NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLUES v AVALANCHE

May 18, 2001

Bob Hartley

Patrick Roy

Stephane Yelle

STEPHANE YELLE: We had to put down low and Rob Blake gave me a -- I think faked the shot, gave me a pass, it was just a deflection, but it was so bad it went in.

STEPHANE YELLE: Yes. Like I said a couple nights ago, I felt a little bit down and I felt like I let the guys down. Tonight it feels good and I can't remember the last time we had a game winner in overtime. So it feels really good.

STEPHANE YELLE: I was disappointed a couple nights ago. The guys came over and told me not to get too down and to get ready for tonight's game and that's what I tried to do. I tried to let go of what happened a couple nights ago. I knew we had a big game tonight and I tried to get ready for that.

PATRICK ROY: For sure. He deserves it. Sometimes, you know, you get down on yourself. But to me, that game should never have been in overtime tonight. I thought we should have won that Game 3-2. We had twice the lead in the third period tonight. Today was a big win for us. We certainly didn't want to go back home tied at two. But we should learn from our experience from LA and know that Game 5 won't and easy one. They showed a lot of things today. They came stronger than ever at us in the second and the third and tried to win the game. We're going home 3-1 up and we have to be ready for five 5 big time.

PATRICK ROY: No. No pressure. But make sure we're ready. The Blues going to play -- we know the Blues going to give everything they have. They're going to come over around there and try to get one game at time. Same for us. We have to make sure we're ready. I thought the gave 5 against LA we were a bit flat. We should learn from.

STEPHANE YELLE: Not really. I mean, they were all good to me. I mean they let me know they were there for me. I mean, that's what a team's all ability.

PATRICK ROY: Well, I mean, I don't know. I don't like to make comments on other goaltender. I think we all do our best. And fortunately for us, we scored a big one in overtime.

PATRICK ROY: Well, I don't know. When it came 3-3, I think we were all a bit disappointed. But it was a time to regroup. And play. And see what's going to happen. And I just wanted to stay focused and not let these goals affect any time. And maybe sure that I remain focused and follow the play. I mean, I thought -- I know it's cheap words, but I mean I thought it was bad luck. And I just want to -- I felt good out there. I just want to make some key saves for the boys and fortunately for me, it happened.

PATRICK ROY: No, I think it went straight in my glove. It was too fast, huh? (Laughing) It went straight in my glove. Somehow I was looking for him and I knew they wanted to use him. They did that one time on a penalty by Rob and he had a good one timer on the top of the circle. This time I was kind of looking for and open up one timer, and he was there.

STEPHANE YELLE: Like I said earlier, I was disappointed that night, but next day I knew we had a big game tonight. And I had to get ready and that's what I tried to do.

COACH HARTLEY: The St. Louis Blues are a great hockey club. They had plenty of time to come back. Once they scored the first goal, like you could feel that the momentum was switching sides. And we had very little that we could do. You look at the goal that is they scored, pretty nice goals, and that's the talent that they have. On our side, I really liked the way that we stayed focused. We kept a great composure. Our players regrouped. And we had a pretty solid third period. They scored in the third period. But I thought that it was pretty tight hockey. Like gave 3, it was a very exciting game.

COACH HARTLEY: First, John Klemm has a sore knee. He's going to go through some testing tomorrow morning. We're going to know more during either tomorrow or Sunday morning. And it's so great for Yelle to get the winning goal. After missing that open net in Game 3, come back to win us Game 4, I think that Stephane Yelle's a great team guy. He's -- I don't know what to say. Here's a guy that went to the net. Rob Blake made and unbelievable play and just put pucks at the net. When you drive at the net, you give yourself a chance to tip some pucks and that's exactly what happened.

COACH HARTLEY: Well, Stephane had lots of injuries, but that's part of the game. So Stephane Yelle, as everybody knows, has rolled with the team. Stephane is one of our best defensive players, certainly one of our top penalty killers. Certainly for him to give us that winning goal is a big bonus for the entire organization. Have a good night, everyone.