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Steve Ludzik

Press conference from October 5, 1999

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Posted: Friday October 08, 1999 07:05 PM

Question: I know you only had Fredrik Modin for a few days. Can you just talk a bit about what he has meant to the team so far?

Steve Ludzik: Well, obviously it was a huge trade for both teams and both teams benefited from it. Modin is a big guy. We wanted to get our team a little bit bigger with size. He should fit in very well playing with, hopefully, Vincent Lecavalier and Andreas Johansson. He scored a huge goal for us. He didn't really play that much in the game, his first game, because he got in late that morning, about 2:30 in the morning. I asked him if he wanted to play that game that night and if he hesitated at all with his answer I wasn't going to play him. He said, no, I want to play, definitely want to play.

I don't think he logged more than maybe eight to ten minutes that night. But he got a great shot; obviously you guys know that. He is a young guy.

Question: What did coaching in the IHL for those three years do for you as a coach; what did you learn?

Steve Ludzik: Well, obviously how to win. I think that was a huge -- I worked for a class organization. We were expected to win every night. I have the utmost respect for the players that played for me. I was very, very fortunate. I had a great chemistry on the team. I think I learned one thing...that talent is not going to win it for you. You got to have that chemistry. You have got to have guys that want to show up every night. That was probably the main thing.

Question: Talk about the talent level in the IHL and the perception of the IHL around the NHL right now?

Steve Ludzik: I don't know what the perception is. I can't say what it is. I would tell you this: I don't think there are too many American League teams that would be able to compete. I think that has been proven without a shadow of a doubt. I think if you look at some of the teams like Pittsburgh and you see a lot of International League players playing on NHL teams now that are doing very well, the Millers and so forth.

What it is, it is older guys, veteran guys, and I liked it because I will tell you what, it is easier to tell a young kid what he is supposed to do on a forecheck. An older guy maybe somewhat more difficult. You better be able to explain to him why they are supposed to do this and get them on the same page. And I am happy to see that a few of us coaches you see in the IHL got a chance this year.

Question: Can you just comment on the play of the guys that you received in the Sundstrom deal from San Jose?

Steve Ludzik: Well, Shawn Burr was a huge -- he was a guy we didn't know how much he was going to play for us. He is a great character guy; gives our team a little bit of juice in the locker room; brings it on the ice. He is a guy that is desperate. He wants to stay here and keep playing. Judging by his exhibition performance, it has been super.

Andrei Zyuzin is a young kid, 21 years old; and has got to learn the ins and outs and the intricacies of playing. He is going to be a big asset to our team. He is a guy that can really skate. My No. 1 job is to have him coming to the rink and enjoying coming to the rink and playing every day. That is what I want him to do. I want him coming in with a smile on his face. Some days are going to be better than others, but I want him to have run coming to the rink. Stephen Guolla is a guy who went to me in the summertime and said: Hey, I know I can produce in this League; I just want a chance, I just want a chance to do that. We are going to give him a chance to do that for sure. His first game -- he's a guy that's got passion every shift.

First game I think he was second star of the game; he got a goal, and assist which, I am not really a big guy looking at stats anyway, but really helped us. Bill Houlder is our Captain. I named him captain because I thought that he would really be a stabling influence in the dressing room. That's what we needed. He likes to get the guys together.

The No. 1 job for me I believe is to get these guys believing they can win everyday, every night. I think Billy is going to be a torchbearer in the dressing room.

Question: With the new owner and a revamped roster, what is the attitude in and around Tampa and in your clubhouse?

Steve Ludzik: Well, the new owner, I think he couldn't be -- opposite polars with the guy that was here before.

Bill Davidson, you don't see him. He flew in one exhibition guy, just went and shook everybody's hand. I guess the guy before had like a two-hour meeting with the players. Bill doesn't really get involved with that part.

The fans here - I have been really surprised how excited they are. They are ravenous for a team that wins. They want to see some work. It really put us to the gun too because with Rick Dudley and myself because we had -- you know, when you talk about we want -- we came in and said: If you are not playing 100% every night, you are not going to play. If we see that over the long stretch of time or short stretch of time you are not going to be here. Obviously with the Daigle situation, it wasn't done for personal reasons. It was just we couldn't get him to show that passion that we thought we needed here. We thought it was a bad example to other players.

