from Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch,

Q: You called last season "a kick in the teeth." Now that you have had time to reflect, do you have a better understanding of what went wrong?

A: I think the biggest disappointing thing, and I think the players in talking to them will all agree, is that it was primarily the veteran players that didn’t have a good year, not all of them, but some of them. And that was disappointing. I don’t think I have to say that to them because they know it. For whatever reason it was just strange and at all at once. Just strange.

Q: Then why did you say earlier that last season was on you?

A: Because I am in charge. I’m in charge and winning is my department. I’ve talked to the players, I’ve talked to the coaches, I’ve talked to the general manager and we are all on the same page here right now. But we are not going to panic, even though it was real … it was hard. I think a lot of players here understand it and they don’t want to go through that again. What’s even more astonishing is everyone I talked to in the hockey world, including at the draft, says, “I can’t believe that happened to you guys."

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