NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

June 2, 2000

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: No, I think discipline is a mindset. It has nothing to do with where you are playing. It is how you are focusing and where your mind is. I think if you put your mind where it should be and you are focused on what you got to do, then you are not going to be involved in those kinds of things. I don't think it has anything to do with where you are.

COACH ROBINSON: I think that they (Dallas) forechecked much harder last night and they were moving the puck through the neutral zone a lot better. They were finding those seam passes because we were giving them more opportunities to do so. I thought we were very, very guilty of one guy trying to beat three. They were just lining up three and four across the blue line and we were losing and turning the puck over in the gray areas which is the biggest sin a hockey player can do. When you are playing against a talented team like that, you do not give them opportunities. They jump on those turnovers and we were guilty of it time after time and that was our biggest downfall.

COACH ROBINSON: Same for both teams. When you start making excuses for ice conditions and all the boards aren't right or this isn't well or that isn't well, then you are not being focused on what you have to do. It is the same for both teams. You just have to be careful in the hot weather; that you don't get dehydrated; you make sure that you are well hydrated and that you are getting lots of fluids in your body. You shouldn't have a problem.

COACH ROBINSON: No.

COACH ROBINSON: No, it is funny because Ken Hitchcock was saying the same thing about his club, how they come, they show up for the one game; then they are not there for another game. I think that the biggest thing is that I think when you have a little bit of success, you sometimes get a little self-satisfied with yourself and you think it is just going to be easy. I think that is just -- that is a little bit of the nature -- it is natural to maybe think that way. It has been a long season and guys have had to work very, very hard to get here. So I think it is -- sometimes it is natural to have a little bit of a let-out. So I think it is important for guys to remain focused. I think it is a much used word in the Playoffs but it is so very, very important. Two of the most important words that you can use as a player or coach during the Playoffs are "Discipline" and "Focus." Because there are so many distractions. I don't think you are going to get this many media everyday at a practice or everyday at a game during the season. A lot of these guys aren't used to this much attention. I think it is even more important to not lose site of the fact of how you got to play and what you have got to do to be successful.

COACH ROBINSON: We don't have a show to put on. They don't have family and friends that are coming to watch them play and score goals. They are concentrating on one thing and that is; win the hockey game. That is the focus that you have to have.

COACH ROBINSON: They got two goals with that matchup; I am sure he is going to like it. We got four goals the night before; that is why I liked it. I think the biggest thing on that line right now Lehtinen gives them an exceptional -- well, you have got the best two-way player in hockey last year and voted so, and he makes a big difference on that line. But both Modano and Hull are opportunists. I think the Arnott line last night was guilty of giving the puck away too much. You can't do that against a line like Modano and Hull. They have got to control the puck more. They have got to get skating. I thought the three last night Arnie did a much better job. He was at least being physical. The other two were really as dominant as they were the night before. They were non-existent last night.

COACH ROBINSON: I kicked myself this morning. What I should have done is when I saw that they weren't as sharp I should have probably broke that line up and maybe sat one of them and played -- I thought Mogilny had great legs last night and I probably should have maybe moved him up because he was ready to go and so I will take the blame for that one a little bit myself because it was something that I thought about, but you always hope, I mean, that is the same line that dominated the night before and you are hoping something will get clicking and they will get going. But when I saw it wasn't happening, I probably should have sat one of them on the bench and got the other one going.

COACH ROBINSON: If they are playing.

COACH ROBINSON: One line against one line?

COACH ROBINSON: Well, it is the old adage of: If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and if it is working why not stay with it. But if it's not, you have got to adjust. I think the one thing about being on the road is that you don't have the last change so when you make a decision you have got to make sure it is the right decision.

COACH ROBINSON: I don't really look at a game and look at matchups or anything else unless I am playing that particular team, then I am seeing who is having success against one line but a lot of coaches in this League believe that here, this is our power; here's your power, let's go at it. I think truthfully, though, what it comes down to is you want your best or the defense pair that you feel best suits the team that they are going against.

COACH ROBINSON: There is no doubt about it, the game last night is over with so there is nothing you can do about it. At this point you are not going to hang your head and for sorry for yourself because nobody feels sorry for us right now. We know that we are a much better team than we showed and I don't think that this is time for us to start looking back. We have got to look ahead. I know we can play better and it is too bad. Everybody says well, that is all you hear. You can't do the thing the easy way. My answer to that is: Why not - be a lot easier on us as coaches if it was done the easy way. But there are no easy ways. Everything takes a lot of hard work and we just have to get back to doing the things that we did before.

COACH ROBINSON: It is unfortunate that if you have to start screaming and kicking trash cans at this point of the year, this is the most important time of the season; the most important times of their careers and if they can't get motivated or they can't handle things at this juncture or at this time of the year, then we are only kidding ourselves of what kind of hockey players they will be. This is where your true stars and true players come out with the grit that you want on your organization. The other guys, they are the guys that shine at this time of the year.

COACH ROBINSON: It's not a light touch. We got to get back to where we were. We got away from it. As Jason was saying, we played their game last night. The pushing and the shoving and the scrums after the whistles. That is -- that gets our focus off our game. That is not our game. It is not that we can't handle it. It's not that we are not a tough team, but this is not a time to prove who is tough right now. This is a time to prove who can play the game the best.

COACH ROBINSON: Fine.