Question: Can you just talk about the play of Darren Puppa, the first game and was that particularly reassuring to you considering how much problems he is had with injuries in the last couple of years?

Steve Ludzik: Puppa, I would say the only -- the quarterback here for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dilfer when I got here in the summer, Dilfer and Puppa were probably the most malign guys in the media. You have to realize as a goalie, you are like a ballet dancer in the net, if you have some physical problem and are quiet you are unable to play net, bottom line. Darren Puppa is a quiet guy; keeps everything to himself. I don't know if people really appreciate him. I know him. He is one of the few guys that I do know. I played with him in Buffalo. He is a high character guy; a low maintenance guy and wants to win worse than anybody else. He has a lot of pride and it probably hurt him hearing the stuff that was untrue about him and he never struck back once. He kept quiet; kept his mouth shut and I know he wants to have a huge year for us.

I don't like the fact that we should never ever take advantage; that we know we have got great goaltending here now. I want my players to respect the fact that we have got great goaltending; not to abuse it.

Question: How do you view him and Cloutier, are they one and two?

Steve Ludzik: I would say Puppa would be the No. 1 guy. Cloutier is a young kid; I don't think -- it is unfair to put him in the No. 1 guy right now. We also have Kevin Hodson here.

Question: If he stays healthy how many games do you see Poops playing?

Steve Ludzik: Well, I sure wouldn't want -- I'd like to him to play 45, if he can. I am not -- I can't -- prediction is really for gypsies, I can't tell you that. I am not going to sit here and say he is going to play this; he is going to play that. I don't want to say that. I want him to have some fun. I want to treat him with respect. If he is tired at all, he is not going to practice, bottom line, I am going to make sure that he is taken care of. I am not stupid. He is a guy that we have to make sure is treated well here. It is going to be done.

Question: I just wanted to ask how big a disappointment was Daigle this year and how surprised are you that the Rangers decided to take a chance on him?

Steve Ludzik: Well, it was disappointing because I am not a type guy -- I don't really like discussing this, to be honest with you, I would rather keep my comments to the players individually and I don't like going to the media. I didn't really get a chance to know him. Seemed like a real nice guy. I just don't know whether he felt like either playing here or playing period.

It is very tough as an organization starting anew like we are - when you set a precedent, you say to guys: we need passion, we need -- and there is going to be cause and consequences for working and not working, and if you don't back it up, I think the whole organization, meaning the players, see that. So that really painted Rick Dudley and myself in one spot, right off the bat. We just didn't think we could get him going and playing the way we need him to play here.

Am I surprised the Rangers took him? No, because everybody is going to take a chance with a guy with huge talent. But talent to me is a finished product.

Question: Realistically, do you expect to make the playoffs this year or is there more of a long-term plan in mind?

Steve Ludzik: I think people kind -- I got to tell you, I think as a coach or anybody if you would say that to the fans there is a long-term plan, I think the fans kind of get turned off with that. If your only expectations are to play .500 hockey that would be, to me, like a father saying to his son - I have got two sons, see if you can't get 50% on this exam and I will be just happy with that. I don't think it is anything different. If you set your sights that low, I think you are going to be an underachieving team. There is a big problem with that to be an underachieving hockey club. I'd like my guys to overachieve and push themselves.

The first thing that we had to fix up here was the ability for the guys to think that they can win every night. That is our No. 1 job here right now. Everybody makes a big deal about our systems and this and that, but I believe that the biggest thing that we have to concentrate on is the mental attitude. That is the biggest thing.

Question: What is that mental attitude like right now?

Steve Ludzik: You'd have to talk to the guys. I think it was Shawn Burr who was saying -- he was quoted as saying that this is the best team he has been on so far in his career, this is the best chemistry he has ever had. That goes a long way. Guys enjoying coming to the rink and playing, but that has to also go on -- it's going to get better if we win games. And talk is cheap. People here they want -- they say, hey, we want you to say, you know, what kind of record are you going to have. I can say the best teams push each other in the dressing room; that is what I am trying to get right now, guys to push themselves too.

 

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