NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RANGERS v FLYERS

May 23, 1997

Wayne Gretzky

Q. There has been so much talk about Lindros kind of "taking over" at his age, one of the best players in the League. (inaudible)

WAYNE GRETZKY: Well, quite honestly, I don't think he is going to worry about that stuff right now. It was a big goal at a big time. Pretty good team-guy. I think he is more concerned about his hockey team right now. It was a big goal at a big time and he made a nice play.

WAYNE GRETZKY: He played well. I thought, the second period we had good chances back-to-back and missed some key plays, but our guy played just as well. Richter was outstanding tonight. So, goaltending today was pretty much a solid.

WAYNE GRETZKY: We realize the situation we are in. And we put ourselves in a tough hole. But, you know, it is really a tremendous group of guys that, you know, we aren't making excuses when we lose. We don't point fingers when we get beat. We work hard and we played hard and the last two games were disappointing that we lost. I don't think at any time in any of the two games did anyone quit. We just kept playing hard and we are not going to quit now. We will play hard on Sunday. Hopefully we can be on top by one goal. But, we are not going to quit. We are going to play hockey.

WAYNE GRETZKY: I didn't really see it. It hindered me for the second and third, but that is a part of hockey. I really couldn't do a whole lot in the second and third. That is part of the game. He got me pretty good. You know, it just kind of hit my arm and it knocked the wind out of me and that is what kind of dazed me at first. But, once I got my wind back, --

WAYNE GRETZKY: Not right now.

WAYNE GRETZKY: No. Every loss is tough. But, this was a tough loss because we battled back and we got ourselves back in the game. We tied it up late in the game. Unfortunately, we got shorthanded and it cost us.

WAYNE GRETZKY: We play hard. We don't make excuses. We are not looking for, you know, crutches. We got beat. We got to regroup and play better Sunday.

WAYNE GRETZKY: A loss is a loss. When you get beat by one goal at the end or 6 - Colorado is down 3-1. They got beat 6-nothing. We are down 3-1. So, I don't really think it matters how you lose. A loss is a loss.

WAYNE GRETZKY: I would say that you always measure a player, what he does in the situation, it is a semifinal game and it is 4 on 3 and he split the defense down one nothing in the third. It was a beautiful goal. He made a marvelous play.

WAYNE GRETZKY: I said to you guys yesterday, he just plays hard and he is very unselfish. I was happy for him today to bounce back, scored a big goal. You could hardly -- he played with one hand the other night and he is just a tremendous athlete.

WAYNE GRETZKY: I don't know if that first goal in this series has been a major factor than say the last two, but I guess it would be nice to get the first goal.

WAYNE GRETZKY: Gutsy and played hard, played determined. We got beat fair and square but I don't think that we got bombarded or demolished, by any means. We lost. It is a tough loss and our guys played hard.

WAYNE GRETZKY: Not at all. We feel that we know we are playing a very good hockey team. We have got a great deal of respect for them. Long way to go yet.