Julien: “We don't have enough talent”

Claude Julien was desperately looking to win sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins following yesterday's press conference. There's a huge Damocles Sword ready to fall on his head and every loss closes the gap between Julien and the sword.

That goes without saying, but a 5-1 defeat was far from what he hoped to achieve this afternoon. And with Tuukka Rask out of the equation shortly before the end of the second period, Julien could almost feel the blade brush against his skin.

"This is a team that needs all 20 guys going to win. We don't have enough talent to think we can get away with a mediocre game" Said Julien. "It's OK to have talent but you've got to compete. For others, you've got to get involve, you've got to be willing to do the things that are not fun to do but help your hockey club. It's too bad cause, players that we expect a lot [out of them] every night, are certainly battling every night, but we need more now."

When he faced the media saturday, Julien said he would "accept his firing if the blame for the team’s struggles was at his feet." But he is certainly throwing a part of the blame at general manager Don Sweeney's feet as he noted his team lack of talent.