NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: HURRICANES v RED WINGS

June 10, 2002

Steve Yzerman

STEVE YZERMAN: I think he's played pretty tenaciously, but mostly he's a finisher. He took a pass, a good play by Boyd but that was a pretty hard pass in the air, coming at him pretty hard. He picked it clean and put it in the net. That's kind of his trademark. He scores big goals. That was a huge goal for us. Great play by Boyd.

STEVE YZERMAN: No. We haven't really felt that all along, and we talked the other night after the game about some of the older guys and their conditioning, top conditioned guys on the team, so we don't rely heavily on any one line or any individual. So particularly our forwards, nobody has to logged a ton of ice time. Again age has really become irrelevant in the League. Every team is looking for experienced guys that can play, and you know, it doesn't necessarily mean we're going to be the same team five years from now, but age right now means nothing.

STEVE YZERMAN: No, it's not really a burden. I think our guys are enjoying the -- I don't want to say the pressure, but in -- they have got to live up to the expectations and have to really produce and play well. It has been kind of an enjoyable year that everybody has played pretty hard and played competitively, and you know, we have responded well in tough situations for the most part. So, no, it has been a real strong motivator for the team. It really pushed guys. There has been a lot of motivation on the team, and it is mostly about winning. Guys have gotten along very well to this point and remained pretty well focused on what we were -- on trying to win this thing. So it has been a lot of fun at this point.

STEVE YZERMAN: After that, no, not at all. I was standing right there and it just was a big relief seeing that hit the post. I just assumed it was going in, kind of could read the play -- I think it was Jeff O'Neill who knew where it was, he slides it over. That's a huge break for us. It would be 1-1 at that point but we ended up going up 2-0. That's a huge break for us, just a huge, key game. It's a bang-bang, made a great play off the post and Dominik is able to cover it. They didn't change the their play after that, no.

STEVE YZERMAN: Really just can't lose your edge. Been in this situation before, and this is a tough game. I'd rather not have two days off, but really just don't lose your edge, come out with the same desperation you need. We don't play for two days, so you kind of try as much as you can to just take it easy, and we can't play tomorrow. We don't get fired up for the next two days. By game time, you are tired. It's just a matter of staying loose for two days and coming out when the game is starting and playing hard from that point. We'll see when the puck is dropped for that game from start to finish. We can't lose our edge, lose any kind of focus and expect that it will be an easy game. Each game at this point for the most part has really gone down to the wire late in the third period or into overtime. I would expect the fifth game will go that way as well. As long as we're prepared to play a tough game, we will be okay.

STEVE YZERMAN: Yeah, I think it easier for anybody that's looking to score a goal, you know, guys -- certain guys are expected to produce more, score more. I think Brendan has played very well in the series, last game had some really good opportunities both to score and to make some plays. Just didn't go in. He's playing pretty hard, he's pretty motivated and playing with a lot of desire. So despite not scoring, he's played pretty darn well. So to get a goal he drove to the net hard and got a goal, makes it a little bit easier. It kind of gives you a sense of reward that finally -- goal scorers like to score goals. No matter how much you are doing other things well, you still feel like you have got to put the puck in the net. So I am sure it is a good relief for him.

STEVE YZERMAN: We have been in this situation before, you just can't get caught up in thinking that the series is over anytime it's 3 -1 or you are at a chance to eliminate a team, 3 -0, 3-1, or 3-2 for that matter. You really got to prepare for the game and play with the same desperation that we have played because Carolina is not going to lay down in the game. And for us it is just two days just to really relax, but not think of -- come game time not think of playing anything less than our best hockey and be prepared to do anything. So it is just relax, really take it easy for two days, not get all fired up tomorrow or tonight, just come to the rink on Thursday ready to go.

STEVE YZERMAN: They didn't have a lot. Our strength of our defense is, I think, the movement of the puck. They are able to get it and move it out of our zone and not spend a lot of time back there. Our forwards have really, as the Playoffs have gone on, been picked up, coming back hard, putting pressure from behind, and allowing our "D" to stay up a little bit at the blue line. We're getting more effective playing the trap, I think, but mostly guys are coming back really hard. And our shifts have gotten shorter with each time, the tempo of the game this series has been the highest that we have played. I think the guys have done a good job of keeping it short, going in hard and getting back hard and getting off the ice. We have played a high tempo. I think coming back to our own zone, not giving them any time to look for a play.