NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: CAPITALS v RED WINGS

June 8, 1998

George McPhee

Ron Wilson

RON WILSON: I think I have imagined it watching the Finals over the years. I have never actually had a dream where I was coaching in the Finals. But, you always wonder what it is like. I always thought that it must be one heck of a marathon and you would be completely exhausted by the time you would get to this position, but it hasn't felt like that at all. Winning is a great elixir. You feel, actually, as we are going through that, younger.

RON WILSON: Well, that makes -- that is like a nice exclamation point on it. The Detroit Red Wings are the best team in hockey now. They are the defending Stanley Cup champions from our point of view. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. And obviously with Scotty Bowman behind their bench, you have an opportunity to get up against one of the greatest, if not the greatest coach of all times. So, that really makes it special.

RON WILSON: We have got to bring it back. I don't want to get stuck on the moon.

RON WILSON: What I learned is the Red Wings are a great team and very difficult team to get flustered. They played a very patient game last year. I thought, to be honest with you, going in that, we might have had a bit of an advantage psychologically on them last season, the Ducks we didn't lose to them in the regular season, and they had everything to lose and yet I think they got stronger as that series went on and it enabled them to become a team where they didn't bat an eye against us. In previous big series, those times when they played San Jose and failed, you sensed that pressure had gotten to them. I think they came a long way last year. Can you use that for this year? No, I have a completely different team and so this is another challenge because now I am -- we are playing Washington, or playing Detroit and they are going to see a completely different team, completely different system. In fact, we have four lines and each line is quite different. With regards to my uncle, I know he is basically got a Red Wing logo at that time today on his rump, but I am working on getting one of those Capitals; Eagles on the other one. He is very excited about this and so is my whole family. All of my relatives, both here and in Rhode Island, are very excited and will be here and hopefully cheering the Capitals.

GEORGE McPHEE: Certainly it can't hurt. One of the things that is important to all of us obviously when you are a coach or a manager is to find not only players with a good skill level, but you want the intangibles, that is almost as important as the skill level and these guys have the leadership and character and experience that you like to have in a locker room and they have been certainly very valuable for us.

RON WILSON: I agree with George, when you have players who have been there and have experienced so many different ups and downs for example, Brian Bellows has been to the Finals a couple of times. He has won once and he has lost, I believe, twice, so that is the negative side of things he can relate to players. On the other hand, Tikkanen has been -- this is his 6th Final and the previous 5 he never lost. So, you need a little bit of everything. I think Tik has played on teams that weren't favored to win the championship and did and he has played on teams that were favored and did go through, so, he can speak from vast experience. We have seen that so far in the first three rounds; especially when we get into overtime games when often times it takes a word or two from Brian Bellows or Tik to get the team to relax a little bit and to also understand that they can win and they have really helped make a lot of believers out of guys.

RON WILSON: Well, I think what I what is most impressive about Scotty to me is his ability to adjust over the years. A lot of coaches are very, I guess, regimented in how they coach and I think if you look at all of Scotty's teams from Saint lieu toys Montreal, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Detroit everyone of his teams has been different. And he has been flexible enough, start in the '60s go through the '70s, '80s and into the '90s is a tremendous accomplishment, learning the different things about different generations of players. That is the true test of a coach, the ability to be flexible as far as I am concerned and that is just amazing what Scotty's record is. Is this his 12th Final or 13th? 12th? 12th Final and he has won seven times that. That is unbelievable. I was trying to win once and that is incredible.

RON WILSON: Well, I mean, you know, I am a bit of a sentimentalist, I guess, romantic. I think that is only natural when you have got a family relationship with a franchise to think about that. But, what turned out to be a nightmare at the end of last season for me personally, now I look at the job I have and this is the dream job. I couldn't have anymore support than I have received this year from George, my assistant coaches, and upper management starting with Mr. Pollin, Susan O'Malley and Dick Patrick, this has been, I mean, just a dream season as far as I am concerned in the support department. I do a lot of crazy things and never once have I felt a lack of support from anybody in management and it has been a real fun season. And what is nice to be allowed to do your job and then find yourself in the Stanley Cup Finals.

