NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAPLE LEAFS v HURRICANES

May 20, 2002

Curtis Joseph

Bryan McCabe

BRYAN McCABE: Well, it was a tough loss last night. But today we got some more rest and we'll get some bodies back. I'm sure they will have their legs under them now and be ready to roll for Game 3.

BRYAN McCABE: Well, they will be back. You know, it's tough when you jump right back in after being out a couple of weeks. I thought they looked really good considering the circumstances and it's only going to get better. It's nice to have our leader back out on the ice.

BRYAN McCABE: I don't know if it upset anything. But it's weird having guys back that we haven't had for a while and there is an adjustment period. But I thought we worked really hard in the end last night and had a couple of opportunities in overtime to win it. Just came out on the short end of the stick.

BRYAN McCABE: I would say we worked extremely hard to tie it up and had two really good chances in overtime to win it. Sometimes you don't deserve things you get, but I thought we worked pretty hard and ended up on the wrong end of the stick, but pretty happy with a split.

BRYAN McCABE: Well he was our MVP all year. He had a tremendous year here and in the Olympics, so to see him jump right back into the fray and set up the tying goal, it's nothing I would not expect of him. He's been there all year for us so, to jump back in and play as strong as he did yesterday was a huge bonus for us.

BRYAN McCABE: We have a lot of guys who put their body on the line for the team. It's not the prettiest thing and it doesn't show up too much on the stat sheet but it's the little things that wins games for you. We have a lot of guys on this team who have sacrificed their body to hopefully keep a goal out. It's a big part of the playoffs, doing all of the little things and sacrificing for the team.

BRYAN McCABE: I don't know if there's a right or wrong way. Just anything that hits you is a good way. Hopefully, we keep that up. It always helps. It's uplifting on the bench when you see a guy throwing his body on the line for the team.

BRYAN McCABE: They were a pretty rowdy group down there. We had a pretty good contingent there yesterday that helped the loudness. We had a lot of fans showing up to see yesterday's game. It was nice to see them in the stands. I'm sure it will be no different here tomorrow. We have a good, healthy crowd here also.

CURTIS JOSEPH: Yeah, absolutely. We had a chance to win. It's not like we played real bad, and we got a split in their building. So we are looking to do good things on home ice like we have in the past.

CURTIS JOSEPH: We know what we have to do. (Laughs).

CURTIS JOSEPH: Well, you look at Mats, you want him in your lineup. Like I've said earlier about that question, the first half of the playoffs was tough, and it was hard. The second half of the playoffs is going to be even tougher, obviously, so you want your best player back.

CURTIS JOSEPH: If you take a couple of days off it's tough to get your timing back. Especially when you don't play a lot in the game. Eight days is a long time, especially at this pace.

CURTIS JOSEPH: Absolutely. When you play hard and you lose in overtime, anything can happen. To say that we didn't deserve to win maybe is a little harsh.

CURTIS JOSEPH: Oh, it's great. You block a shot, it may deter the guy from shooting the next time where he has a good chance. Berg blocked some great shots last night at some key times. So getting yourself in the shooting lane is key. Helps me tremendously; it takes away half the net. So don't underestimate the value of a great shot blocker.

CURTIS JOSEPH: Absolutely. That's a great question. Shot blocking is a way to measure a team's desire to win.

CURTIS JOSEPH: Yeah, there was a lot of Leafs fans. As we were pulling up, they were beating us to the game, which is like two and a half hours before the game. It was great. It was loud, it was hard to hear out on the ice, but there was a lot of Leaf fans there that made the trip. A lot of Ontario license plates, so that was fun to see.