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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLAMES v LIGHTNING

May 29, 2004

Darryl Sutter

CALGARY, ALBERTA: Game Three

Q. So much talk about the first goal in these playoffs. I wonder how you deal with that in terms of you don't want to put too much emphasis on it in case you don't get it?
COACH SUTTER: Quite honest, for a long time I have never talked about it with the team. I never hear the players talking about it either. I think the only time it gets brought up is prior or after. The bottom line is, in the National Hockey League, it's hard to score and teams are so in tune with their game plan and their system, that protecting a lead, which I don't think either of these teams necessarily think about or do naturally, but protecting a lead is a hell of a lot easier than trying to come from behind. I mean, it's proven.
Q. In games though of this stake, teams do mentally tend to -- they don't want to be the guy that makes the mistakes that cost them a goal, so it does tighten up a bit consciously?
COACH SUTTER: Yeah, I don't think now because we're playing in the Finals that that's -- has any more impact on it. That's why teams the good teams are good teams. How they handle it. A lot of teams can't handle -- that's why they don't get to the 16 teams.
Q. When you went to your fourth line on their third power play in Game 2, was that to send a message to Craig and Marty or just to the A and B --
COACH SUTTER: Power-play play is so simple if our power play -- Games 5 and 6 against San Jose won us the series, and we scored a goal in Game 1, we scored a goal in Game 2. If the other team is going to key on Jarome, then there's other guys that have to take advantage of what is there. If they are not taking advantage of it, then you know, it's pretty -- Tampa does such a good job. They are like us. They do a really good job of killing penalties, getting in shooting lanes and putting pressure on when they can and recognizing when they can, and players have to be able to recognize that and take advantage of it. I just think our defensemen have had a hard time so far in this series moving the puck and shooting the puck and recognizing when they can just wrist it through or when they can blast it. It wasn't so much who the forwards were that were on the ice.
Q. We talked earlier in the year. It seemed like in the back of your mind you had a plan to move this along, I don't know, on a month-by-month or two-year plan whatever. How does that plan accelerate? How do you go from just trying to make the playoffs --
COACH SUTTER: Only thing that's accelerated is a lot of your players that have had zero -- I don't know how many there was, but it was quite a few of our guys that have had zero playoff experience. Now they have got it. Other than that, it hasn't changed nothing. It's not going to change our market or how we look at our team going forward or anything. It's about having a young nucleus and building on the young nucleus; understanding what our parameters are in terms of what we can spin and if they fit in.
Q. You guys stayed in the hotel last night, which you did for Game 6 in San Jose. Why is it that you guys haven't played as well as you'd like on home ice?
COACH SUTTER: I think we have. I think other than one game, I think we have played really well here. I think that the one area that it's funny, whatever everybody said, what everybody thinks is wrong that the team is too excited or they are too emotional or whatever at home. I think it's the total opposite. I think there's times when -- if there's four, five it just demonstrates more patience, stick with the game plan, and go from there. I think that -- the games all been so close going into the third period. Hell, it's such a fine line. Again it is hard because it's based on record. That's what everybody looks at, wins, loss; "well, they lost so they didn't do this; they won, so everything is okay." I think we have played better in losses at home than some of our wins. But it's like Jarome told the guys this morning, you know what, anybody who talks about it, don't worry about it because the last game we played at home put us in the Stanley Cup Finals. I kind of like that better.
Q. That said, regrouping after the loss down in Tampa Bay, does it help coming home ?
COACH SUTTER: I don't know. I don't think there's any regrouping to do. We got in the airplane, we flew all night so we were regrouped by -- you know, hey, it's not that big a deal. I mean, the guys wanted to stay in the hotel last night, so that's -- they are fine. I don't think there's any mental regrouping. I think that we as a group know that we have to get some more out of some of our individuals and they will be better at it.
Q. Do you think your influence during the course of this year has changed some players more than others, and the team as a whole?
COACH SUTTER: Hopefully for the better. If it changed any -- (laughs) -- I don't know, Dan. I think the biggest thing -- it's not rocket science. I have said it before, I am not a psychologist or I wasn't there when -- like a lot of other guys, I wasn't there when they invented the game. There's a lot of people that were, so I am not one of them. The biggest change you have with our team is they are a team. It was -- I have said it hundreds and hundreds of times, it was so unfair when I came here last year, so unfair the pressure that was put on two or three players, win or lose. Hey, it was their whole deal and it was totally unfair to the players. There was nobody else being held accountable, nobody, other than those two or three players. So if accountability -- it's easy to talk about accountability, but it's a lot tougher to do something about it and I don't think that was what was going on, so, if that helps some twice, fine.
Q. Following up from yesterday, when the prime minister called you after the win over San Jose you mentioned he might want to talk about the BSE thing with him. When he visited your dressing room yesterday, did you get a chance to talk to him?
COACH SUTTER: No, I didn't. But hey, when it's all said and done it's great that he's here and it was great to see that, you know, that he came and saw what was going on and saw the excitement, the energy that's going on here in Alberta. It's great to see him have a Flames' jersey on, I mean, hey, it's -- you know, us guys are from Canada, it's special, like geez. Like I get -- I said it yesterday, hey if it was another Canadian teams in the Finals, man, I'd be --you know, it's like talking to some of the guys that play on other teams they phone you and two or throw pretty good ones there that you knew they are pulling for it too. That's great.

End of FastScripts...

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