NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

June 7, 2001

Larry Robinson

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: As far as I know he is in.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: I haven't made up my mind yet.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: My own gut feeling. The reason that that I put Kenny in in Colorado was because of Jason's absence on the powerplay. If he is back then I have to look at it a little differently but we will see.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: It doesn't. I mean, if he can't go then I already have other plans to back that up because I mean I can't wait until game-time decision, so I have to have another plan. If that's the case then we'd probably go with the same lineup that we had in Colorado.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: Well, last year when we were in this position I mean it went to triple overtime. I don't think you can ever prepare anybody for a triple overtime or overtime period as far as that goes. But you have got to take this game like it is a Game 7 and for us this is our Game 7 and you approach it that way.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: Well, I think you know, for most teams if they want to be able to compete in the marketplace, now you have to go into a new building where you have got club seats and you can get the advertising and basically give yourself a home. This has been our home here for a long time, but you have to move on, so it is nice to know that eventually we will be getting new building, moving into basically almost a new city for us in Newark and kind of reminds me a little bit of what L.A. has done with the Staple's Center, they have been able to clean up the Downtown area and bring in new venues and everything else. I think a lot of it is a very similar case, in this way they have brought a new baseball stadium for their Triple A club and now with the new arena going up for our clubs I think it's a great thing for Newark and a great thing for New Jersey.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: I wouldn't look at him as a powerplay guy. I think in this situation you kind of leave it up to the individual. If he comes in and there's no doubt in his mind that he is ready to play then I think it would be crazy not to have him in the lineup. I think if there's any doubt then you really have to think about it seriously because you don't want anybody there that are doubting their abilities of whether they can play or not and this is a big game for us.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: Well, I have said all along that we have a lot of depth here. Just because a player is not in the lineup or not playing on a particular night doesn't mean he doesn't have a place and doesn't belong on this team. Over the course of a year and through this Playoff series we have been able to use everybody and everybody has been a key part of our success so far. I think we have tried to have that same attitude through the whole year; not just in the Playoffs.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: They are dangerous every night. Any time you have got Patrick Roy in the net and Joe Sakic and Ray Bourque and Hejduk and the likes of those players on your team, you are dangerous every night. So tonight is no different than any other night.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: I think everybody is not looking at it as anything else than a big game. I don't think that we have mentioned "Stanley Cup" in our dressing room once yet. All we are thinking about is this game tonight; thinking about every shift that we have got to play; doing all the things that we have talked about through all this whole Playoff series; not getting away from our game; not thinking about anything else, just stay focused and think about this as another game, another huge game and not really look at the outcome. I think if we do our job and play the way that we are capable of, then you know, things will happen. But when you look at the end result, I think you are doing yourself an injustice.

COACH LARRY ROBINSON: Well, I don't know. We have really never been in this position so far in the Playoffs. Usually we are on the receiving end of this position and we have played well with our backs against the wall. But now we will just have to see how well we play with the wall in front of us. And that usually is the biggest task. The last one is always the hardest one to win. So this will be an even bigger test for us, not only for the players, but for everybody involved. I think we know what a long, long series it has been and what is waiting for us if we are successful. But as I said before, you start looking at the end result then you are not worrying about what you have got to do in the task at hand and we have got a big task at hand right now.