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exclusive interview

Head Coach Ron Wilson watches during the U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey orientation camp in Woodridge, Ill., Monday, Aug. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)Paul Beaty/The Associated Press

Nazem Kadri:

"I'm not exactly sure or convinced that he was 100-per-cent ready for this training camp like he maybe was last year, and had gotten a little full of himself. But he's a quick study and he's saying, 'Okay, they told me [being sent down]could happen. I didn't want it to happen to me but it did.' I think it's going to make him a better player going forward."

Criticizing players in the press:

"Today in sports, they ask you how do you think so-and-so played tonight? You say 'Well, he's played better. I know he could play better. There's a couple of things he's got to get better at.' And all of a sudden, you've called him out. That's not calling a guy out. Calling a guy out is saying that he's a lazy [expletive]dog. That's calling a guy out."

How Toronto can make players selfish:

"Players forget sometimes who they're playing for, that it's about the team and not necessarily individual performance. A lot of the questions [from the press]even when we're winning are about why someone hasn't scored a lot of goals, or why only two or three guys are scoring. … The hardest thing to manage here is to make sure that players are attentive to what we're talking about in the room, as to what is important to us to win. It's not about you scoring a lot of goals or your personal goals. It's all about the team. [Leafs GM]Brian [Burke]and I have worked so hard to change the culture of that locker room. It is about us winning and sacrificing for each other in a place that just shouts at you that individuality can get you a lot of benefits outside the rink, and in the rink for that matter."

What really makes him mad:

"I did resent it last year when I went to the Olympics and it was like I had to prove myself as a coach after coaching 17 years in the NHL. You have to prove that you can coach. Okay, they won a silver medal. Okay, he's just proved he can coach. Are you kidding me? After all this time? That's not what the Olympics were about. But some people wanted to make it that way. Are you going to the Olympics to prove that you can coach because you're incompetent? Those are the only times I really get upset."

What his four-year-old granddaughter Riley says to him when she sees him on television losing his cool behind the bench:

"Grampy, you were really mad at that man. You were yelling at him. You know you're not supposed to yell at people. That's not nice, Grampy."

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