NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

May 26, 2003

Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Paul Kariya

J.S. GIGUERE: Well, you know, this is -- you don't get good overnight. You know you need to work at it. You need to give time to develop yourself, and, you know, I have been playing since I was five years old, and every day it's been for me getting better, and I find since I have been to Anaheim, I have been working really well on my game, not just working hard, but working at my game and making my game better, and so now I feel like I have a good foundation. I feel like I can rely on something. Whenever I have a bad day, I know I can bounce back because I feel strong. I feel like my foundation is very sold. It's been a lot of work, but -- and, like I say, it's not overnight.

J.S. GIGUERE: I try to approach a practice the same way I would approach the game. I try to make one save at a time. This is what I have done all week, try to make one save at a time, try to battle as hard as you would in the game. That's the only way you can get ready for that. Tomorrow's first period is going to be a key. We might be a little bit rusty. I think we need to push through that. Once again, it will be through that first period, we should be up and running. I thought we had great practices this week. They were very intense and everybody should be ready to go in that dressing room.

PAUL KARIYA: Well, we're a better team. You know, this is the most talent that we have had in our club since Day 1. We have three lines that can score offensively. Everybody contributes defensively and, obviously, we have been getting some unbelievable goaltending from Jiggy. We feel confident going into every game, if we play our system, we can win.

PAUL KARIYA: Well, I think he just uses it in terms of the style of play to be hard on the puck, to play physically, to do all the little things out there, not just play well offensively. That's something that we all strive for today, especially the forwards. We want to help our defense and help Jiggy keep the puck out of the net. Especially at playoff time, it's very important to do everything out there and not just be one-dimensional.

PAUL KARIYA: Anytime you start as an expansion team, obviously, you have a big hill to climb. Over the years we drafted well, and we made some good trades, and, you know, we basically started the franchise from nothing. Now, if you look at it, you know, we have the depth that a lot of teams had going into it, and I think it's -- we can go a lot higher than this. We can continue to get better and continue to produce younger players that are going to help us down the road.

PAUL KARIYA: We had a really great week of practice. No matter how well you practice, you can't simulate a game situation. We actually we want through a scrimmage. I think that will help us get off to a good start tomorrow. We just have to have a good warmup, get our legs underneath us right away, and establish our game plan.

PAUL KARIYA: Well, there is always going to be a feeling-out process between two teams, whether you played each other a lot, or, like our situation here, only twice this year, but, you know, I think that usually takes a period or two, and then the game starts and the series starts. I don't anticipate it being a long feeling-out process. I think you go through a period, see what the other team's doing and establish your game plan.

PAUL KARIYA: No, I'm not surprised. At the end of last season, if you look at our team, we were extremely good defensively, our penalty-kill was in the top ten in the league. What we lacked was a powerplay and offensive players. Going into the season Brian Murray picked up Adam Oates, Petr Sykora Fredrik Olausson right from the start, that makes a pretty good powerplay. I felt going into the season, as long as we continued on to play well defensively, we would start turning those one-goal losses into one-goal wins.

PAUL KARIYA: He fit in right away. He's a great person. All the guys love having him around. He's fantastic in the locker room and great to hang out with. It took him probably a month or so to get used to the travel on the West Coast and to get used to our style of play. Once he adjusted, down the stretch, he was just incredible for our hockey club and he's been great in the playoffs.

J.S. GIGUERE: Well, you know, obviously, when I go to a game, we have a simple game plan for the goalie, and we try to keep everything simple, try to make the first save all the time, and try to cut the mistakes down, and this is just part of my foundation, you know, I've got a separate game plan from all the guys, and this is my game plan. If you do that, you should give yourself a chance to win. That's all we're asking for.

J.S. GIGUERE: Obviously, as a team, we have a game plan, but as the goalie is concerned, we have a separate game plan than everybody else that ties into that.

J.S. GIGUERE: I don't read the paper right now. I don't know what's going on with Patrick. Obviously, being compared to him, it makes me feel good, but at the same time, there is only one Patrick Roy. He was the best I've ever played. I don't try to match him or anything like that. I try to be myself, try to be as good as I can be. I don't know where that's going to bring me, but that's what I want to be.

