Pre-game with Timonen & Leino

"First game didn't go our way, but it's a long series and it's just beginning. Next game is big for us", Timonen says.

"Hopefully this will be my year, because I don't have many years left in my career. It would amazing if we could repeat this run two years in a row."

"I've gotten Olympic and World Championship silver so many times that I've been thinking why things won't go the other way. I've gone through those losses many times."

"We need to play tighter and smarter", Leino says. "We can't give them so many chances and we need to forecheck harder."

"We don't want to play that kind of a game", Leino refers to Game 1. "It's tough to stay mentally ready when there are goals scored in both ends all the time."

Leino is still hoping for more ice time, especially on the powerplay.

"I feel like the stick is hot and I'm playing well, so I would hope for more ice time. Every time I go on the ice I feel like I'm playing my first shift. That's not a good thing in the long run."

"I would be happy to play on the powerplay. I looked at the stats and saw that I'm right up there near the top in powerplay assists in the league and I haven't even played all the games. I feel like I could help the team more."

Ufa GM downplays Thoresen talk

The Salavat Yulaev Ufa GM Oleg Gross downplays the Patrick Thoresen to Philadelphia talks.

"I don't know anything about this. I don't read Norwegian newspapers", he says.

"I don't think the Flyers will be signing anyone right now when they are playing in the Stanley Cup finals."

Gross expects Thoresen to return to Ufa for next season.

"Yes, of course. He has a valid contract with us."

Gross says Thoresen has never implied to him that he would like to leave Ufa.

"If he wanted to leave, he probably would have said or wrote something to me. But nothing like that has happened. In general, I would not pay much attention to what Patrick says in interviews with Norwegians."

If the Flyers did sign Thoresen, Gross isn't sure if Ufa would demand compensation.

"It's too early to say. If they are interested in Thoresen, then we'll see."

Quotes from today's Sovietsky Sport

Bartulis surprised by goal fest

Oskars Bartulis thinks the Flyers could have done with a little more rest before the finals.

"I don't think we had a lot of time to rest before this game. We spent that time watching video of how the Hawks play."

"Either team could have won the first game. Unfortunately we lost. We must prepare for the next game."

"Both teams started the game carefully, but then the goals started coming. 11 goals in a final is interesting. Usually there are that many goals in the whole series. That was a surprise for me."

The Flyers pay special attention to special teams in practices.

"We mainly work with powerplay and penaltykill in practices. As the first game showed, they worked for the most part and that's important in the playoffs."

"We played the game more in their zone, but both teams failed to play good defense. We need to watch some video and make conclusions."

Wild West

"It was wild west", Ville Leino sums up Game 1. "There were bullets flying and a lot of goals. It was a freaky game, but we've put it behind us now."

"Hopefully it won't be like this. We need to be a little more careful and smarter. There can't be that many goals. They will score if we give them chances."

Leino is happy to be in a special position, Stanley Cup finals two years in a row.

"I'm in a great position. Two years in this league and two times in the finals. That's all great, but I haven't won anything yet. If you don't win, no one is going to remember that."

Leino says the Flyers have confidence in scoring goals, no matter what goalie they face.

"We've played well against any goalie in the league. We know how to score goals on them. It's too bad five goals wasn't enough, even if we didn't take any penalties."

Backlund in a bitter circus

Johan Backlund was bumped out of the lineup for the Stanley Cup finals. It didn't feel that great.

"Yeah, it was a little bitter", Backlund admits.

Backlund thinks the whole goalie carousel has become "a bit comical."

"It's a bit comical. Like we saw today, too. [Boucher] gets to play as soon as he's back."

Backlund doesn't expect to get to play in the finals.

"If either Leighton or Boucher gets hurt, then I might get to play. Of course it would be a dream to play. But yeah. A lot can still happen."

Even if there doesn't seem to be much ice time planned for him and just staying in the lineup isn't easy, he likes to be around.

"It's cool to just be around for the finals. It's amazing to be here. This is like a circus here. It's cool to experience this."

Quotes from HE.

Post game with Timonen, Leino & Niemi

Kimmo Timonen was not happy with the Flyers defense after Game 1.

"Defense has been our best part in these playoffs. We've gotten many shutouts. Today we let in six goals and that's not our style to play. We played this into their hands."

"We went up and down and didn't defend well. If we can't play better, this will be a quick and short series."

"We didn't play our game defensively. You can't give them six even strength goals at this level. We have to be remarkably better."

"Maybe the team was nervous or something. If we had known the answer, we would've corrected it right away."

Timonen didn't blame goalie Michael Leighton.

