NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAPLE LEAFS v HURRICANES

May 18, 2002

Jyrki Lumme

Gary Roberts

Mats Sundin

GARY ROBERTS: We have not talked about it as a group so I'm not sure who we are getting back, if anybody. I have no idea.

GARY ROBERTS: Obviously we've had success. But if you're talking about some of the guys that might be coming back, they are pretty key people. If that does happen, then it's obviously a plus for us, if they are healthy enough to play.

GARY ROBERTS: These are the guys that got us here. Sure, we have band-aided a group of guys here that have had success, but that's not going to last forever. We have key people that have put us in the position to be where we are, and if they were able to play, that would be a bonus for our hockey club.

GARY ROBERTS: Well, Mats is the best player on the team, and has been the best player on the team. Getting him back in the lineup, if that's the case, at this stage I don't know if that is the case, but Sundin is going to help our club. If it means mixing the lines up, so be it. I think Mats Sundin is going to be the key when he does get healthy and get back to the lineup; that's going to put us over the top hopefully.

GARY ROBERTS: I think they are going to be a lot better tomorrow. They looked like they were a little out of sync the other day. I know if we give them as many power play opportunities on Sunday as we did the other night, we are not going to win the hockey game.

So for us, we are going to have to be a little smarter in that area and make sure we are still doing the simple things that are giving us success at this point. To go 2-0 would be great but we realize they are going to come out and be a much better team tomorrow and a much hungrier team tomorrow.

GARY ROBERTS: No, I don't think so. Sure, their last game, they scored eight goals against Montreal, but I'm sure they didn't think they were going to come out and score eight goals against us. They scored one early, but we were able to shut them down after that with the help of our penalty killers and Curtis Joseph. I think they realize that it's the Eastern Conference Finals, there's going to be no gimmees. Every game is going to be tough both ways. We realize that we are up against a tough team who have had some success because they are big and strong and their goaltending has been good. We are going to have to throw everything at them to win the hockey game tomorrow.

GARY ROBERTS: Yeah, it's tough. You have to make sure you're getting your rest in between games to recover, and I'm sure this extra day is going to help us a great deal. We played every second day or a couple of weeks now, so to get an extra day to get more rest hopefully will benefit us tomorrow afternoon.

JYRKI LUMME: I feel good. I feel all right.

JYRKI LUMME: I would think so, yeah.

JYRKI LUMME: I'm all right. I've got to talk to the doctors so we'll see. It should be all right.

MATS SUNDIN: It will probably be a game-time decision tomorrow if I'm doing to play. I'm obviously going to talk to the doctors. I have not had a chance yet and we'll have to make a decision tomorrow.

MATS SUNDIN: We'll see. I don't know if we are going to skate tomorrow morning, but it will be a decision that we will do tomorrow.

MATS SUNDIN: It feels good. The shooting is pretty much back. It feels really good. We're in a good position. It was a big win for us the first game, and you know, we'll see. We'll see how it feels tomorrow. As I said, it will be a decision with me and the doctors, and obviously Pat is going to be the guy who decides.

MATS SUNDIN: No, no. The decision is going to be whatever is best for the team, obviously, as well as myself.