NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

May 25, 2001

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: Yeah, very comparable. I don't know if their styles are very similar, but you know they are both big game goaltenders, tougher the game the better they play. They both mean a lot to their teams. They both handle the puck extremely well. I think that's the one thing that Patrick has worked on since I played with him because when he first came up he was terrible. He has really worked at it. I think he is a much, much smarter puck handler now and does a much better job with the puck.

COACH ROBINSON: No, I was scared, in '73. You are young, you don't know what you are getting into. I think it is so much of a different feeling from a player to a coach. I think as a coach you don't have time to really get nervous or get scared about anything because there is so much preparation that goes into making sure that your team is ready and making sure that you have gone over everything there is to go over, so you really don't have much time to really think about anything until the game starts. I think the maybe the one major drawback and Bob Hartley could probably attest to this you don't get much sleep as a coach because your day never ends.

COACH ROBINSON: I know I think Scotty put it best. I think you cannot take away what Ray has meant to the game and what a terrific hockey player Ray has been over his career and no matter whether he wins a Stanley Cup or not, he will probably be as soon as he decides to hang them up will be in the Hall of Fame first and foremost because there is no one more deserving to be there than Raymond. So I don't think that we or the public or anybody should look upon the fact that he hasn't had the opportunity to win a Stanley Cup as being a detriment to his playing career. I think some of us are very fortunate to have played on great teams and have had the opportunity to win Stanley Cups. But there have been others who were great players that for some reason or other have never had the chance to do it.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I don't think I had to teach Rob that much. I remember when he first come in out of college, he stepped right into the Playoffs, first Playoff series and it looked like he had been there all year. He just has tremendous amount of talent. He has all the attributes that you look for in a defenseman, size, speed, strength, shot, and so there wasn't much to teach Rob. Maybe a little bit on his positioning, that kind of stuff, but no, everything that he has attained he has attained through hard work.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I think any series comes down to, great goaltending. You can always play terrific hockey, but you know, ask St. Louis what is it like if you don't get the top, top notch goaltending. So, that is extremely important. But again, I think our play 5-on-5 is going to make a big difference. I think specialty teams we all know can win or lose games but the five on five play, our ability to check, their speed, you know, that's a very quick team on the other side, so we have to be able to slow down their forwards and not give them odd-man chances because they have got a lot of talent up front and they can score a lot of goals. So, I think it is going to be our ability to play good defense against their ability to play great offense.

COACH ROBINSON: No, we have got a big six and we really, of course, we rely on Scotty Stevens and you know, everybody has been talking about Ralfy through this, the Playoff series, and we know the type of player that Nieder is, but we rely very much on all of our 6 defensemen. You need that in Playoff time because sooner or later there is going to be a time or an opportunity where you have got maybe not the guys that you want out on the ice against the other teams top line and especially when you are on the road you can't always match, and so you have to rely on everybody to be able to pull their own and we do and they have done a great job. Whitey has been great throughout this Playoffs. At first he was getting a little wound up and taking some bad penalties for us, but he stayed on the ice for us and played physical. Daneyko, I mean, what can you say, him and Scotty went against two of the greatest players in the League and held them without a goal. So he has done a terrific job. He always comes up big in the Playoffs. O'Donnell has done a great job with Rafalski so we don't rely on a big three. We rely on our big 6.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I think it goes without saying that in '86 when he came in, we basically won the Cup because of Patrick. I distinctively remember getting outshot 13 to 1 and winning the game in overtime and got outshot out 13 to 1 in that overtime period. He has just blossomed from there. I think it was an unfortunate situation that happened with him leaving Montreal and I think Montreal paid dearly with his departure because he has shown that he is still a top-notch goaltender. He has had himself an unbelievable career. When you think of Playoff performers and great goaltenders and great leaders he stands next to nobody else as far as that category goes.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I don't think any incident like that is ever considered a positive because I don't think that there is anyplace for that in our game because I know that it can be played tough and a lot cleaner than what happened in that instance. So I don't think that that really was a turning point, however, I think as much as we lost a great player in Niedermayer for the last couple of games, I think it was more of a detriment to Toronto. They just didn't seem to be the same team with him out of their lineup as well. So it was an unfortunate incident that hurt them as much as it hurt us, but it just showed that our club also has a lot of depth players because Kenny Sutton came in and played terrific for us for those games that Niedermayer was out.

COACH ROBINSON: Yeah, I think there is some validity to it. I think the game is much different then than it is now. But as far as the number of minutes that they play is very comparable to what we have played in Montreal. Styles, I guess they have been making comparisons about Blakey and myself since he came into the League and it is very flattering on my part. I think that Ray is more like Serg was, both capable of playing both ends of the rink and foot and Lapointe are very similar as well or I think probably Guy was a lot more offensive than Adam is.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, it is hard for me to say because I never played in front of Marty. I only have been a coach with him playing. All I can say about Patrick is that he was wonderful to play in front of because he never blamed anybody. If a goal went in, it was always his fault even though 90% of the time it wasn't. So he was fun to play in front of, great communicator, great young kid and a guy that was very competitive. And if I look at Marty I think he has all those attributes as well.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I think the biggest difference probably is the size of Jason and the size of Joe. I think they are both tremendous centermen. I think the fact that Arnie is such a big presence is certainly the greatest difference, but their wingers, I think to me Hedjuk has probably the best hands in the League that I have seen in a player in today's game. And our two wingers Patrik and Petr both have great hands as well and they read off of each other very well and I think that is where the similarities are between our line and the Sakic line. They are -- both lines are capable of scoring goals. Both have good speed. Both read both lines, read off of each other very well.

COACH ROBINSON: I don't wear any of them. Certainly the one that I won last year is probably one of my most memorable ones only because of the circumstances surrounding it and that being my first head coaching job. You always remember your first Stanley Cup. But anybody who has ever won a Cup knows that each one is special and each one carries a lot of meaning.

COACH ROBINSON: No, I have given one to my father and one to my two brothers and brother-in-law and one of my best friends and my son and I am saving the other one for my grandson. It probably fits around his waist right now.