The 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup has brought out the best in head coach post-game comments.
KITCHENER, Ont. -- The 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup has provided more than just memorable moments on the ice.
While this year's tournament will go down as one of the most entertaining in years, the entertainment has gone far beyond the on-ice product, especially for members of the media. Following each game, reporters have gathered at the post-game press conference to hear some of the intriguing comments made from each team's head coach.
As much as the memorable moments on the field in sports have been revered and remembered, who can forget some of the rants and comments over the years? For example, there was then Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green's memorable quote two years ago after his team blew a lead against the Chicago Bears, "The Bears are who we thought they were. And we let them off the hook."
Another memorable moment was Jim Mora, then head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2001, with his incredulous response to a question about playing playoff football. "Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game."
The crop of coaches at this year's Memorial Cup have bucked the trend of cliché after tired cliché, often making reporters' heads turn with some quick jabs, honest responses and a refreshing look after each game, even after a loss.
Here are some of the most memorable quotable moments from the head coaches at this year's Memorial Cup:
From the coaches press conference on May 15, Rangers head coach and general manager Peter DeBoer addressed the question of facing different opposition after his Rangers faced head coach and general manager George Burnett's Belleville Bulls in seven games of the Ontario Hockey League final:
"The nice thing for me is seeing someone other than George Burnett and the Belleville Bulls for a night," he said. "We're a little bit sick of them."
The Bulls and Rangers hooked up in Wednesday's final round robin game, knowing they would see each other again in Friday's semifinal. Friday's game marked the ninth meeting between the two teams in less than a month, to which DeBoer said, "Tired isn't the word. Sick of George." Burnett responded by saying, "I'm sick of Pete, too."
DeBoer's Rangers nearly blew a three-games-to-none series lead in the Ontario Hockey League championship series against Belleville, winning the series in seven. His team then blew a three-goal lead against the Gatineau Olympiques before winning the game in overtime. Following the game, DeBoer addressed the media with an interesting take.
"Between seven games against Belleville and what (Gatineau head coach and general manager Benoit Groulx) gave us tonight, I've aged about 20 years in the last few weeks."
Then there was Spokane Chiefs head coach Bill Peters who endeared himself to the media with several interesting quotable moments. Following his team's overtime win over Belleville where they blew a 3-0 lead, Peters described the game by referencing a movie.
"It entailed three games for us, really," he said. "It was like the old Clint Eastwood movie, 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.' The way we came out was good, we played the second and it was bad then we got the ugly goal to tie it up and found a way to get the puck on net to get the winner."
After winning his second game over the Kitchener Rangers, Peters' Chiefs needed a Belleville win over Gatineau in the next day's round robin game to get the bye to the final.
"I'm cheering for who tomorrow? Belleville?" he kidded.
When asked about the play of his team's forward Drayson Bowman, Peters called out the American world junior team's decision of not including him for the tournament.
"Somebody still has to answer that question for me, why he didn't play world junior for the US," he said. "I still haven't got the answer. My number's available. If someone wants to call me and let me know that because I know a lot of things, but that's one thing I don't know. He scored 40-plus goals in major junior hockey, so it's not like he's a secret to anybody."
Peters was then asked if he had been impressed with Bowman's play in the tournament given the pressure of playing in the Memorial Cup. His comment brought thoughts of Mora's playoff rant.
"There's no pressure," he said. "We're young guys, there is no pressure. We're in the Memorial Cup championship, we're hockey players doing what we love to do with a group of people we love to be with. Where's the pressure there? I don't get it.
"There's no pressure. Just go out and have fun and play hard. If that's pressure then we're in trouble. Pressure's when you don't have money to make the mortgage and things are going south that way. These kids are athletes. They love what they're doing."
In the same post-game press conference, DeBoer took a jab at a division-rival when asked about the Chiefs' smothering defensive style.
"They remind me of a team up the road that we play during the regular season in Guelph, but with a first line," DeBoer said.
Burnett's Bulls faced a lot of shots through the round robin portion of the tournament. Members of the media had their suspicions confirmed when Burnett addressed the shot total his team was facing after his team's first game against Spokane.
"I think the home clock in the Kitchener building counts by twos," he said.
After a win over the Rangers in Wednesday's round robin game, Burnett spoke about a potential lack of respect for his team in the tournament.
"It's funny, I went back to my hotel last night and turned on to the program that would appear to be all the right people talking about it and they were talking about how Kitchener was going to break the Spokane trap on Sunday. I thought Belleville was still in this tournament."
"You didn't hear me?" Burnett said after being asked a similar question following a win over Gatineau.
After a loss against the host Rangers in their first game, Groulx wasn't shy when asked if his team arrived prepared.
"I thought we were nervous," he said. "It's opening night against the host team, the team ranked first in the country, it's normal to be a bit nervous.
"We showed character tonight but at the same time when you're at the Memorial Cup, you have to be ready to play hockey right off the bat and I think Kitchener gave us a lesson in hockey for 20 minutes."
It was refreshing speaking with all four coaches in the tournament. All four understood the importance of the media, giving plenty to write about. While the play on the ice has been impressive, the comments from the head coaches will help make this year's tournament one of the most memorable.
