NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

June 9, 2000

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: It was a huge loss for us at home. I think everybody wanted to win it and get it over with. It has been dragging on long enough, but hey, that is part of it. They are a very veteran club that has been there before. They have got nothing to lose. I thought we played a little tentative, a little nervous, and then once you get into overtime, anything can happen.

COACH ROBINSON: I am glad they are feeling that. This game is not all mental though. Still got to win it on the ice.

COACH ROBINSON: Wasn't bad though.

COACH ROBINSON: Watched a couple of movies and --

COACH ROBINSON: I don't know. We didn't get to watch it. We were up in the front so the monitors didn't work.

COACH ROBINSON: No, it is pretty laid back, actually. I think everybody is still suffering the effects of the disappointment the other night, but we have got tonight. I think the most important thing for us right now is to get fluids in our body and get a good rest. That is a long game. And we will see come tomorrow who it affects more.

COACH ROBINSON: Yeah, I thought as the game wore on, I thought that they started to get more of the momentum, but they were strictly going -- I think Modano was out there probably almost every second shift, and he was flying all over the ice. But we had some chances. I think Bobby alone could have probably had a hat trick, and then Marty made some unbelievable stops. So what it came down to was two goaltenders that were almost unstoppable. I kind of figured that the winning goal would be some kind of a fluky thing, somebody knocking it in the air or somebody going to the net and having it hit them; and sure enough, that is how it ended.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, since when did he ever worry about my business? That is my eye, that is on my own thoughts. And if he doesn't like the way I think, then he shouldn't listen to what I am talking about.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, not hate - hate is a very --

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I mean, you are banging heads with each other for six, seven days in a row, and you see each other every day. So certainly, yes, you do -- you do feel animosity sometimes towards the other guys. Especially when you have Hatch going on down there chopping the way he does, and probably some of our guys doing the same on theirs. I mean, that is -- unless you are a masochist, you are going to have some ill feelings.

COACH ROBINSON: To Arnott?

COACH ROBINSON: Seems like everybody in the building thought it should have been a penalty except the two guys that were on the ice. There is nothing you can do. It is over with.

COACH ROBINSON: You can't dwell on the past. That is the way games go. And especially when they go that long and you get into the overtimes, those kind of things are going to happen.

COACH ROBINSON: Yeah, we -- that was probably our worst game as far as forechecking goes. We just -- we almost gave them the first half of the ice. We can't be doing that. We have got to do a much better job of forechecking. I thought we were very guilty of staying out there, long shifts. There is one thing that Dallas does, and they do it very, very well, and a lot of it is you know, Hitch's philosophy in discipline, you know, keeping the shifts short. And we were very guilty of long shifts. And that may not wear on you early on, but after -- as the game goes on, that is a cardinal sin. I think that it is a natural feeling when you are that close and you are only, you know, a bounce or one shot away and we had that breakaway in the overtime and you can always, you know, think back on all the things that could have, would have, and should have happened, so you are bound to be very disappointed.

COACH ROBINSON: That long overtime you are talking about?

COACH ROBINSON: Sports is a big mind game sometimes. As long as you don't let your mind get the best of you then you will be fine. That is our job.

COACH ROBINSON: No, not really. We are the same team that came down here the last time. I think probably a little more disappointed, but I don't want our guys hanging their head. It is not the time to hang your head.

COACH ROBINSON: I hope so. Modano, he is a little older, but he is also probably one of the better skaters in the League, but I am just saying that when you play that much it is going to take some of its toll, same as it will on our guys, I am sure. But I think we use more -- other than last night most of the time we used more players. It is not too often that we have anybody over as 17 or 18 minutes up front.

COACH ROBINSON: I think he has curtailed that quite a bit. I think that is one of the reasons why he is playing so much better now. He is able to not let that distract him from his game. He knows what he has to do and he does it well. But I mean, those are circumstances where I mean, he is a physical player and usually physical players are bound to get a few penalties here and there, but he knows he is an important part of our team and he stayed out of the box.