8:10 PM Fri, Oct 02, 2009 | Permalink
Josh Harvey
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New Stars head coach Mark Crawford spoke with the media yesterday after practice. Here is what he had to say:
How ready are you guys for your first game?
"Well I think our team is really ramping up to play. I thought we had a great night in Cedar Park last night. We are getting ourselves more familiar and more prepared. I like the pace and I like the enthusiasm."
Just talk about the guy's work ethic a bit.
"Their work ethic has been very good. I think they have been very mindful and are trying to understand the nuances of how we have them playing. They are really comfortable with what we are doing, and now things are happening instinctively. It is what you want in practices, you want them to get as many reps as possible, and you want them to see what they will see in game situations so they can react instinctively. I thought today was a terrific practice. From the standpoint of the pace and effort that the guys put into practice, I couldn't be any happier."
You talk about the team ramping up and getting ready for Saturday, but in your mind will they be completely up to what you expect Saturday?
"Oh yeah, I will say it again. In the first game of the season, my expectation is that we will be better in the 20th game of the season. We should be better the 40th game of the season, and we should continue to improve and get better as we go throughout the league. There are going to be bumps along the way, we have to try to limit them as much as we can. We recognize there will be a lot of emotion in our building for the home opener. It's a great opportunity for us to get off on the right foot and to play the game the way it should be played. The Stars for a long time have been a tough team to play in Dallas and we want to have those trademarks with this team."
What did you see from Jere Lehtinen today?
"Well it was good to just see him out there today. He has been working extremely hard. Today was the first day that he actually skated with his teammates. We are at the point with Jere right now that it's about how he feels to dictate what he is doing out there. "
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