NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WILD v MIGHTY DUCKS

May 16, 2003

Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Adam Oates

ADAM OATES: It's obviously a great feeling, not something at the beginning of the year that I thought we would be here, but it's been awhile, and, obviously a very special feeling.

ADAM OATES: What have you guys come up with so far?

ADAM OATES: I'm not that bright. Somebody asked us when we started believing. It was a process all year long. I would say in Games 1 and 2 in Detroit, Giguere set the tone we have been riding ever since. He was fantastic. We obviously wouldn't be here without him. We believe in him. He's carried us this far.

ADAM OATES: The first goal we dumped it in the powerplay and it went off his skate and came right to me and I batted in it, and the second goal was a good goal where we won the draw, battled it a little bit, they fought for it. I'm trying to distract the defensemen in front and it came right to me off the skate and banged it home again.

J.S. GIGUERE: Well, that was a great birthday present. Obviously, it's something I have been dreaming of since I'm a kid just to be part of this. It was very exceptional. It's just beginning. Every game is going to be exciting, and after every game, we're all going to be a better player, a better team. It's going to be a lot of fun.

ADAM OATES: It's been similar. I would say nobody expected that team to go where they went, and very similar to Giguere, Ollie (Kolzig) played very good in the playoffs. I hope we'll play a lot better than we did in that final.

J.S. GIGUERE: Physically, I feel pretty good. We've got a lot of rest in between the series. Even before the first series, we got five or six days. Rest is a weapon, and I think, you know, we can use it. Obviously, the Wild probably could have used a little bit more rest between the two series. Emotionally, you know, it's a tough question. I mean, I feel like I'm getting better. I feel like I'm improving after every game. Even after we lost, I thought I was a better goalie after that. It's all a learning experience, and I'm trying to learn as much as possible from every situation. I thought, you know, they were trying to maybe get under my skin in the last two games, but my game is to be disciplined. I thought I did a good job doing this.

J.S. GIGUERE: As a goalie, I always know how much time left there is. It's important to know where you're at and where you're standing. My job is always the same from the first minute to the last minute, and that is to make one save at a time. I knew they were going to come out really hard at us in the 3rd and try to do whatever it takes to score some goals. I thought that was one of our best periods ever. We kept them from having any momentum. I got one shot maybe in the last five minutes. I can't ask for much more.

J.S. GIGUERE: My focus was on the next shot. I knew at some point there was going to be a goal somewhere somehow. Nobody is invincible. It was kind of a distraction in the last few days. Everybody was talking to me about it. It's kind of got away a little bit from what we're doing. I think the team should get much more credit. The record we set was as a team. It's not mine as an individual. It's a team setting that record. It's the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. That's what counts. It has nothing to do with me; it has everything to do with all the guys playing on the ice.

ADAM OATES: I think he's being a little bit humble. To have your name with a record is pretty fantastic.

J.S. GIGUERE: Definitely, the more it goes, obviously, the harder the games are to win. The better we get, too. The more intense we get, the more aggressive we get. Everybody is really working really hard, and we're all on the same page. It seems from the first game in Detroit to now we're a much better team. It's awesome to see. It's awesome to be having that feeling when you're on the ice that you have a good chance to win every night.

ADAM OATES: That's something I would have to decide afterwards. Yeah, I think when you get to a certain age, every year you kind of wonder that. You always feel like you can play more, but you don't get that chance every year. You're always wondering. It's in the back of your mind for sure.

ADAM OATES: That was a long time ago. At that point, that was the highlight of my hockey career, winning that championship. It was the best feeling I've ever had; and the second best feeling I had was going to the Finals with Washington. That was the greatest feeling. Even though we lost, it was still the highlight of my hockey career, and we've got a chance to do that again right now.

J.S. GIGUERE: Obviously, it was a scramble in front of it. For me, I just wanted to be involved with the play. I kept reminding myself just be on top of your crease, don't let them get deep in your net. They had a good chance and I went down and covered the bottom of the net. It hit me that it was kind of blurry. It seems there was five pucks on the ice. I could hear the fans chanting the last seconds and counting down with them hoping that it's going to -- just waiting for that horn to go off.

J.S. GIGUERE: It's always exciting to win a series. Obviously we can enjoy it and we'll enjoy it until midnight, and tomorrow is a new day and we need to rest and prepare for the new series, and, obviously, the next game will be the biggest game of the year.

J.S. GIGUERE: We've got to keep our focus at the right place. Yes, it's nice to win the Stanley Cup Final but there is still more games to be played, more wins to be getting. At the end it would be very sweet to win Game 1.

ADAM OATES: I think both teams are really good. We have a lot of respect for each one. We will have some days to prepare for them. I think we match up well and we're going to get some rest and we obviously have some tough practices ahead of us coming up. We have a lot of respect for their teams. They're obviously playing great hockey to be in the position they are, and we'll deal with them when we can.

J.S. GIGUERE: Same thing.