PAUL KARIYA: There is a lot of truth in that. If you have great goaltending, I think you can win. He's been a rock for us, and every game he's given us a chance to win. There has been games that he's won by himself. Also, our team has played extremely well defensively. Everyone has dedicated themselves to the system to the way that Mike wants us to play. We've got a lot of scoring from a lot of different sources. When you have that kind of depth up-front, that gives you a chance to win.

PAUL KARIYA: It's just been terrific. Adam was someone I looked up to growing up, especially when I was at Maine, I got a chance to see him a lot. I've always admired the way he played the game. I think he's the most unselfish player to ever play. He's got great hands around the neck. It's been awesome. All the guys love having him around. He's great with the younger guys, helping them become better players. He's definitely helped our team off the ice with his contributions there.

J.S. GIGUERE: Well, I thought Calgary did a great move to trade me. They needed a goalie who was ready to play in the NHL, and I wasn't ready. You know, I felt like they gave me a good chance to play, except every time they gave me a chance to play, I wasn't ready to step up and make that. It's a big step, and you need to be mentally and physically ready, and, you know, I thought that once I was in Anaheim I got to work on my game in the minors, and once I got that final chance to make it, I was ready to step in, I was very confident in myself. You know, as far as a young goaltender, you need to have that confidence if you want to be successful in the NHL.

PAUL KARIYA: Well, even low-scoring games can be exciting, if you have seen some of the saves this guy's made in the playoffs, that makes for good television. I think, yes, there is great defensive teams, the Devils have been doing it for a long time, but there is also two great skating teams, and I think you're going to see a great participation at the game. I think there will be some offensive chances, and, like I said earlier, a great save or great goals is the same. It's the Stanley Cup Finals and I'm sure everyone will be tuning in.

J.S. GIGUERE: He's very passionate. He loves the game. He loves to get new ideas. He loves to try something new and all that, and then, you know, the style he teaches is very, very simple. Any goalie can do it, you know. Obviously, you need to work at it. You need to have some commitment of your own, but if you want to work with him, he'll be great. He'll just make your game very simple, very easy to do, and you're going to go into games very confident, so, you know, that's just it. It's nothing very hard. You know, it's very, I guess, very simple.

PAUL KARIYA: You know, I try to stay away from watching the news or reading the paper and all that. I mean, personal statistics don't matter in the playoffs. It's all about team effort and team wins. I couldn't care less if we win the game 8-7 or 1-0, it's all about winning one game at a time. It's the first team that gets to four. We don't care how we win it. We just want to win it. I don't care about my stats. It has nothing to do with the game. It's all about the team.

PAUL KARIYA: Well, it's been really important to get off to a good start in all the series, and we have started on the road, obviously, and you know, we played well on the road all year long, and we feel confident if we execute our game plan that we have an opportunity to win each and every game. Getting off to a first win obviously helps throughout the series.

PAUL KARIYA: Well, in terms of my play, I have to keep doing the same thing, play well at both games, generate offensive chances. We know in the playoffs at times, you know, the defensive player can stifle an offensive play, but you have to -- you can't take any risks. You have to play within the system that the coach has given you and you have to try to create through that. In terms of having Jiggy do so well, it's fantastic, and obviously Jiggy has got a lot of credit throughout the playoffs, but a lot of guys like Steve Thomas and Rob Niedermayer, obviously Oates, has been awesome, and everybody has picked up, and that's what you have to do to have success as a team. Everybody has to contribute.

J.S. GIGUERE: Well, you know, they have a lot of experience. They have been there before. Then what they have to do to win, and, you know, they play very well defensively. Saying that, I still haven't gone through the line-up or anything like that. I'll know more tomorrow, so who knows.

PAUL KARIYA: Well, I think you have to start with their goaltender, too, Marty Brodeur, just like Jiggy can flat-out win games for them. He's going to be very good. I love their defense. They're going to be very tough to play against. They close the gap, take away time and space from offensive players. It's very tough to score against them and up-front, Langenbrunner and Friesen had unbelievable playoffs. They've got a lot of players doing well up-front like us.