NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

May 28, 2003

Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Steve Rucchin

STEVE RUCCHIN: Well, there is no question, the media isn't something we're used to as a team. But in terms of the game, you play in places like Detroit, Dallas and even Minnesota, loud arenas, good fans. So it's something we're used to, definitely. We've started every series on the road. It's pretty old hat to us now. In terms of the media, I think that's the most important thing. We can kind of put that behind us and not worry about it. You know, you don't see too much stuff like this down in Anaheim. It's definitely something different.

J.S. GIGUERE: You know, obviously, many of the guys were nervous, or anything like that, which is very understandable. Now we know what it's like. We know it's the same game. If we want to be successful, we've just got to play our game. We all know we didn't play our game last night. There is no reason to be nervous. There is no reason to not go all out, so I'm sure we'll be better the second game.

STEVE RUCCHIN: Well, yeah, Coach Babcock likes to use that term, that's for sure. I think the most important thing with that is just sticking around making it difficult for the other teams. There are so many good teams in the Western Conference getting to this point, and now with the New Jersey Devils you have no choice to go out there, and every shift is so important. Up to this point we have done a pretty good job hanging around, and obviously we have had a lot of one-goal games, and we have found a way to persevere. The last game obviously wasn't an indication of that and we intend to be a little more greasy next game.

J.S. GIGUERE: It's about being relentless, keep working, and we're not going to win being cute. We don't have enough time to be cute. We're the type of team that needs to work as hard as we can, 20 guys all together, stick with the game plan. That's the only way we're going to be successful if we are going to be successful.

STEVE RUCCHIN: It's definite a bit of both. This team works well together, and they're great on the blue line. At the same time, obviously, we didn't do a very good job. We had no -- we just didn't make it hard for them at all. It was a pretty easy game for their D last night. It's definitely disappointing coming into Game 1 having that kind of effort. It's obviously going to improve. They're not an easy team to play against. They play a great team system. That makes it tough. We'll find a way to get to Brodeur, get some more shots on them. We're going to have to. We intend to play a lot better the next game.

J.S. GIGUERE: I think that's silly. You change the whole game around if you do that. It would be like basketball making the hoops bigger. It's silly. You change the whole recordbook. I think the game is fine right now. Last night was a very entertaining game. It's a tight game. You don't want to see games that finish 8-7, 6-5. These are not fun games. It's a fun game to play in, it's a fun game to watch. I think it's ridiculous what people are saying; more scoring, more scoring. That's the way the game has always been since it always started. You have been hearing about need more score in 1950, you wanted more scoring. Every time you want more scoring. I think the game is fine the way it is.

J.S. GIGUERE: Well, for us to be successful we've got to do what we do. Yesterday we didn't do that. There is a lot of things we went through over the video this morning that we usually end up doing, so tomorrow there is no secret to our game. It's very simple, just follow the game plan, do it as hard as you can, and we'll see what's going to happen at the end. We're not going to worry about the final result. If we do what we can do, who knows what's going to happen. We'll give ourself a better chance to win.

STEVE RUCCHIN: Well, I think the good thing with this team is we have faced some adversity, not so much being behind, but in games. We've just got a really patient pretty level-headed bunch here, keeping things in check. There has been a few games, you look in Detroit in Game 4, they scored late against us. Dallas did the same thing. We've found a way to stick with our plan. We're not going to change anything. We're going to stick with what's got us here. Of course, a win would have been nice in Game 1. It didn't happen, and a lot of hockey is left. But we're definitely going to come out and play a lot better. Obviously, we were too passive and hesitate last night for some reason. We expected to be skating a lot harder and working. It's going to be tight the way it has been the whole playoffs. We seem to respond in those situations.

J.S. GIGUERE: Obviously, a great career. A winner. If you want to describe a winner, look at him. All he wanted to do was win the Stanley Cup. That's all he wanted to do in his career. He's been successful in it. As far as young goaltenders, especially in the Province of Quebec, everybody was looking up to him. He was the idol of a lot of kids, a lot of people back home, and I think that's one of the reasons why you see so many French goalies being in the league. We had somebody to look up to, a great example, and everybody wanted to play like him, and I think it's a very simple way to play, and you play it as good as you can, you have a chance to be successful. He was a great example for a lot of young guys.

STEVE RUCCHIN: Yeah, I think so. I know I'm frustrated with the way things went last night. They're not an easy team to play against. It's definitely what happened with the other teams against us. So, I guess now I know what it's like to be on the other foot. We weren't expecting it to be anything but. We know what this team can do and what they're capable of doing. We think we got a little dose of it last night. They haven't seen our best, so we're looking forward to tomorrow night and actually showing up and playing a lot better.

J.S. GIGUERE: We obviously needed to learn from yesterday's game, and I think we will. We've got to find a way to bounce back, and I think so far we have been able to do that. That's a sign of a good team. A team that can bounce back is a good team. You're able to forget about the last game, and your foundations are strong enough that you can rely on them to bounce back. I think next game we're going to follow the game plan, play what we have to do and we'll be able to a better team.

STEVE RUCCHIN: And the good thing too, there is not much secret involved here, we just have to go and play a lot harder and better. That's the bottom line. We weren't skating last night, we weren't working. That's fortunately a pretty easy thing to fix. That's basically all it's going to come down to tomorrow is for us to show up and play and work hard.