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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLAMES v LIGHTNING

May 25, 2004

John Tortorella

TAMPA, FLORIDA: Game One

Q. Why did you decide to go with 7 D's and how at all did that change the way the team played?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: It's a decision that we made in Game 7. We liked the way it worked. That's about it.
Q. What role did the ice play in tonight's game you think?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: No, the ice -- the ice wasn't good, but both teams play on that ice. I think when you end up having some problems, I won't even go with the ice. I think you need to keep it simple, and so that's no excuse for our hockey club because I think Calgary played on the same ice surface.
Q. Your guys seemed pretty tight at the start of the game. Did you get that same sense? I thought there were a lot of passes behind guys, a lot of passes four feet in front of guys?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: Yeah, I thought a few guys were jittery. I thought toward the second half of the game, although parts of the first period I didn't -- I mean we end up with a fluky goal off a faceoff, and then Iginla's goal. I think he makes a hell of a play. Usually that player, when Nik made the save, that guy is swinging out of there, he had the wherewithal to stop. Our player swung, he ends up scoring the second goal, which was key. Comes down to where Freddie loses it to make it one to one. They come down 2-0, gives us a whole different complexion. At first a few of our guys seemed to be a bit jittery, but I think as the game wore on they ended up finding themselves.
Q. What are the keys to your team winning Game 2?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, I definitely think we need to play a hell of a lot more simply. I think we played a lot of the game -- I think we forced a lot of things by even skating the pucks into the middle of the ice. I felt we overpassed at times. I felt a number of times when we had full control of the puck, we just end up losing it and Calgary is the type of team when there is a turnover or a bad pass made, they jump on you and I think we're going to have to be a lot simpler to try get that puck behind their D. We turned too many pucks over and had unforced errors, especially in the second period. We had some unforced errors, then Calgary that's when their forecheck jumps on you. So simple is best. You can be -- you can have talent but if you don't understand what is happening in front of you as far as what is going on in the middle of that ice and the neutral zone, that can go away from you pretty quick, so keep it simple. I think play with a little bit more grit in there.
Q. Speaking of grit, this morning you mentioned to me about mental toughness being so important. I am wondering would you call them undisciplined plays with crosschecks to the face, elbows, high sticks late in the game? Is that a form of undiscipline when a team needs the players on the ice?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, again, I haven't seen the penalty, but Ruslan Fedotenko, he got the crosscheck. He's not that type of player. Again I have to look at the tape to see that play. To get involved in a discussion about an undisciplined penalty, that's not our biggest problem in tonight's game. Our biggest problem tonight is, I don't think we were a simple enough hockey team and we allowed ourselves to get involved in our forechecking more.
Q. What did you think Calgary did on the penalty kill to create so many chances? Seems like they had a bunch of chances shorthanded?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, I don't think it was so much Calgary. I think we had a little bit to do with that. Jarome ends up with two chances because Freddie whiffs on the puck. Andy makes a great play. I think that's the turning point of the game. We have a chance to make it one to one and it goes down and it's in our net. I know there was an another chance with Clark. I am not sure what happened. I don't think -- one thing with our power play, when it's going, we're holding on to the puck. I thought we were a little skittish with it. We were just throwing it away and didn't really get it into a setup, but we'll bounce back with that and try to get some of the problem straightened out and hold on to the puck. I think holding on to the puck is a key five-on-four or five-on-five. I don't think we did enough of that tonight.
Q. Do you consider Game 2 a must-win in your mind?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: I think all games are must-wins. It doesn't matter, one through seven. The way you have to approach it, they are all must-wins, so yes, I guess, if you asked me about tonight's game, I think tonight's game was a must-win. If you don't approach it that way, I think you are approaching it the wrong way.
Q. In all did you feel that Calgary played with more hustle and more desperation and if so, what would you attribute that to?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: I won't say that, no. At times I thought, I mean, we gave up nine scoring chances tonight, and I think you got to be careful when the score is 4-1 understood, but I think you got to be careful when you assess your hockey team that you don't blow their brains out with the few minutes here and there that you struggled. Giving up nine scoring chances, I think we have to be a little bit more efficient in understanding the neutral zone as far as trying to play in their end a little bit, and not turning the puck over. But it's an easy thing to say you lose 4-1, we have got to play harder. I am not going to be a dummy and say that. I will look at the tape. We'll find out some other things that we need to improve on and we'll go about our business and try to get better. But I think the biggest problem tonight is we were a little bit too fancy at times instead of allowing yourself to get into a grinding-type situation on their D.
Q. Even though the result wasn't what you wanted, were you surprised how much open ice some of your guys got, like St. Louis did seem to get a fair bit of open ice at different times in the game?
COACH JOHN TORTORELLA: Yeah, he did. I thought Marty had the yips a little bit with the puck early on, and I thought a very important play was when Stiller sent him in when it was one-nothing, and Marty shot it right away and it went wide. You know, hopefully maybe one of those plays works for us and it changes the complexion of the game. But it didn't. We are not going to whine about it. Hopefully we can force a few bounces our way in Game 2 and continue to keep our identity. I just don't think when you are in your own building, we really try and concentrate on. No matter what building we're at, we need to keep it simple. I thought at tonight's game at times we got a little frustrated and tried to make things happen when it wasn't there instead of just keeping it simple and getting it in deep.

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