NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: HURRICANES v RED WINGS

June 13, 2002

Tomas Holmstrom

Brett Hull

Igor Larionov

Luc Robitaille

IGOR LARIONOV: First of all, we started in training camp on September 11 with all the attacks on New York City, so it wasn't a very good start. And then we had so many new guys, brand new faces and new players, and it was tough at first because there were so many stars and it was tough for Scotty because he had to convince all these guys to play a team game, and he did it really well. Scotty is a genius to be able to take this team and bring them all together and take them all the way to the Stanley Cup.

IGOR LARIONOV: Every Cup is special. I don't want to compare the Cups. The first one to this one, the first one was the first in 54 years, and this one was just like a perfect season, so I don't really want to compare the two of them.

IGOR LARIONOV: This is definitely the team, the best team I have played before in the National Hockey League, but in Russia, the teams I played for Russia were some of the best teams in the history of the game. So this is definitely the best NHL team that I have played for.

BRETT HULL: It's the most wonderful feeling you could ever imagine, to be a part of this group from the coach to Steve Yzerman, Chris Chelios. Chris called me this summer and said that he had been talking to Ken Holland and said that I would be a great addition. And to have those kind of people think that highly of you is -- and then to come and have everything succeed and to be a part of a winning team and winning the Stanley Cup, I have enjoyed every minute of being here in Detroit. And hopefully we'll come back and do it again next year.

BRETT HULL: Yes, it does because he still does a wonderful job behind the bench. Everybody has a lot of respect for him. It has been a long great career and I guess you have to call it quits sometime.

BRETT HULL: It's a lot more without the controversy. It's a little bit different because now I am a little bit more aware of what happens and able to enjoy it a little bit more. It tends to just fly by and you tend to miss a few things the first time around.

LUC ROBITAILLE: I wanted to get the puck for Holmstrom. He worked so hard all Playoffs and I thought he deserved it.

LUC ROBITAILLE: I just heard about it. I am surprised. He never said anything to us beforehand; none of us knew that that's what he was doing or even thinking. He's the greatest coach all-time and I have a lot of respect for him. And I learned an awful lot from him this year.

LUC ROBITAILLE: There was a lot of pressure but it is a fun kind of pressure. I love that kind of pressure. When people are expecting you to win, you can embrace it and take it and run with it and it can be really exciting. It was really awesome because we were the favorite from the get-go, and that we were able to finish it. They say it's the hardest thing to do is when you are on top to stay there and we did it. We always had the same goal to win the Stanley Cup and we accomplished that. It's incredible feeling.

TOMAS HOLMSTROM: This is an incredible team, so much talent, so many stars. A great mix of veterans and future Hall of Famers with -- and young guys, rookies coming in. It's just been incredible season and it is a great, great team.

TOMAS HOLMSTROM: It's been a long run. You have to go four rounds before it's over. You just go out there and play and do the best you can. We did a really great job. We beat Colorado in playing a Game 7. This is such a hard working team. And Carolina, they were really tough. They never gave up and we give them a lot of credit.