Jason Spezza Speaks To The Media On Exit Interview Day
By Josh Clark
Dallas Stars forward Jason Spezza spoke to the media on Monday, April 13th during the Stars’ exit interview day. This was the last day that the media would be able to freely talk with the players and coaching staff before training camp in September.
Overall, Jason Spezza had positive things to say about his first year in Dallas and the future ahead.
Here is coverage of Jason Spezza’s entire interview, and get comfortable because it’s a lengthy one:
On what he takes away from his first year in Dallas:
It was a big change for me being in the same spot all the time. You take some things for granted and get comfortable the way you are. Coming here was a little more of an adaptation than I thought it was gonna be. It’s disappointing here because we all had higher expectations than where we finished and you hope that it’s a growing year for us. When you’re faced with a season like this where you miss the playoffs, it’s important to refocus as a group and realize how hard it’s going to be. Even when you’re a really talented team, two or three wins can shift the course of your season. How hard it is to get into the playoffs these days was unfortunately a hard lesson for us.
How the second half of his season compared to the first half:
I think I was just more comfortable in the second half. I played better and understood where I was on the team. You get to know the coach and you get to know the system. I think early on in the year there’s a lot of trying to figure out guys and figure out who you’re playing with. It’s easy to put five names together for a power play, but until you play together you don’t really know the little plays you have to make and who likes the puck where. It was definitely a learning process. I feel that as disappointing as the year was, we still accomplished a lot moving forward as a group. Unfortunately, we don’t get that playoff experience which is invaluable.
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What the message is for capitalizing on the positives for next season:
I think it’s realizing how good of a league it is. You have a great team but you really have to stay focused throughout the year. The cost of our season was the seven game and six game losing streaks. You have two big losing streaks like that and it’s really hard to recover from. I think we grasped down the stretch how we have to play as a team better. The way we played would probably prevent us from having those long losing streaks. Just playing a tighter game and not giving up as much. I think we all felt the squeeze there at one point in the season where things were getting away from us. From the goalie out we all felt we weren’t playing that well and that’s tough to rally from. So playing better defense will give us a better chance to get out of those slumps because they’re inevitable. You’re going to have times in the season where you have a slump and you’re going to have a down period and it’s just a matter of managing those. You get in the playoffs now and everybody has a chance. The eight seed can beat the one seed in both conferences. It’s such a tight league so we’re two or three wins away from having a chance like everyone else.
If the disappointment will last until October:
Yeah, I’m disappointed in how the year went. I’m still excited to be here for the next four years. My goal is to try and win here in the next four years. We have a great nucleus. We have a young core with some young guys and have some guys to build off of. You hope this is just a hard lesson for us and I don’t think there’s anybody that is satisfied with this season. Even Jamie Benn wins the scoring race and is disappointed in this year. That just shows the understanding of what type of team we have to be and how committed we have to be to win and that we have a chance to win if we play properly and things go our way.
If Kari Lehtonen is the goaltender to lead them in the playoffs:
Yeah. He’s shown over the course of his career that he’s a starting goaltender, he can play a lot of games and can get hot at the right time. He fell victim to what most of us did here. Things got a little out of control and we didn’t do a good enough job of stopping it. Those long losing streaks made us lose confidence as players and we were so far back that it was hard to make up ground. He did a good job. He went through a tough stretch as most of us did, but he’s a veteran guy and I’m sure he’ll be ready to go next year.
If this year will help him get a faster start next year:
Yeah. My comfort level now compared to September and October is totally different. I went from playing 700 games to feeling like I was a rookie again. You don’t know who to talk to, you don’t know what to say, and that’s stuff you really can’t predict and you don’t know how you’re going to feel. I know my role on the team now and I know what I have to do better. In the room, I know that being one of the veteran guys gives me a little more of an outspoken presence in tougher times. That’s stuff you just gain out of experience and being somewhere. But you don’t want to come in too hot either and you just want to find your way in the group. I feel much more comfortable now than I did in the first three or four months of the year.
If he echoes the “little changes” to personnel:
Yeah. We feel like we have a good group and that we know how to win. We worked hard and I don’t think we faulted in our effort through the year. I think we have great guys. But I think there’s going to be changes, there always is. That’s the management’s job and you don’t like to see them. You’d like them to have faith in us and we move forward together and take the next step together. A lot of it was a lesson. For the guys that made the playoffs last year, maybe they start to assume that they will be in every year. But when you’ve been around the league a few times, you realize how hard it is to get in every year. I think it’s a good group and we have a lot of potential here.
His offseason plans:
I’ll be going home to Toronto, but I’ll stick around here for a bit. I’ll be heading to the World Championships and that will give me another month of hockey and hopefully a chance to win a gold medal. Then I’ll head back to Toronto and then be here around August. I’ve got kids going to school so I’ll be back around when school starts and get ready to go.
On playing with Valeri Nichushkin:
I think it was good for him. I got to talk to him when he was going through rehab and how I felt that for him it was important to come back and play some games. He was a little reluctant to get back in the lineup because when you go through that you don’t want to reinjure it. But it’s great for us going into next year knowing that we can play together and knowing that he’s now played some games without any tweaks or twitches and no second guessing himself this summer. I think Val is an immensely talented guy and a good fit with me too. I think my experience can help him out just as much as my game and help him become an amazing player.
If his tools compliment Spezza’s style of play:
I think so, yeah. I’m going to slow it down and hang on to it and he’s a racehorse up and down the wing. I’ve always played well with guys who skate well and I think that it’s good chemistry. He played left wing too the last few games and that’s different for him but I think he understands if he’s on the left wing he’ll get the puck more so it’s a give and take for him. Definitely some things to look forward to with us playing together.
If he talked with anyone with experience about his transition:
Daniel Alfredsson is the guy that did his whole career in Ottawa. I talked to him, but it doesn’t matter what anyone tells you. Somebody could go through the exact same scenario and I could tell them step-by-step what went wrong and what went right. But until you go through it yourself, you’re not going to know how it is and how you feel and the day to day of getting used to being on a new team.
Talking with Horcoff about the change:
I talked to Horc even before the season started because he did the same thing. He was actually really helpful in getting my family set up too because they did the move in a similar situation. But again, everyone’s situation is unique. It’s going to be nice to have a year where we come here and know our routine. It’s all stuff that is going to be second nature, when this year it is all about you don’t know where to get groceries, you don’t know where to eat. It’s a big change.
On if comfort in a new environment translates to better play:
I think over the years in Ottawa I did a good job of welcoming guys. But I think after going through it myself, I would have even done more to make them more comfortable, and not just off the ice. Learning where to pass the puck to guys because everyone likes things different on the ice. Until you figure all of that stuff out with everybody, you find yourself making mistakes.
If he is excited about the Dallas Cowboys next season:
Well this year I think they passed everyone’s expectations. So I’m sure they’re excited too.
That does it for our extensive coverage of the Dallas Stars’ exit interview day! Make sure to check back through the site for any interviews you might have missed!
Next: Kari Lehtonen Speaks To The Media On Exit Interview Day
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