NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: AVALANCHE v RED WINGS

May 25, 2002

Bob Hartley

COACH HARTLEY: I wanted to try to generate something in the first 40 minutes. Once again, we saw why the Detroit Red Wings were by far the best team in the regular season. They were flying. They were on the puck. Like Patrick, once again, gave us a chance to win. And then in the third, we saw our best players be the best players out there.

COACH HARTLEY: There was a couple of lines that were said that, you know, needs to stay in the locker room. But I think that's part of our business. No one was very impressed with our first 40 minutes, and like I just said, we have enough playing against the Detroit Red Wings without having to play against us. So like in the third period, we came out as a team. It's a big team win.

COACH HARTLEY: You always keep a couple of line combinations in your back pocket. You have to be ready. You always have to think things will go your way, but if they don't, you need to be able to counter. Tonight it worked. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

COACH HARTLEY: We were on our toes. We had great four checks, great net plays, great puck control. That's the key with this team. This team is so good. Plus you look at the way the Wings played. They played two unbelievable road games. I believe the Detroit Red Wings, since the start of the playoffs, have been a much better road team than home team.

COACH HARTLEY: We were looking to get a combination of speed and grit and skills. You throw Messier, you throw Larionov, you throw Hinote. You're going to bring grit to every line. They did a great job. We won the puck. On the four check, we were taking the body. I don't think the Wings liked it.

COACH HARTLEY: We were not interested in going to Detroit down 3-1. It was basically a must-have-win situation with us. We know our history when we have our backs to the wall . We didn't get the start we were hoping for, but we were still in the game after two, but we decided like real early in the game to make the switches and it worked.

COACH HARTLEY: It's a rib injury and he tried during the warmup, and he was not ready to go. So Brian Willsie has worked very hard and he deserved a chance and he played very well for us.