RON WILSON: We are not a young team so intimidation doesn't get factored in at all. If you are a very young team with a lot of lack of experience, intimidation takes on a number comes in a number of ways, being intimidated by a large and rowdy crowd which is going to be here, being intimidated by a great hockey team, being physically intimidated. Being intimidated by speed so we come in with a lot of respect. I don't think I even have to talk about the word intimidation at all with our players. We are not intimidated. We are very respectful of the Red Wings.

RON WILSON: Well, that we were trying to do something that a lot of people in Washington at the start of the season thought was impossible and that to accomplish something like that, for example, Apollo 11 you would know the names of the three astronauts, but there were thousands of people in the background who were really just as important as those three astronauts and that is what we wanted to get across is a lot of people out there were supporting us and really cared about. We -- I think I have sensed as a franchise at times our players didn't think anybody cared in Washington for example, or anywhere else that whether we were successful or we were losing, there was a sense of apathy about our team. And, we made -- that is why I used that sort of analogy or used a metaphor a little bit and then turned that into each player dedicating that particular game to someone special who they thought would -- it would mean something to, the game. Most of the guys said their parents, some guys said their kids because it was an opportunity that when they had been previously been to a Final, for example, they didn't have any kids and the kids were really enjoying it. And a few of the players Brian Bellows in particular, well Joe Reekie more so than Brian Bellows but they dedicated their games to the wives because their wives are pregnant and due at any moment and actually trying to hold things off so the guys can concentrate on the Stanley Cup. I thought that was just unbelievable.

RON WILSON: We haven't really decided who Tik is going to bother. There is any number of people in their lineup who have been successful so far. I mean, Stevey Y is leading their team in points, so why wouldn't we have Tik bother him. Scotty is a master at taking players out of position and make them somewhere else that really screws up your plans, so, basically tomorrow we are just going to play it by ear and try to be flexible and make adjustments as the game goes on. If we sense anyone individual is giving us a hard time, as we decided in during the Boston series, with Jason Allison then we will make some adjustments.

RON WILSON: Well, just shows you how difficult it is no matter what type of a player you are, you think of a Dale Hunter; I think at the same time of a Ray Bourque, for example, superstar athletes who never had the fortune of being lucky enough to win a championship and you do need a hefty portion of luck. What I like in the Dale Hunter situation the way our team has come together as a big family, if I were to hold most of our players who they really would dedicate winning this to, I'd almost think it would be unanimous with Dale Hunter, the guys will go through the wall for him which says a lot about Dale Hunter.

RON WILSON: That is what you people write about. It is not Comedy Central in there all the time. When we sense the team is a little tight we try to loosen things up. In a lot of humor there is very similar message, that is, we have to play as a team. That is what most of these things we do touches upon and I think you are seeing our team come together. Besides it is me, I like to have fun and George does too. We have tried to create that kind of an atmosphere in our locker room where you can speak your mind at any time and I think we are well on our way to creating the environment that we set out to create when we were hired last June.

RON WILSON: I think it is a great matchup. Neither goalie has won a Stanley Cup by himself. I think they are both two of the hottest goaltenders in the League right now, two of the best goalies. I know I keep reading articles how Olie is hot. Well, Olie has been hot all year right from the first day of training camp, so I don't think it is hot anymore. It is good. And, Ozzie, I think, has improved every year he has been in the League. He essentially has been in the same boat at times as Olie where he has been a backup to someone who has had a bigger reputation, stronger reputation and this is his time. I laugh at anybody who says that we have an advantage in goal. I mean, Chris Osgood has given up what I would consider two bad goals, one cost his team in the Playoffs, so, Olie has been just as guilty, maybe not of giving up a goal from the red line but a couple of soft goals have gotten by Olie. That is just sport. These guys are going to battle and it is going to be a lot of fun.