galley. [paraphrasing]

(What happened w/Stewart who dropped his gloves?) I just suckered him in a bit. He gave me a hit and . . . I looked at him like we were going to go. But then I skated away. I just sucked him in. I got him.

(On being up 2-0 going back to Peterborough) They’re going to be coming out hard, really battling. We’re really fortunate to be up 2 games. We haven’t accomplished anything yet though. We have to keep going, keep battling.

(On limiting their offence) Oh for sure, especially with the atmosphere in the rink. The fans are right there, they’re right on you. If we can weather the storm in the first five, then come out and put something together in their rink again.

We’ve been really focusing on shutting down their two top lines. That gave room for Akeson and the two Euro boys. Bonello and Mark have shut down their top line. We have to look for offensive opportunities and capitalize when they come.

(Have they been playing hard?) They came out hard, especially in the game down there. They were flying around looking for hits, especially Kaleta. The first game we weren’t sure what to expect having to come out in OT in their home rink.

We gotta keep going like that. We can’t let up. The things that have been working for us we have to keep. The last game they had a few PP that we were able to shut down, but we have to play 5-on-5.

(On the team’s performance) I remember from the season, in the newspapers, that consistency is the trouble with the team. Having a fourth line that works as hard, battling in the corners, just helps the team. And that line with Akeson on it, helps out the front end.

(On Raftis throwing the game puck into the stands) He threw the puck up into the stands. We’ve been collecting them this year, as sort of a team building thing. It was a low blow by them. If the fan has the puck we’d like it back, especially for Danny. (Garry read that it went to a Petes fan) Well, Raftis knew what he was doing, flipped it to the right guy.

(On Kaleta) We’ve been keeping our eye on him. He looks to have big hits, lure you into penalties. That’s how he gets into the game, with a big hit, then he gets rolling. We just have to keep an eye for him, we can keep him from being a big factor.

(Asked about the the things they say to each other on the ice) It’s just small trash talk. He’s telling me to keep my head up. Just junk.

(Thoughts on flying to Peterborough) It’s great. It’s such a good experience. We can’t thank the owner, Jeff Hunt, enough.

(Anyone freaking out about flying?) No, nothing like that. [/paraphrasing]

Staubitz [3.11.2005].