NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

May 30, 2001

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: I think it should, mainly because there was one instance late in the game where -- in fact, when the goaltender was pulled, where they had used their time out, and I knew that had happened. So I put my players out there right away, and the next thing you know there's somebody checking the stick, and next guy going in to talk and everything else. So it defeats the purpose, I think. The whole idea behind having the time out was to give the -- to give one team an advantage. But if you've used it, that should be your advantage. You should have to drop the puck right away, and I know over in Europe they have a situation where, if everybody's not ready, they just go ahead and drop the puck. But certainly a lot of the faceoffs have been long and drawn and dragged out. So I'd love to see it moved along quicker.

COACH ROBINSON: We definitely would love to have their offensive productions, but I think that when you put that kind of onus on a player and say, well, tonight you've got to go out and score, we're not going to win. Then I think that's undue pressure. But what a player can do if he's not scoring he can do all the little things that much better. I think for the most part they're really good chances. I looked over the game the other night, and they had a lot of plays, puck just bounced on them. Alex drew a penalty on the one, they made a quick break and I think it was Skoula had to put pull the stick out from under him, so they have contributed in fits and starts. It's the consistency that maybe hasn't been there as much as maybe I would like to see, but they're two very, very talented players, and I'm just hoping that things will start to click for them pretty soon.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, it depends, I think maybe not so much in the first game, but last night I thought the Arnott line you know had as many good chances as the Sakic line and I think who Bobby ended up against was also a good fit for us as well. Most of the time it was against Yelle. Yelle's a better faceoff man, and I think from it we got a lot of very good scoring opportunities. So kind of play it by ear. I think a lot again depends on how much they want to play Sakic and the fact that we like to go with four lines, it may dictate it a few times that we could have Holik out there against the Sakic line.

COACH ROBINSON: Not frustrated, but it is disappointing that, you know, you get to such an important event as the Stanley Cup finals and yet guys continue to take stupid penalties, retaliatory penalties. We haven't paid the price for it yet, but unless it's addressed and unless they, you know, do buckle down and stop taking them, then it is a detriment for the team and I'd hate to have to do the same thing that I did against Toronto, but if it means doing whatever it takes to you know to get the point across, I'll do whatever it takes to get this club to win.

COACH ROBINSON: I no, I think at this point in the playoffs both teams are motivated. But, again, I think it becomes more important that, you know, first game's over, as we did, we forgot about it, onto the next game, second game's over, both teams, onto the third game. It's not like there's another series. This is it, and both teams are in the same situation. I think there will be emotions on both sides, and we're just happy to be home in front of our fans. I know that the Avalanche fans were loud and really helped their club, but they haven't seen our fans yet. They've been terrific.

COACH ROBINSON: Actually I just read a piece on that that was put out by a study done in Colorado. I am by no means a doctor as far as that goes, but we spoke to some of our training staff that we use in the training camps, and I don't really know if there is such a thing as, you know, really preparing. I think you can prepare as far as an individual event like an Olympic event something like that and take advantage of the high altitude training, but the way we travel and the fact that you've got games in between, I don't think it really becomes an advantage for anybody or disadvantage.

COACH ROBINSON: No, I think it was more the way the game flowed because of the penalty situation. We ended up having to kill off six penalties, I think that took away most of our flow. But certainly you know they with a team like that you can't afford to you know play run-and-gun hockey as well. We had a few chances. I know that we can play better and put more pressure on them, but For the most part you take our your point and run about with it.

COACH ROBINSON: I don't know if it's so much that I think we're very guilty of some nights not coming out and playing our best. It just seems that we're resilient after a loss. It's more we just get back to playing the way we should. Sometimes we get away from not playing the way we're capable of playing. Not necessarily getting into a comfort zone but, you know, forget that it takes a lot of hard work and lot of dedication and focus to win hockey games. And it's more that we get away from the way we're capable of playing rather than being a resilient team, but we do seem to play our best when our back's are against the wall.

COACH ROBINSON: No, Stevenson has been on the power play and done a great job. Just that you know Randy was on there most of the year and got the ice time. But Turner does a little really good job in there. He's got pretty good hands for a big guy, and of course with his size he does make for a pretty good screen in front. And Corky, he is a penalty killer by trade more or less that's one of his specialties, and I don't really consider it a bonus. I think he's worked hard every time that he's gotten into the lineup during this playoff series. He's made a great contribution for us.