NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: SABRES v STARS

June 17, 1999

Darryl Sydor

DARRYL SYDOR: In street hockey. It was a plan that really started in our zone with a really good breakout with -- Mike got a lot of speed and when Mike's got speed, he attracts a lot of people and that is what happened. And then some -- the forwards got attracted to him. I had found lane on the outside; Mike made a great pass and I just waited a little bit; tried to go upstairs. We know Dominik usually takes the middle away, the low area away; I just tried to get it up and it happened to go in.

DARRYL SYDOR: Well, I haven't really done much, I guess offensively, but that is one thing I have learned over my years not to really get down or try and force things. I just try and relax and have fun and work hard. That is all you can ask yourself and usually good things happen. And just relax out there and have fun.

DARRYL SYDOR: For sure. I mean, it was a battle out there tonight and every shift is just so intense. This is the time of year that everyone wants to play. You know it builds and builds and obviously it built tonight. It was a big game for us. We fought for it all year for home ice. We needed to come out and play well and we played well in spurts. And got things going. We haven't done anything yet. We know it is going to be a battle.

DARRYL SYDOR: Well, I think both teams know at this time of year you are close and obviously we are close right now and we don't want to ever get too high and too low. And in any kind of series, the fourth game is always the hardest one to win and we know it. We know they have a lot of character over there. They have got a great team and they are going to come out hard and we are going to have to come out and play our best game. We know that. It is just a matter of, yeah, you got to be excited, but you got to control your emotion.

DARRYL SYDOR: Well, first period we didn't really -- we weren't really doing things that we have talked about and we regrouped in the first intermission and came out and played our game a little bit better, but, you know, it is just something that we always talk about going shift by shift because you never know what is going to happen and just give your best effort, short shifts and a lot of energy and just go out there and work.

DARRYL SYDOR: Our team has all year been a team that anybody -- somebody different usually steps up and we don't force things. We don't really rely on one guy. Sure, we have some key players in Mike and in Joe, Lehtinen, Hull and all these guys, but we really focus on everybody going out there. A lot of guys have sacrificed a lot and played maybe a little more defense an offense and we all know that is at the end of the tunnel. But we just have to sacrifice for it again and come out, who knows who is going to be the hero if there is another hero.

DARRYL SYDOR: Eddie has been playing unbelievable for us and he has been in a shadow of a lot of goaltenders and I think he has really, really taken that as motivation to do something. And Eddie has been there for us all Playoffs and we have got to be there for Eddie. He played outstanding; especially in the third period had a lot of chances he came up big.

DARRYL SYDOR: Like I said earlier, Mike, even if he doesn't pick up any points or set up anything, Mike played a heck of a game defensively and did his job. We feel that is doing his job; if he gets a few points, he gets a few point. But we don't look at Mike to do it every night and carry our team. We don't look for anybody. We just look for guys to work. If things happen like it did tonight for Mike, he made great plays and a lot of people have been on him through the Playoffs and through the series. He is just sticking with it and doing his thing.

DARRYL SYDOR: The pass he gave me, it was just a heck of a pass. Mike is a playmaker and he recognized what was happening. He could see the ice well and he saw me on the far side and made a tremendous pass.