A few games after Peter Laviolette became the coach, I began to get more ice time, ... Pretty soon, I was skating 25-30 minutes a night. I was more than happy to keep doing that. It sure makes a difference when you have the coach's confidence.

It was really tough, not having the routine like we're so used to. Basically living a different life than we're used to.

I was in the same boat as everyone else. Just waiting and hoping that it was going to get done sooner than later,

Some of our defencemen here in the first couple of games have been just outstanding,

I had no problems with the old rules, but I think taking the red line away will hopefully add to scoring and make the game faster, ... As a defenseman, I look at scoring negatively, but it works both ways. I wonder about the expectations though. I played in Sweden, without a red line, and I don't think the game was faster. On the other hand, I wasn't playing with the best players in the world, as in the NHL. We'll adjust to the new icing rules and in a few years we won't remember what it was like before. There's always calls for new rules, but I just hope the game doesn't change too drastically.

Just knowing you have Khabibulan, that confidence in the great goaltending, you seem to just play better.