Chicago Blackhawks' Kane offers some insight
Last in a series
The most interesting part of the NHL's video conference with Patrick Kane, Mark Scheifele and Mathew Barzal on Monday was when the high-scoring forwards answered hypothetical questions about end-of-game situations.
Now, remember — these are three players who combined for 81 goals this season, so there aren't many opponents who worry them much.
But there are a few they'd rather not see while streaking to the net in the waning seconds of a tight game.
And here they are ...
Q: You have a 1-on-1, the puck is on your stick and the game is on the line. Which defenseman do you least want to see defending you?
A: Kane selected Montreal's Shea Weber. “Especially when he was in Nashville ... he was just a bear to go against. He's so strong, he's so big.
“If you ever got in the corner with him there's no way you're coming out with the puck. Or if you do you're going to take some pretty big punishment to make that happen. ...
“He would always be a tough guy to go up against for me.”
Winnipeg's Scheifele selected Minnesota's Ryan Suter. “His angles are so good, his stick's so good. You're not going to be able to shoot through him. He can block shots. But his angles and his feet are so good that he's just so hard to beat.”
The Islanders' Barzal selected Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman. “He's just so long and smooth. His gap's always perfect and if you try to take him wide, he's 6-6, so you're not really getting around him.
“He can just hold you up; his stick is so good, it's just always in your face. There's just not much room out there against him.”
Q: You're on a breakaway and the game is on the line. Which goalie do you not want to see?
A: Scheifele said Montreal's Carey Price: “He's so calm in the net. He outconfidences you.”
Kane also selected Price and still remembers going 0-for-2 against him in a shootout during the 2007 World Juniors.
A close second would be Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy.
“I've had some breakaways against him where you think you have him beat and he just kicks out his leg,” Kane said. “You have to beat him and raise (the puck), but you can't raise it too much because his body's over there as well. His legs are so long and athletic.”
Barzal took Nashville's Pekka Rinne. “He's had some good nights against us. I think I've had two breakaways against him and both I didn't score on.”
Q: You're up by a goal and there are 10 seconds left. Who do you want taking a faceoff in your own zone?
A: Kane gave a true student-of-the-game answer and said St. Louis' Ryan O'Reilly if the draw is on the left side and Dallas' Tyler Seguin if it's on the right. “(Seguin) is maybe a little bit underrated, but it seems like we always kind of have a tough time against him in Dallas.”
Scheifele selected Boston's Patrice Bergeron on either side. “I've actually had some good nights against him — unless you're in Boston and then the stats guys give it to him a little bit (laughs). But when push comes to shove, you put him in the faceoff dot, he's gonna take it.”
Q: For sheer comic relief because you need a laugh on the bench, who do you want to be sitting next to?
A: Kane: “I had some hilarious teammates back in 2010. Guys like Ben Eager and Adam Burish were constantly chirping the other team. Especially Ben Eager — he seemed to have so many good chirps.
“Also, Dustin Byfuglien might be up there as well. He's hilarious. Especially when we were playing Winnipeg (after he got traded there) he was coming by, and he and (Joel) Quenneville would be chirping each other and laughing around and joking around in the middle of an NHL hockey game.
“He was always a good guy to bring some comic relief.”
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