"Michael didn't have his best day, but we didn't help him much either. You can't blame the goalie because the goals came from close distance and from good scoring chances."

Timonen knows what to do in the future.

"Next game we have to play harder in defense and stay out of the box. The Hawks are an offensive team that will turn the puck over. And that's good for us."

"It's been quite the adventure to come this far, but I'm sure everyone has the energy to play the rest of the games. It's our goal to bring the Cup to Philadelphia, but we have to play better - especially on defense."

"I'm 35 already, so this might be my last chance to win. I put my heart and soul on the line and so do many others. I can't get here every year. I have to be realistic, because I have 2-3 years left."

Ville Leino wants the Flyers to play smarter.

"If we play smarter next game, we have a chance to win. We can't give them this many scoring chances. The Hawks have good players and goal scorers. We can't just give them that amount of chances."

Surprisingly, he also sees that the Flyers weren't ready for the game - a Stanley Cup final.

"We were not ready for this game."

"If you score five goals and don't take any penalties, it should result in a win. A few things went wrong and the goalies didn't have their best day either."

Leino doesn't play on the powerplay despite his success on even strength, and hopes to see a change in that.

"I'd be very interested in playing on the powerplay. Especially now when I'm on my game, the pucks go in and the stick is hot. Hopefully next game I'd get to play on the powerplay."

The Blackhawks goaltender Antti Niemi says it was a weird game.

"It was very important to win the first game at home. It would have been very difficult going to Game 2 if we had lost this one. It was a weird game, but we were able to win it."

Niemi admits he wasn't perfect.

"It was hard after their fourth goal. I went to stop the puck behind the goal and I couldn't get back in position when the shot came. I should have had that one."

"In the second intermission I thought that I can't let in any soft goals in the third period. I tried to stop being nervous and focus on doing my best."

Red Wings scout happy for Leino

Ari Vuori, the Detroit Red Wings scout who "found" Ville Leino, is happy for Leino's success. Despite the fact it's not happening in Detroit.

"Of course I'm happy that the guy has shown so many doubters that he's an NHL caliber player. Everyone in the Red Wings organization liked him. Of course there were some problems early in the season, the coach thought Ville didn't score enough points and so on, but we would have liked to keep him in Detroit."

Vuori says the reason to trade Leino was the problem with the team's salary cap, not Leino's performance.

"We got players back from injuries and had to lose one to stay under the cap. That was the reason Ville got traded."

Backlund keeps himself ready

"It's fantastic just to be here at this point, but I'm also keeping myself ready [to play], just in case. This team has had so much injury problems with goalies, you have to be ready to jump in at any given moment."

"I'm keeping myself ready like I was going to start every game. That's how important these games are."

The goalie carousel is taking it's toll on other players on the team as well.

"Sometimes the guys have barely known the goalie's name."

Backlund says he's not feeling nervous.

"This whole playoff run has been such a fantastic journey I'm just glad I've been a part of it. It's not a given that you get to experience things that are this special."

Quotes from AB.

Patrick Thoresen coming back?

"I have a good feeling that things will work out with the Flyers within a few days", Thoresen says. One way or the other. "I have told them that I would like a quick answer to whether they want me or not."

The Flyers still hold Thoresen's player rights in the NHL.

"We can not call around to other NHL teams before we get a response from the Flyers. I feel that there is little pressure now."

Thoresen is serious about returning to the NHL and doesn't lack confidence. He will also only accept a one-way contract.

"I'm ready to take a big pay cut to play in the NHL. At the same time I know I can score 20-25 goals in the NHL. If that happens, I'm going to earn the lost money and play in the NHL for many years. I have faith in myself and I know what kind of potential I have."

The 26-year-old admits that the NHL was "fucking tough mentally" last time he played there. But now he believes his time in Russia has made him tougher and ready for another shot in the NHL.

Quotes from Verdens Gang.

Kapanen leaves the game sad, broken, but excited

Sami Kapanen tells more about his decision to retire, describes his feelings and looks back on his career.

"I have mixed feelings. I had made the decision already earlier and I have processed it in my mind, but to say it in public, I get mixed feelings. I feel sad, but at the same time I'm excited and looking forward to my new job."

"I started thinking about retiring late last year, when I was having trouble with my back. I started getting the feeling that maybe this is that final year. It also motivated me to keep working and get my back in order."

"Early this year I made the final decision, I just didn't want to make it public yet. It didn't feel so sad then as it does now."

"When you go easier on yourself, you really feel how broken your body is. That also helped me get the feeling that this was the right decision."

Highlights of his long career?

"Right in the beginning of my career, getting to the finals with Kalpa in 1991 was unique to me. All the years on the national team, too; there's been success and of course the World Championship gold being the best. I also got to play in the Stanley Cup finals, those were unique games."

