NHL ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 2, 2002

Nikolai Khabibulin

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: Not really because there's really not that much pressure on the goalie especially. Everybody knows there is no defense in these games. You know, just try to go out there and stop as much as you can.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: I don't know, I went out there, just try to do my best. I hope I have some luck left for the rest of the year because I think I used a lot of it today. You know, we were able to win the game. That's good.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: They made, you know, a few incredible saves. You just kind of shake your head there. But you can't really expect to make those saves either when you play. So I don't know, I just tried to do the best. Got lucky today. I don't know, I guess I'm happy about the performance of our team.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: I don't really think so because when guys play in these games, I think they're trying to do -- sometimes they're doing things they wouldn't normally do, you know, in the real games. So it's almost like summer hockey, you know, when everybody just goes out and have fun. If you score, you score. If you don't... You know, they just try things, maybe too many passes sometimes, a lot of different stuff they wouldn't normally do in the game. I can't really say that this is a preview of Olympics or anything like that. It's totally different game.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: I didn't really even think about it. For a goalie, players are playing the whole game, and goalies are only playing one period. I think it's hard to even think about it.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: You don't totally expect to have a shut-out when you play games like this. Just like I said before, I got lucky today. But at the same time, I think it lifts our confidence, you know, going into the rest of the year, stuff like that.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: Well, I think the Olympics are on the back of my mind probably since early January. It's coming close. You cannot stop thinking about it. But I'm Tampa Bay Lightning and I have to do the best I can for them, too. It just takes a little more concentration, I think. I don't think it's that easy. But, you know, you have to deal with it. I'm trying to do my best.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: Well, I was watching the Olympics in Nagano, I saw how excited players were. It was really awesome to watch. I really want to play this time. At the same time I heard some rumors about Slava (Fetisov), that he would be general manager, maybe head coach. He has tremendous amount of respect among the players and fans. I was very excited when I heard that. That even made my decision a lot easier.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN: Well, this is such a short tournament. If you go to the finals, it's only six games. I don't really think fatigue is going to be a factor. As far as our chances, I think we have the same chance as five or six other teams do. There's so many good teams there with all those great players. I don't know. It's very hard to predict anything. We'll see what happens.