NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

June 1, 2000

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: Yes. We made some mistakes as well, but I think the one common knowledge amongst all of us is that they certainly can play better as well. They have got a tremendous record after a first game loss, so we are prepared for their best.

COACH ROBINSON: No, we don't focus on that. All we are focusing on is our preparation for Game 2 and what we feel that Dallas may or may not do differently and focus on that. I am not someone who dwells on the past that much. We look at maybe different things that we did, but those series are over now and you have to prove yourself once again.

COACH ROBINSON: Just going back by some records we have of their game against Colorado and they come out slow in their first game against Colorado but were more aggressive, a lot more forechecking and more physical, so those are the kind of things that we are probably looking at.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I think that it is not just the forwards. I think defense and the forwards in unison, you have to take away a lot of their time. I think the way I look at it a bad hockey player becomes a good hockey player when he has time. A good player becomes a great player when he has time, so great players become even greater when they are given time to do things. You got two of the best passers in the League in Modano and Hull and a great offensive player and a guy that is great around the net in Nieuwendyk, so you can't give these guys time. If you give them time they are going to make the plays so you have got to get on them quickly.

COACH ROBINSON: He is fine.

COACH ROBINSON: No.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, you want the old cliches that go along with it? Game 2s are important because as a visiting team when they come in, if they lose the first game basically they are saying, well, let's go back with a split; then they have got home-ice advantage. Basically that is the importance of a Game 2. The importance for us is that when you get your opponent down two to nothing it then puts a lot of pressure on them to have to win back home. More so than anything else, the longer the series go on, more things can happen and so you have got to take care of each game and each game has a great importance and certainly this is a big one for us. We can't just be a flash in the pan to show up for the first game and disappear. We have been guilty of that before and we certainly aren't going to be able to come back 3-1 against every team.

COACH ROBINSON: You are always surprised to score 7 goals against a team like Dallas. They pride themselves in being a great defensive team that doesn't allow a lot of goals. So certainly it was a great surprise and so what you do is you wash away Game 1. I said yesterday that I look at this as a 7-game series. Each game is a series in itself and so once that game is over with, let's forget about it and go on to the next one. We have to be prepared to meet a Dallas team at its best.

COACH ROBINSON: Yeah, well, I think he is back to where he was early on in the season. I think his work ethic went down a little bit. He wasn't as aggressive as he was before and the big improvement I have seen in him is his responsibilities in the defensive zone. He is much more responsible about doing the job in the defensive zone. I think offensively he is just -- he's a gifted player that is going to come naturally, but he's taken a lot of pride in his defensive work.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, you are as healthy as you can be playing in a physical series where you are playing every second night. If you don't have any bumps or bruises then you haven't been playing that much. That is just the way it is. But we don't have any - touch wood - we don't have anything serious to really speak about. I think Madden was our only major casualty and it didn't turn out as bad as we had thought.

COACH ROBINSON: "Hate" seems like a very harsh word to use. I think you certainly can't love your opponent, but you know, I think rivalries are built through competition. Certainly you build up rivalries over the years by competing against them in the Playoffs. That is where you get your true rivalries. We haven't played against them more than one or two games a year. So you certainly don't get to build up rivalries that way.

COACH ROBINSON: We thought it was long when we were playing in May so -- it is definitely not the way I think that, you know, most people would like it. I know speaking to a lot of fans that I have talked to they say that they find it hard sometimes watching games when it is in the middle of June. But there is no way getting around it. It's a long season, long Playoffs, the nice thing about it is when you are playing in June it means you have gone a long way.

COACH ROBINSON: Good for Slats.

COACH ROBINSON: Yeah, he's fine.