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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLAMES v LIGHTNINGJune 3, 2004John TortorellaTAMPA, FLORIDA: Game Five Q. One guy who hasn't got much attention from us is Darryl Sydor. I wonder if you can talk about why you made the move for him and is he giving you what expected when you made the trade? COACH TORTORELLA: We made the move for him to solidify our D. We feel he's a top-four defensemen. His first task as far as transition, his character, the intangible of playing in the Finals, winning a Cup and to answer the question has he done the things we want? Absolutely. Q. We have been talking about the first goal for a while now. Do you think that maybe it's becoming as much psychological with teams as it is in terms of defending the lead? I mean, do you get the sense when teams give up the first goal that maybe they are getting that mindset that so many teams now win after scoring? COACH TORTORELLA: We don't. Again, we're just trying to play our game. We're trying to create more offense, so as far as the mindset after you score the first goal, that's not the way we're trying to approach it. We're just trying to go about our game and trying to win the battles and get our opportunities to score more goals from there. Q. Your reaction to Darryl Sutter's comments from yesterday? COACH TORTORELLA: I didn't read them. Q. There's been sunbelt teams for a long time since 1967 and you are in a southern city. Is there anything you have to do differently to prepare your team throughout the season playing in a non-traditional hockey climate or what you would not call a hockey climate? COACH TORTORELLA: Well, not so much the climate. I will speak for this coaching staff, when this coaching staff took over we felt we were an organization that didn't understand how to compete. I think that's the one of the biggest things that we tried to bring as a staff is to teach a discipline of the game, competing of the game and I thought we were the worst-conditioned hockey team in the game at that point in time. Those were the three main things we tried to work on. We don't approach it as far as climate, state, country, whatever it is, this is a National Hockey League team and we're trying to conduct it that way. As we have gone through the past few years with the stability of Jay Feaster that he's brought here, and the people being brought back and the continuity between players and coaching staff. We feel that has been one of the biggest things that's helped us get down the road a little bit here. Q. The series is being characterized a bit as your skilled players against their toughness. You find that a little bit simplistic and do you feel these teams are a little bit more versatile than that? COACH TORTORELLA: I don't know. You guys may characterize it that. We have no control what people think of the series. We just go about preparing for Calgary as we see them as a hockey team. They deserve to be there, coming out of the West as far as some of the things they have done in their first three rounds. But as far as characterizing and talking about this, that and the other thing, that's up to you guys. As a coaching staff here at Tampa, we're just getting ready for each and every game and try to play within our team concept and try to find a way to win. Q. In your mind are they the most physical team in the League? COACH TORTORELLA: I haven't really given it much thought. I think all teams are physical in the playoffs. So I really haven't given it too much thought. Q. With the demand of playing post-season hockey and basically going every other day for the most part, is there something you can do from a coaching standpoint to make sure that their energy level is at the right place it needs to be at? COACH TORTORELLA: What are you asking? I didn't hear part of your question. Q. With playing basically every other day, is there something different you can do during the regular season as a coaching staff to make sure they are getting rest, getting energy levels? I don't know, maybe I guess the team meals is one thing you have a team meal basically everyday to make sure they are getting good nutrition. Is there stuff like that that you can do from a coaching standpoint to make sure their energy is right? COACH TORTORELLA: Not practice. We don't like practicing them during the Playoffs. Practicing is overrated. But as far as getting too deep into it, Eric, that question is a little bit too deep for me this morning. It's just a matter of the games are the most important thing. We have been playing now what, for 60 days since the regular season. To me, I guess, it's not so much a physical thing, although both teams are banged up. But if you don't have the right mindset and you aren't fresh mentally, you are not going to be able to do anything physically. We don't do a lot of nitpicking and grinding of the players. As we do sometimes during the regular season to make sure we're okay. It's just moving on and trying to respond. There are no secrets in the series. After the first period of the first game, both teams even before then they know each other and so there's not too much dwelling on things. It's a matter of just getting ready mentally to clear the slate, get ready for the next one. Q. To Billy's question about the environment here in Tampa, when you came to the team did you find that you had to raise the expectation level internally because there wasn't that much pressure from outside from the community and so on to produce a winner? COACH TORTORELLA: Again, you go back to the climate and the community. I don't think that -- I don't know how to answer that. All I know when we came here as a coaching staff, there was no accountability. It was -- that had to change. These players are from all different parts of the world -- Canada, Russia, wherever it may be, so it has nothing to do with where we are at. It's how you approach your every-day being in that locker room as far as preparation and understanding what it is to be in the National Hockey League. At the time that this staff came in, we had a very young team that was a bit scattered in their thinking, I guess is the way to put it. So our job was to try to change that mindset and accountability, and competing. How you compete was the main thing we tried to work on. Q. Early in his career Khabibulin maybe had a reputation of being somewhat of a streaky goaltender, was that accurate? Has he gone past that now? He is a more well rounded game in/game out individual? COACH TORTORELLA: I think so. I think with Nik -- I was with Nik in Phoenix a number of years ago where Nik was out of shape, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, the whole nine yards. He is a tremendous talent. You can see how much talent he has and I think what he's done is bring the conditioning part into it and then that's a very important thing for a goaltender as all athletes. He is probably one of our top fit athletes right now compared to about five or six years ago, it's a whole different person. So I think he's gone about his business and understands that he does have talent. He brings his conditioning in it and just his mindset of wanting to be the best, and I think that's what carries him as far as being a world class goalie. Q. You spoke in the past few years about the importance of the leadership of guys like Andreychuk and some of the veterans. How important of a factor has that been pushing you through the Playoffs? You sit here 2-2 in the Stanley Cup Finals. How big will it be rest of the way? COACH TORTORELLA: It's a key. I think before we even start thinking about what is going on on the ice, it's how is that locker room and that locker room has changed completely from again, three years ago, and I don't blame the kids. I think it was just -- it was lacking that leadership in that room. We were a very young team three years ago and with a couple of additions to the team, with Andy and tails ^ and the maturing of these young players, that's what makes your team to have an opportunity to be playing here in June, is that locker room being straightened out. Those intangibles are very important. Q. Everybody was there at practice yesterday. The same today. It is June the 3rd. Do you think when the series starts, the Playoffs starts, did you in your mind you think about injuries and do you feel lucky that everybody is here with maybe two or three games left? COACH TORTORELLA: Yeah, I mean, both teams are banged up but everybody is out there and this is the time of year that injuries are just what they are, injuries. I think most of the guys just play through it. