NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLUES v AVALANCHE

May 20, 2001

Bob Hartley

COACH HARTLEY: I feel doubtful that Klemm will be in the lineup tomorrow. He feels much better, but, like I said, I think that we have strong doubts that he won't be able to play tomorrow. We're going to make the final decision tomorrow morning and we'll just go from there.

COACH HARTLEY: Well, certainly very similar. They log lots of ice time. They have -- you know, what's so great about Foote, about Blakester, about Ray, is that they bring different strength to our blue line. They all play very strong, they all play good minutes out there, but we have a good combination of defense, of grit, of offense, great shot, great passers, great hockey sense. You put the three together and it's very interesting. So obviously, growing around the Montreal Canadiens, I certainly remember the days of those three guys. And they were certainly as important to the Montreal Canadiens as our big three is important to us.

COACH HARTLEY: I like his style. Danny's a great skater. He's absolutely fearless. That's what I like a lot about Danny Hinote. He's a competitor. You know that he's going to be in people's face. The only sad part about hockey is that no one has invented yet an instrument that can measure the size of the art. You look at his stats, I don't know what he's at on the sheet, he's 5-9, 5-10, but he plays so much bigger than his size. Great skater, great on forecheck. He drives the net like nobody else does.

COACH HARTLEY: Well, it brings life. I have good options out there. Steven Reinprecht is a good play maker, a great passer. I can move Chris Drury with Mess and Podein like I did in OT in Game 4. I have some good options because I have good people to work with. Those guys, everyone on our team is strong defensively. We've worked on this all year. Right now, we're collecting the results of our investments. And Peter goes down and we still have plenty of options. So that's why we said right from the start, we have some nice options on this hockey club and it's up to us to make good use of them.

COACH HARTLEY: I'm a big believer that you have to challenge yourself not only as a coach but also as a person everyday to be a better man and try to make people around you better. I think that you don't have to be a coach to challenge yourself. It's something that I always said. I grew up in this organization. I'm now in my eighth year. This organization has lots of pride. You look at our drafts, you look at the people that play for us, you look at the people that work in the front office, it's all very proud individuals that work with one goal. It's a team goal. Everything that we do is oriented for the benefit of our hockey club. So I'm not different. I was raised in a way to respect people and to believe in team work. So I work for eight years in plants where there was 400 or 500 employees, so that's a pretty imposing team. So you go down to 20, life is pretty easy.

COACH HARTLEY: Well, I've always been known for a guy that was very demanding, but I think that I was always known as someone that is very respectful. I like to praise. You know, when we have to crack the whip, that's part of our job. But when you coach some great individuals, I think that that makes the life of the coaches much easier.

COACH HARTLEY: It's Ray Bourque. Ray Bourque is the entire package that a hockey coach could hope for. He's a leader, he's a great competitor, takes care of himself, takes care of people around him. You know, you just look at his career. I think that we could talk and talk about Ray Bourque. And we could also come up with new stuff. But certainly a great trade last year for us and the more that this series is progressing, it seems that he's getting stronger.

COACH HARTLEY: Again, it's always tough to judge someone that you don't know. You can watch someone play on TV or you can watch anyone, but when you have a chance to dig in the person and to work with them on a daily basis, that's where you see like the true colors of someone. To judge someone that you practically don't know or you never talk to, it's pretty tough. I was raised to judge people from what I see from them, not what I hear from them. So obviously working with Ray Bourque has been one of my biggest thrills that I've had in my coaching career.

COACH HARTLEY: I like our approach. Like I said yesterday, I think that our focus is at the right place and we have to bring our best game tomorrow night because we know one thing, is that the Blues will bring their best game. There's no secret there. We have home ice advantage. Let's use it in Game 5. But, you know, it's easier said than done. We're playing against a team that is very resilient. They won't quit. Like I said before, that's probably one of the deepest teams in the league. And we just have to be ready for their best game and we have to bring our best game also. Have a good day, everyone.