NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAPLE LEAFS v HURRICANES

May 15, 2002

Bryan McCabe

Alyn McCauley

Gary Roberts

GARY ROBERTS: We hope we are in a better position. Obviously, I guess, after the Islanders series was a real tough series, and a lot of physical play. We were probably physically -- I mean, we're still in a position obviously to play another Game 7, but I think we were pretty tired after that series and now we are past being tired. We're just excited about this opportunity. I think we'll be much better in Game 1 of this series.

ALYN McCAULEY: I've watched quite a few games, especially the Montreal series. I had a good buddy in Kevyn Adams on their team, so I paid close attention to their team. They have got certainly a very quick team, one that's almost like ourselves, very resilient. They don't seem to quit working at any part or any point in the game. It's going to be, I think, more like the Islanders series. They are a physical team, bigger on the defense, and I think this is going to be a more physical and tougher series like it was against the Islanders.

GARY ROBERTS: A lot of practice. We had a stretch during the season where a lot of guys went down and a lot of guys stepped up that had the opportunity to play and really took advantage of it. Maybe it was just good practice for us or whatever, but we just had a lot of guys step forward, whether it was a young guy or an older guy getting more opportunity to play because of the injuries. We just seem to have had a team that fought through a lot of adversity, ended up second in points in the conference with 100 points. After losing a lot of guys down the stretch, Yushkevich, one of our top defensemen and a big part of our team, the rest of our defensemen have stepped up and really played hard and given us the support that we needed, CuJo and Corey needed.

GARY ROBERTS: I remember in '89 -- a long time ago, I can barely remember way back then -- but we lost Sutter to a broken jaw the year we won the Stanley Cup and Rob Ramage came in and put us over the top, in my opinion, and gave us not only an opportunity to win, but that was the only major injury that we had. We've got eight regulars or something like that out at this stage. It sure would be nice to get some of those guys back as this series moves forward.

BRYAN McCABE: Is this where I plug Gary again? That's where it's coming from, over there. Just take care of yourself during the year. I've been lucky, knock on wood, not being too injured. A couple nagging things but nothing big. Just the off days are key for us. We've had an opportunity to have days in between games which is nice. It's the back-to-back games that kill you and make your body tired. I'm 26, I'm young, so I have a lot of energy and it's not really affecting me yet.

GARY ROBERTS: I'm 36 and it's not affecting me either (laughter).

GARY ROBERTS: It's nice to have young guys. I've had an opportunity to be around guys who like to work hard and any time you can help a guy out and help him become a better player, it's a lot of fun. I had that opportunity here in Carolina with guys like Jeff O'Neill and Sean Hill. Just one of those things where it's always nicer to work out with a partner than it is to work out with yourself. Any time you can do that, it usually elevates your fitness and especially when it's a young guy. For an older guy it just keeps you competitive and you don't want him to kick your butt every day.

GARY ROBERTS: I've always kept in touch with the guys and Paul Maurice and Jim Rutherford to an extent. They treated me with nothing but respect while I was here and my family, and gave me an opportunity to come back and play in the National Hockey League when other teams would not take the risk on me. I could not be happier for a bunch of guys in their dressing who were great teammates and fun to play with. I took the opportunity to go back to my hometown and play in Toronto, but have a lot of great memories of Carolina. I guess looking at it, one of the two teams that I really loved to play for are going to the Stanley Cup finals, so either way it's a win for me.

GARY ROBERTS: We'll probably have a little conversation tonight and that will probably be it until after it's over. I just hope we are still friends after it's done. (Laughter).

GARY ROBERTS: They made a great signing in Ron Francis. From the time Ron Francis came to this organization, guys just seemed to play better. He's a great person who always says the right things, not vocal to the point that you get sick of hearing him, just vocal when he needs to be. I really feel his leadership and a lot of guys that are really dedicated to the game, I look at guys like Sean Hill and Sami Kapanen and Jeff O'Neill that have become real good pros and know what it takes to win and work hard every day to become a better player; and Rod Brind'Amour, a guy whose just an endless worker. The Hurricanes have gotten players that are character people, and that's why they are in the position that they are today.

