Quotes by Mike Grier

“Its nice to be rolling and have some confidence.”

“Sometimes you get the word out there and the games called differently. Ive seen it before where coaches have been in the media and games have been called differently the next night. Its not a bad idea on his part. Its all part of the gamesmanship that goes on in the stretch drive.”

“I think were still getting used to each other a little bit, trying to figure it out a little. Thomas is very creative with the puck, so were starting to learn how to read off him.”

“Hes starting to realize thats what it takes to play in this league day in and day out - youve got to be ready to play every night and work hard. I think the last month and half, two months, hes really started to turn the corner in that regard.”

“I thought it went in. Toronto called and said, The whole thing didnt go over. Theres nothing I can do about it.”

“It was a tough night for us, but I think its something that we needed. Weve been a little bit loose defensively the last few games, so just seeing how hard they were working made us pick our game up.”

“People, especially a team like that, theyre making sure theyre getting the puck out, and theyve got guys finishing checks, and theyre committed to their system defensively. Toronto did the same thing to us the other day in our building. They played a desperate, determined game, but we were able to kind of match it [in a 3-1 win]. We never matched it [against Atlanta], and they pretty much had their way with us. Down the stretch you just have to be ready to play at all times.”

“Its a little troubling. I think when you start scoring five or six goals a night, you get lulled into a false sense of belief. As a team, we let things slide. Maybe this stretch will help us get our heads screwed back on.”

“I thought it went in.”

“Theyve had a couple emotional games, and theyre in the hunt. Sometimes you say things that arent true. For the most part, we have a pretty honest team here, and the way the games called now if you get tugged, guys arent going down.”