Cote Carnival Interviews – Part 1 of 4

I put the Dancing Shawny and Riley Cote interviews in the Cote Carnival article because those had to do with the Cote Carnival. Over the course of the week, I’ll be adding the interviews that are about the Flyers.

This was my 3rd interview of the day, but I thought it should get precident because of who it was with. Head Coach John Stevens surpised everyone by coming out and spending time with the fans for this worthy cause. Once he was done talking with the Flyers TV crew…

He gave me a quick interview…

What kind of impact do you think guys like Ray Emery and Chris Pronger are going to have on the Flyers this year?

Well, they’re going to have a very positive impact. Pronger is one of the world-class players in the league and he brings all kind of attributes on and off the ice. There is no question that he’s going to have an impact in his play and leadership in the locker room. I think Ray is really anxious for a second chance here. He’s a motivated guy, he’s not very old and he’s got a lot of talent so I think he’s going to be a great fit here.

How about the other guys like Ian Laperierre?

I think Ian’s gonna be great. Everyone knows his M.O. as a rugged guy but I think Homer’s done a great job to get competitive people here I think he’s a very competitive guy and he’s gonna do whatever he can to help this team win. He’s another veteran guy and we lost some veteran guys along the way. Knuble moved on and Kapanen a year ago, Hatcher a year ago, so you add a veteran guy like him that’s as competitive as he is I think he’s a great fit for our team.

Were you happy to see Brian Boucher come back?

Yeah, I’ve kept in touch with Boosh, I think Boosh has went full circle where he was a starter and then he didn’t play a whole lot for a couple years, went back to the American League and then he got himself established again in the National Hockey League. He’s still not a very old guy and he’s familiar with the organization. He showed in San Jose he’s capable of coming in and playing very well when we need it. So I think our goaltending is in great shape with both of those guys.

How have you been spending your off-season?

I spend most of the time here, I go home for a week, but I spent a majority of the summer down at the beach in Sea Isle and the rest of the time here. Now we’re back here getting ready and my kids play hockey, obviously our hockey is starting up. I’ve been spending it in the area, but most of it down at the beach.

Looking forward to training camp?

I am. You get anxious this time of year, everybody’s chomping at the bit to get going. We like the changes and we’re looking forward to getting the group together and getting going.

I kinda have to ask this. Do you have any opinion on the Pronger contract investigation?

You know what, I don’t. He’s a player on our team and obviously they approved the contract. *pauses* He’s 34 years old and he’s got lots of years left in him. I just know that he’s a player on our team that I can count on going in and I’ll leave the rest of that stuff up to everybody else.

Thanks again to Coach Stevens for taking a couple minutes to answer my questions and thanks to everyone for reading. 🙂

See you Wednesday for Part 2!