NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAPLE LEAFS v HURRICANES

May 21, 2002

Jeff O'Neill

JEFF O'NEILL: It wasn't very good. I think that when my eye swelled up rather quickly, and the vision wasn't so much a problem as my balance. My balance was a little off there for the first 10 or 15 minutes. Luckily, I was able to keep going and get a big goal. It was an exciting moment.

JEFF O'NEILL: Yeah, McCabe tried to clear the puck there, and I'm sure you can all tell where it struck me. It was just a fluke thing. When it's coming out fast, you can't protect your face. Like I said, it swelled up pretty quickly, and I was able to -- the trainer did a good job of icing it on the bench. It was getting a little annoying when he kept sticking that ice thing on my eye, but it kept the swelling down.

JEFF O'NEILL: I think they used a needle or something to drain some of the blood, and it worked pretty good. The swelling seemed to go down and it was fine after that.

JEFF O'NEILL: It was a pretty standard play. Francis came over the blue line, and when you play with a player like that, you've got to go to the net because he always makes good things happen. It obviously was not one of his prettier assists, but it just kind of squirted free there and I was able to pounce on it and put it upstairs.

JEFF O'NEILL: Yeah, it was just sitting right there and I tried to shoot it as quick as I could. Fortunately, it went in.

JEFF O'NEILL: We just try to keep it simple. Most of our goals have just been defensemen shooting the puck and having good traffic in front of the net. We go to the net and try to create havoc for the goaltender, and we've been successful so far.

JEFF O'NEILL: It's always an exciting time, when the next goal wins. You've got to stay sharp because you know any play or any scrum can make the difference in the game. We just try to keep it simple and work hard and play our systems and good things have happened so far.

JEFF O'NEILL: I mean, everybody is out there. Everybody's got something going on. You see Mats Sundin coming back and Darcy Tucker, it's the spirit of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. No matter what happens, you go out there and play and that's what makes it so special.

JEFF O'NEILL: It was recommended but I can't see down on the ice. I think he wanted me to wear one, but I wasn't in favor of that decision.

JEFF O'NEILL: I don't think so. I thought they were out there flying tonight. They skated well and had a lot of great rushes. I thought it was an all-around great hockey game. We got the win, and it was great.

JEFF O'NEILL: Actually, there were no friends and family here. I think they know now not to call me and ask for tickets. My mother doesn't want to come to the games anymore. I hope she doesn't want to come on Thursday now, because I've never scored in front of them in this building so, maybe they can stay home again and good things will happen for me.