After last night's game, Mr. Brian Rafalski, the pride and joy of Dearborn, MI had a little chat with NHL.com...

NHL.com -- How important was it to score a goal right away – your shot that beat Martin Brodeur just 41 seconds into the game?

It's a stupid question, but Raf was (fairly) gracious with his answer.

Rafalski -- Obviously, that’s a good start for us. It put a lot more pressure on them and they had to expend a lot of energy. They outshot us for the period. But when they tied it up we responded and were able to get ahead again.

NHL.com -- Having stunned Canada right off the opening faceoff, you then scored again just 22 seconds after the Canadians had tied the game midway through the second period. How important was that?

Yet another stupid question.  How important was the first goal? How important was the next goal?  How important is every goal?

Rafalski -- I think that was huge for us. Even though we didn’t have the best first period, they came out flying and we came out with the lead. I think we got stronger as the game went on.

NHL.com -- Can you compare this to any game you’ve played in before?

Rafalski -- Obviously. (the) Stanley Cup Finals. Gold medal. It’s a little different on the NHL ice compared to the Olympic ice, though. Everything happens a little faster. And it’s a fast game – every line of theirs skates well. And they’re big bodies and they were skating well.

We weathered the storm in the second and were able to come out on top. That power play goal (by Jamie Langenbrunner 7:09 into the third that made it 4-2) I thought was huge for us.

Are we noticing the abundance of the word "obviously"...which is a nice way of saying "what kind of stupid question is that?"

NHL.com -- What did you accomplish today?

Rafalski -- Obviously, we get an extra day off, which is great. My family just came in last night, so I’ll finally get to see them. But this was good for us. It was good to see our team come out and score some big goals and finish when we had to.

NHL.com -- How do you stand up to those gigantic Canadian forwards coming at you shift after shift?

Rafalski -- You do it every game in the NHL. Now, you just have four lines that do it.

Translation, just another day at the office, b*tch!

Comments (4)

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written by Osrt, February 22, 2010

Obviously = why the fuch can't you think of a better question? Hey, you scored; do you think it's important that you scored? Nah man, I just did that isht to do it; didn't know it would matter.

Particular match ups? Use of ice? How the fore/back checkers did? Anyone you feel instant chemistry with?

Jeebus...

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written by gfa5eat, February 22, 2010

Since you played the Brian Rafalski card I'll play the Sidney Crosby card.. As much as I hate to do it he's still Canadian..

NHL.com -- What do you learn from this game?

Crosby -- Well, you know it's a tough loss. We played hard, got some bad breaks early on there and that was maybe the difference. I thought we played pretty desperate and made a lot of things happen, but unfortunately we didn't get the breaks.

NHL.com -- Does this result boil down to Ryan Miller being the difference?

Crosby -- He made some big saves early on. I thought in the first we generated some good chances and they got a few breaks. It didn't seem like they were carrying the play other than getting a few chances and a few goals. Other than that I thought we controlled the puck down low and we probably did a lot better job than we did the last game in holding on to the puck. It's tough, but at this point in the tournament it doesn't get any easier.

NHL.com -- Late in the game, coach Babcock went back to Jarome Iginla on your line, and whether or not you were pushing for a goal, it did look like you guys got comfortable with him there. If that's the case, how big is that going forward?

Crosby -- I think any combinations are going to be successful, but like you said, we were desperate and looking for a goal there and everyone turned it up so we were able to generate some chances. I thought everyone as a whole played hard and tried to battle and held on to the puck.

NHL.com -- For a team that is searching for chemistry, can playing an extra game help?

Crosby -- It's not what we wanted coming in, but when you're looking at this part of the tournament, it's tough anyway. The extra game is the extra game. It's not what we wanted, but they're not easy from here on in anyway.

NHL.com -- Did the Americans go after you, match or exceed your intensity tonight?

Crosby -- I think they matched it, but we didn't expect them not to. You can still match a team's intensity but also carry the play. Their battle level was there, but so was ours. That's a hockey game. That's how the game is played. I felt like we had some really, really good chances throughout the whole game and unfortunately they didn't go in for us.

NHL.com -- Are you worried?

Crosby -- No, not at all. I mean, this is a short-term event and you look to get better every game, and guys would probably agree that this was one of our better games. We generated a lot, held on to the puck, and those bounces go their way -- but it's not always going to go that way.

A nation in disbelief, he'd better be confident. Also, he's touching base on what I said about the extra game.. It being not the worst situation in the world since we obviously need some more time to develop chemistry.

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written by creasemonkey, February 22, 2010

I can't find it now because I'm on my ipod, but the video of the speed skater getting upset at the stupid request of a reporter would fit here.

"Are you stupid? Hell no!"

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written by creasemonkey, February 23, 2010

Woohoo, found it (about 20 seconds in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4cG1j0qHww

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