NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: CAPITALS v RED WINGS

June 8, 1998

Dale Hunter

Olaf Kolzig

Adam Oates

OLAF KOLZIG: Well, I have always believed I have had the ability to get -- I have always -- I guess I have always believed in myself that I can get to this point. It was just a matter of when it was going to happen and I didn't think it would happen the way it has so far this year being the No. 1 guy playing the All-Star Game, going in the Olympics, being in the Stanley Cup Finals, but maybe all those years of playing in the Minors and then waiting has finally culminated to this point and obviously the ultimate would be to win the Cup.

ADAM OATES: Well, Detroit was my first team and I have some great memories here. Our team went to the semi-finals two years in a row and I think any player has fond recollections of his first team. I enjoyed it here. It was great a city. It really treated me well. It is going to be a bit special to come here and play.

DALE HUNTER: Yeah, it is. You know, I have been playing 18 years trying to get to this point. So, it is one of those things where I can draw - a Tikkanen, and Bellows and Billy Ranford and what it is like to play here, but I think by playing so long and a guy like Adam playing so long that you train for your whole career so that you are ready for this situation.

OLAF KOLZIG: I think through the Playoffs the underdog teams have been picked ahead of us in every series. And, I mean, these are the defending Stanley Cup Champions and they are playing well, but we are not satisfied with getting to this point, I mean, you never know when you are going to be in this situation again, and especially for this old cagey veteran right here, it will be something special if we can win this Cup. So, we are not even -- I mean, you guys can write what you want - that it is going to be a sweep, but, we definitely don't believe that, and I am sure they don't. And, in that dressing room, two teams don't get to this situation and think they are going to win it in four straight.

OLAF KOLZIG: No, because I mean, the media -- that is the media's job is to create some kind of frenzy like that, but it is our job to go out and prove you guys wrong. I mean, we can use it as motivation, but we are basically here to play hockey and not read the newspapers. I mean, we are professionals and we know what we have to do. If you start believing everything you read, then you are never going to succeed.

DALE HUNTER: No, not really. I talked to both of them and they congratulated me that I got to the Stanley Cup Finals and they just basically support me 100%.

ADAM OATES: It is funny. When I got traded to Washington, I was excited because playing against them, I really thought it was a great hockey team and for whatever reasons, the trade didn't seem to work and we didn't do it. We were kind of a dead team and got it going too late. Some changes were made in the summer. I have always believed in this team. I think it does have a great crop of players and we have proven it now. So, I am very excited to be here.

OLAF KOLZIG: I said it in the last series: I don't think it is a goalie against a goalie - me against the Detroit Red Wings and him against the Washington Capitals. Obviously Ozzie, with everything that has gone on in the post-season and, you know, with what happened in Game 5 in Dallas, he has shown how mentally tough he is and how tough of a competitor he is. So, I know we beat Dominik Hasek, but I think our -- the job is just going to be as tough as against Chris Osgood.

ADAM OATES: I don't think so. I don't think it really matters. We have played good on the road and maybe if anything, it will be good to get away because it -- we might be a little bit too excited tomorrow night.

ADAM OATES: Well, I did actually answer it earlier, I really enjoyed it here. I love this town and playing in your first city, to play for the Detroit Red Wings was quite an honor and Steve and Kocur, I played with two guys that I hung around with a little bit. I got a great recollection of this town and playing here and they us great from Day-1. When I got traded it was a real shock that summer. Fortunately, for me, I have been able to move along. But at that time, your first trade, it is always tough.

OLAF KOLZIG: I don't think he needs them right now. I think we are going to see how Game 1 goes tomorrow and how we respond. And, you know, for whatever reason he needs to give one, I am sure he will have one ready for us. But, like I say, you don't get to this point and be satisfied. I think everything is going to be pretty motivated once Game 1 starts and for whatever reason we lose Game 1, we will be motivated for Game 2. This is the ultimate part of the year and if you can't get motivated for this time of the year, then nobody else is going to help you do it.

DALE HUNTER: Yeah, it is. You know, for any city, I think we were situated down there that for years; we didn't go far enough in the Playoffs for them to get satisfied with us. And, having a chance to win the Cup like this, I think the people realize how big a sport it is with all the coverage that has been going on with us. And, I think that by the showing the other night - we came back from Buffalo; people came out at 3 o'clock in the morning congratulating us; that shows that people in Washington are behind us 100%.

DALE HUNTER: Olie said: "Goon." I said: "Gretzky." Somewhere in between there, anyways. Come to play every night, you know, I try. I am not -- I am not Adam Oates. I am not a tough guy like Chris Simon, but I try to come to play every night and add a little offense and add a little toughness to a team and to be remembered for -- if you don't win a Stanley Cup, I think you are missing a little bit out of your career and I think to remember that you did win a Stanley Cup, would be great.

OLAF KOLZIG: I think the single key is for our team to be on the same page and to play better and better as the series goes on. We maybe didn't play as well in the Boston series, but the Ottawa series started to play better and then the Buffalo series, I felt that was the best series of hockey by far. We started to work as a team and hopefully we can still keep going forward as the series progresses, but I have said this in the past, a goaltender's job is basically to give the guys a chance to win and that is what I am going to go out there try and do. You have to have good goaltending if you want to be successful in the Playoffs. And, I mean, I think Chris Osgood knows that; I know that, and the teams know that, so, I am just going to go out and keep doing my job which is to stop the puck. I really can't do anything more - other than stop the puck. And, I think the key is, like I said, for our team to be firing on all cylinders.

OLAF KOLZIG: Have the president come out. I don't know. We will have to wait and see when we get back to Washington. That was a step to have the president come to a game and hopefully he comes out now when we go back to Washington.