"The years in Philadelphia were very colorful and they gave me a lot. I really enjoyed playing there. And these last two years in Kuopio kind of crown it all. The games have gone well and it's been great to see the people in Kuopio find hockey again."

The biggest disappointments are the losses in the finals; against Detroit with the Hurricanes and the World Championship losses with Finland.

"Unfortunately it's very rare that you get to retire at the top and as a champion. I should've retired already in 1995", he jokes, referring to the World Championship gold with Finland.

He says it was clear that he would continue working in hockey after finishing his playing career.

"I'm very excited about the future."

Kempe's agent confirms talks with Flyers

"Right now we are negotiating with the Flyers."

That's about as much as Mario Kempe's tight-lipped agent admits at this point. He asks for patience and doesn't give any time tables for the negotiations.

He has also adviced Kempe to keep it down with the media until everything will be clear.

In the case no deal with the Flyers gets done, he insists Kempe's current team Rögle is still a viable option, despite the team getting relegated to Allsvenskan at the end of the season.

"Rögle is still an option, absolutely. Mario is very happy that Rögle is still interested in keeping him. He wants to play for an Elitserien team, but only in his own terms. If he doesn't find the terms he likes, staying in Rögle is the better option."

Sami Kapanen retires

Ex-Flyer Sami Kapanen, 36, officially announced his retirement today. He will start as GM of Kuopio Kalpa in the SM-Liiga on June 1.

"It's a big decision to retire and I had to do it at some point. Now the time felt right to start with a new challenge in hockey. I have invested enough in this club to have the motivation to keep developing it also in the future."

Kapanen finished his last season in pro hockey playing 49 games for Kalpa, adding 45 points. He totalled 89 points in 104 games for Kalpa in two seasons after leaving the Philadelphia Flyers in 2008.

Current Flyers Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell have also invested in Kalpa.

Mario Kempe about to sign with Flyers

"Hopefully I can sign the contract next week", Kempe says.

It's just a matter of time.

"We're basically waiting for the Flyers. They're still playing and they've done pretty decent", Kempe says with a laugh.

"But I'm willing to go over and hopefully I can sign the contract next week."

Despite the Flyers being his first option, Kempe hasn't shut any doors in Sweden either.

"I keep talking with a few teams here. But not much has happened in that front lately since I've told everyone that my first option is to go to North America."

Right now Kempe is training both by himself and with his hometown minor league team in Kramfors.

Timonen gives credit to Montréal

"I think it was good for us to lose that one game. We didn't play well and it was about time for us to wake up."

"The next day after that Laviolette was pretty mad at us."

Timonen says the difference in physicality between the first two games and the first game in Montréal was huge.

"In the first games I felt like even I was a big guy. Then in the third game I received like twenty hits."

There's no place like Montréal if you ask Timonen.

"The way they build a game there with all those pre-game shows, they do it better than any other team in the league. The crowd is incredible and makes the home team battle real hard for at least the first period."

Leino Reborn

Ville Leino takes a look back on his rollercoaster season - "chances" and "confidence" being the key words.

"It definitely wasn't planned like this", he starts with a laugh, referring to the way he got the chance to play in the playoffs. It took injuries to key players Jeff Carter and Simon Gagné for Leino to get his chance in the top six role for the Flyers.

"It's been a tough season. My confidence was very low at times. It felt like I didn't know how to play hockey at all."

"When your confidence is low and the coach doesn't trust you, it's hard to play. Each mistake gets noticed and you start to be afraid of making those mistakes."

It didn't just magically change for the better after the trade from Detroit to Philadelphia.

"It's difficult to play when you have the feeling that each shift is crucial."

Injuries put him into the lineup, but getting a chance doesn't guarantee success yet.

There are a few reasons for Leino's success.

One is simply that Leino has always stepped up in the playoffs, be it the SM-Liiga, AHL or NHL. But why is that?

"I've always liked playing in the playoffs."

Leino also finds certain differences between regular season games and playoff games.

"Everyone is a little more cautious [in the playoffs]. If you're patient and manage to win one puck battle, it almost always results in a good scoring chance in the playoffs."

"It's not always like that in the regular season. But on the other hand I've never gotten a similar chance to play in the regular season than I have in the playoffs."

Now Leino has found his long lost confidence and the trust from his coach. The biggest reasons for his success.

"I enjoy playing. Even if I've made mistakes on the ice, everything is easier when I get a new chance. When the coach has kept putting me back on the ice, I've played well and gotten my confidence back."

Quotes from this week's issue of Veikkaaja.