NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

June 4, 2001

Colin Campbell

Ken Sutton

KEN SUTTON: It feels really good. This is what you play your whole career for. I have always watched people on TV say that. It's a dream come true now. I know how it feels.

KEN SUTTON: They got blazing speed, two lines that all 6 guys out there can skate with anybody in the League. We changed the forecheck a little bit and our defense are coming up in the neutral zone a little bit better. I think it is kind of cutting off the neutral zone so it is cutting off their speed a little bit.

KEN SUTTON: Absolutely. But on the other flip-side of that, whenever we get a lead, we go in the third; we kind of play the trap, kind of get ourselves in trouble. We want to force the play a little bit; be disciplined; get the puck in; get the puck out and go after them.

COLIN CAMPBELL: I think they had -- their team was similar to the Edmonton Oilers, team about 6 or 7 years later. They were a dynasty waiting. They had young, strong, tough hockey players. They were one of the few teams that can walk into Philadelphia. They did that, the series after ours and made that incredible 3-0 deficit, almost turned that series around also. They got back to 3-3. The Flyers won the 7th game. They were a good, young team and they obviously went from Smith, Billy Smith, who was a great goalie in his day to Chico Resch. They won that 7th Game 1-0. It was a tough loss.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Right.

COLIN CAMPBELL: No. I can remember that.

COLIN CAMPBELL: Eddie Westfall, I know he came out of the corner. I am pretty sure he scored with about five minutes left.

COLIN CAMPBELL: I don't think there was any turnaround. It was just every game was close and it was an -- I think -- we had an older team and they wore that team down at the time and they were a bunch of young guys, Howatt, Potvin, a lot of young, strong forwards. I think it was a matter of just wearing a team down and it's not great to be remembered for something like that.

COLIN CAMPBELL: It was great for the city of Vancouver at the time. We had a team that probably got there more on toughness and grit and good goaltending which it always takes as we are seeing in this Playoff series right now. And the Islanders again were in the middle of their dynasty. I think that was their second Cup. They were a team that you -- they could play you any way you wanted to and they could -- you want to be gritty and tough, they could be gritty and tough too.

COLIN CAMPBELL: We made a tough decision in that year in the Stanley Cup run. Just at the trading deadline we gave up a couple of 40-goal scorers Mike Gartner and Tony Amonte to get some grit and Noonan and Matteau and players like that. They came out and I think

Matteau scored two double overtime goals that year. It is tough during the season when you are in that marathon to have the gritty players that do it night in and night out. But when you get to the Playoffs you have got to play through pain; you have got to take the hit to make a play and it just seems those gritty players come through in the Playoffs. But it is tough to take those same players and do it over 82 games as some teams have seen this year in the Playoffs.