Kelly McCrimmon

I think the player really appreciates it.

I know after the game, you know, I went over and shook Nick's hand, wished him well.

The week before, we had Nicholas Haig.

In his return, we did the same thing there.

I think your fans appreciate the chance to, you know, show their appreciation to the player.

So how it'll be here, I guess, remains to be seen.

You know, based on the reception in Vegas, I can't...

tell you exactly what I expect, but the thing that's important for me, just in listening to interviews with players in Toronto and talking to Mitch, is he sure had good relationships with his teammates, which ultimately at the end of the day, you guys played, you know how important that is to a player.

Well, you might think there would be, but it just never works that way.

Coaches ride their horses as hard as they can, and those top guys want to play.

So if you go to cut back ice time on a player, that's not real well received.

I think where you'll maybe see it come into play is planning some rest for guys when they return.

We've got nine players going to the Olympics, so it's going to have a big impact on our team.

Obviously, we're pleased and proud we've got that many Olympians.

It's better than having no Olympians.

I do know that.

But it's going to take a toll on some of these top guys.

So the final of the gold medal game, I believe, is on a Sunday.

We play Wednesday at LA.

Two days later, we play at Washington.