NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: CAPITALS v RED WINGS

June 15, 1998

Brendan Shanahan

BRENDAN SHANAHAN: I think, sure, when they played against Buffalo or when they played against Ottawa, Boston, that rivalry and that history was there at the drop of the puck. Sometimes when you play East versus West, it takes time to develop.

BRENDAN SHANAHAN: No, it's not. The other thing is this: Sometimes, in those other series, you get away with things. Here, so much focus, you know you're not going to get away -- some of the things that sometimes really create these rivalries was done behind the players -- done when the referrees aren't looking. So much scrutiny and so much on the line that you can't really afford to take a five-minute penalty. You can't afford to, sometimes, take a two-minute penalty or -- basically, you can't afford to take a selfish penalty at this time of the year. You want to really limit those. There is so much on the line that discipline is such a huge key. There is no need for us to prove anything at this point except -- all we want to do is win. We talk about that before games and even sometimes when we're playing against those division rivals. Sometimes you can get caught up trying to answer back with hits and run guys and get revenge for something that's happened and you just -- you really have to force yourself, you know, to be mentally tough enough to just try to win.

BRENDAN SHANAHAN: I think the two best teams deserve to be here. I think that travel and the playoffs are so long and the travel is so difficult right now that if you start going, say, the with the top 16 teams -- regardless of whether they're East, West -- that's just -- I think you would have a more sluggish final. One team just by accident could end up -- New York could be playing Vancouver in the first round, San Jose in the second round, and Anaheim in the third round. I mean, it would just -- I mean, the travel is bad enough right now. But if something like that were to happen, it could prove to be a worse situation.

BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Well, I think, as players, we've kept things in perspective these last couple of days. You can get used to people patting you on the back and telling you it's over. We're just focusing on trying to repeat this one. But I think, in doing that, in this day and age, I don't know if you're ever going to have a team that wins four or five in a row ever again.