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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLAMES v LIGHTNINGMay 28, 2004Martin St. LouisCALGARY, ALBERTA: Practice Day Q. Could you talk about the intensity of that game last night, and as you expressed after the game, that, you know, that I guess you would have to use the word "behavior" between the two teams, the rivalry between these two teams. Talk about the significance of that and how important it is for you to move on in the series? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Well, I think, like I said yesterday, we're two teams that don't play against each other. In the playoffs, I believe to win against the team you have to hate them because you have to be able to be physical to do things maybe that some of the fans don't notice. It's easier to do those things when you hate the team. I think last night you saw that last night. I am sure they hate us a little bit more, too. That's important in a series. Obviously we have to carry -- we have got to feel that way every game. We can't take a night off. Q. Just the timeliness of some of Brad's goals, six-game winning goals. He seems to be there when the games matter the most. MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Absolutely. He has had a great career so far obviously. This year he has had a great year, but this is the time where people are looking at you and, you know, this is when you take steps in your career, to good players, to great players, and Brad puts a lot pressure on himself to perform and help our team win. He's done that so far in the playoffs. I am not surprised that he has had the stats he has and the quality of goals he's scored at key times. Q. What was it about last night? Did it feel at any point that you guys were like, this is how we played all year compared to Game 1? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Yeah, I mean obviously last night I thought this is the way we're known of playing, obviously we're creative offensively defensemen are involved in the plays offensively and we all collapse and help out defensively as well. I thought yesterday was the kind of game that got us here. That's our kind of hockey, but that's just one game. We can't just -- we got to take that momentum and take it into Game 3. What we did, it's over with now. We have to move on to Game 3. Q. You guys have been pretty good in the post-season on the road. Do you enjoy playing playoffs game on the road? Could you describe what it is like? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Enjoy it or not, you have to go on the road and win games. You can't just count on your home ice to get some wins. We have done that in the playoffs this year, that's important, and we play good on the road. And I hope we, you know, we come here and take that first, Game 3, and do the things that we have done so far on the road this year. Q. You touched on this a couple of minutes ago: The Flames have a reputation of sometimes at the end of a game, to go out of control. They like engaging in fights. Is that a frustrating thing to see as a hockey player? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Not really. When a game is -- obviously they were out of it with four, five minutes to go, and their frustration comes out. I think our frustration came out in Game 1. That's just playoff hockey. You are out of it, you might as well get involved physically and send a message for the next night. I think that's something they try to do. We tried to do that in Game 1. I am not surprised we're frustrated. It's just part of playoff hockey. Q. John was just talking about for offensive players such as yourself, no matter what he says about all the good things you are doing, it's really important for your confidence to see the puck go in the net. How important was last night's game where you score, Brad scores, Vinny is all over the scoresheet? Early in the series you guys are involved that way. MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Well, I think -- you know, for us to be where we want to be, obviously winning the Cup is, you know, the guys are on the ice -- the guys are getting the most ice time. You have to be accounted for and in all the offensive situations. And with that said, we have to score goals. We have been counted on all year and this is not the time to hide. This is a time to step up to the plate and get it done because how many times are you going to get to this place again? Who knows. I am happy our offensive guys got the goals yesterday and, you know, the more confidence we get offensively, I think the better we play. Q. Early in the playoffs you guys won eight in a row. Obviously sustaining the desperation game in, game out was a factor. Now win every other game through the Flyers series, the start of this series. How much more difficult is it to carry over the same level of desperation that got you a win one night? You know the other team is going to ramp it up the next game, just the difficulty in trying to match that win, that second in a row? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: It's tough to win two in a row. Obviously we're all after the same thing and, you know, they come back -- I know they are going to come back very hungry tomorrow for a win. They are going to play very desperate, and I think that's what -- that's what elevates a team's game is their desperation level, winning the battles, and playing aggressive. For some reason sometimes it's tough to duplicate that, you know, tough to do it night in and night out. But I think it's the team that does it more consistently has a better chance of winning.
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