NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WILD v MIGHTY DUCKS

May 11, 2003

Jacques Lemaire

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Feel good. Feel good. We could have won the game. I think we played well enough to win the game. We had good energy even in overtime playing as well as they were. They got a good break and they scored on it. But besides that, very happy the way we played.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: I was surprised, because, like I mentioned after the game, we had a lot of games and traveling and, you know, the guys were, you know, they seemed a little tired, but, you know, they want to play so much. They want to do well so much, that, you know, it didn't stop them. They just kept working as hard as they could.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Well, goalies are good at times and not as good other times. Now, Giguere, you know, he's on top of his game, but like any other goaltender, you look at them closely, and you find they have strengths and weaknesses, and, you know, you got to work on his weaknesses, and we know where they are, and we got to get the opportunity and we'll get there.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Well, you have to do my job now.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Coincidence I think, because really we can play, you know, much better than we did there, you know, puck control, skating with the puck, making plays, I look at the chances for and against twice once this morning and this afternoon, and we had great chances. We had chances that, you know, because we didn't shoot at the right place, we didn't score, but they're there. So, I don't think we can get as many chances. Maybe we're a little luckier on the road to score goals. We're not pushing it as much as we do here. Maybe that's the difference.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Powerplay is all puck control, even though the other team is aggressive. If you move the puck to the right man, you will have control, you will get a chance to score, so it's all puck movement, puck control.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: I think we did, we were there a lot of times, pucks came behind us. You know, this is a team that really collapses in front of their net, and we get our man there and the puck comes behind, but we'll get the puck on our stick other times.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Maybe because we're so similar, we got good skaters on both sides. It's more open that you see at times both teams controlling and dictating the game. You know, we do it because, again, it's puck movement and skating, and when they do skate and they move the puck well on the stick, they do exactly the same. It's funny, it's two teams that play exactly the same.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Not at all.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: We played very solid defensively, and we could generate more than we did in the other games.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: You know, losing faceoffs, I don't mind when the other team doesn't get a chance to score. I do mind when I see that Sykora or other guy will be behind and gets it right on his stick and gets a slap shot, you know, right on our net, then I do mind. You know, we have been talking about it, practicing it, but, you know, I guess the center man -- and not only the center man, everybody has to be a little sharper. Sometimes you drop the puck when you're not ready, he leaves a second late, and then there is a shot. As soon as the puck is dropped, everyone has to react. Then their job. They have to move.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: He might. That's the furthest I can go on this.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: They're not playing against Giguere. They're playing against Anaheim. They're not in competition with Giguere.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: The one you're talking about, the puck was dropped on the other side.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: The one you're talking about the puck was dropped, you got that red dot there, it was dropped on this side, so that's why it went directly there, the one you're talking about.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Drop the puck in the middle, we might have a chance, sometimes it happens. You can see the linesman, you went like that, and probably the puck stick a bit, and it went on that side. It happens.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: We got to get on the puck before you do.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: No, they're not. They were getting there. We're maybe a little late to get there, or there will be a bouncing puck that will hit something, get on their stick, they shoot it down. Powerplays are like that. Sometimes you get the bounce on the boards, and the puck will go on your stick, you control it, you make plays. Other times it bounce and go on their stick and they shoot it down.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: He looks good.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: He might.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: Rolly looks good.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: He might.

JACQUES LEMAIRE: And he might not.