BRYAN McCABE: Well, I got an opportunity to play here, in all situations which always helps a player become a better player. Coaching staff showed a lot of confidence in me, in putting me out in key situations. Like I said, the offensive stuff, I'm on the ice with a lot of great players out there. We've got guys like Gary, Alyn, and Mats and Alex Mogilny. There's endless talent here. When you're on the ice with guys like that, good things are going to happen.

BRYAN McCABE: I don't know if there's a certain point. It just seems like I've been getting some bounces this year, been shooting the puck a lot. I don't know what the change is, but whatever it is, I hope it keeps going.

ALYN McCAULEY: I don't know I should not say that we play similar styles, but we dog the puck pretty well. We get in on top of the defensemen and try and force. I think I angle pretty well. Gary is more physical and I think makes the defense a little nervous that way. But we've turned the puck over, we've gone to the net and we've looked for each other there. Hoglund has done the same thing. I think Hoglund is the one that really got us started, and he was the one that scored the first couple of goals and got us feeling good about ourselves in the offensive zone. I don't really know why it's worked so well, but I think maybe just some hard work in the offensive zone and doing some simple things, getting the puck to the net and going there.

GARY ROBERTS: I think definitely to win the Stanley Cup, your team has to get better throughout the playoffs. You look at a lot of teams that have won in the past years, maybe were not as good as they needed to be early on, but squeaked by some series. There's no doubt that we are going to have to get better as the playoffs go on to have an opportunity to win. By getting those healthy bodies back is obviously going to give us an opportunity to advance. Getting guys like Renberg, Sundin back, you get these guys back in your lineup, all of a sudden it's going to elevate everybody's game again. Guys realize, can taste the opportunity at this point, and if you get some of those key people coming back, I think you're going to see a great deal of excitement in our dressing room.

GARY ROBERTS: Well, Carolina has been sitting here waiting for us, resting, preparing and we have not really time to think about what we have to do tomorrow night. It's over last night and we're moving on ,and we have to just try to prepare ourselves better and hopefully we'll get something positive after that drought we took in the first game of the last series and it will pay off tomorrow night.

GARY ROBERTS: Definitely. I think you get this opportunity, and I know they are feeling the same way. You can play in this league a long time and never get the opportunity to play in an Eastern Conference or Western Conference Final. To realize that you are in the Final Four is pretty exciting. You know what Final Four is like in basketball, how exciting it gets, and I was aware of that when I spent some time here. I think the guys can taste it on both sides. I think are going to see a real disciplined series. Guys are going to obviously realize whoever wins this is going on to the Stanley Cup Finals and there's no better feeling than that opportunity. It will be a real smart, well-played series, clean series, but physical. They have got some big forwards, too, that are playing real strong and tough in Battaglia and Cole, and Brind'Amour's line has been outstanding. And you always have to be aware of Ron Francis's line. It's going to be a tough series for both teams, but hopefully we'll come out on top.

GARY ROBERTS: That's good. Maybe I'm just figuring out the game at 36, I don't know. (Laughs). I'm just enjoying the opportunity. I'm healthy, and, knock on wood, I've had some health problems obviously over the years. To have an opportunity to come back and play was great. Now to be in a city like Toronto and being in the Eastern Conference Finals, I could not ask for much more. I'm just taking a day at a time and realize that can end at any time and try to prolong my career as long as I can.

GARY ROBERTS: I've been aware. The fans were great to me when I was here. We didn't have a lot of them, but we had 6,000 or 7,000 real loyal fans when I was here. I think last year, obviously with their team going to the playoffs and people getting a taste of NHL playoff hockey, they really have grown to love the game. I think the organization has done a great job of promoting the team, and they have added the right players to the team to go out into the community and to promote the real character guys. I'm not surprised, because they are such good people, that you knew eventually things were going to go very well for that organization and the city. I'm sure everybody is going to be very excited about the next couple of weeks.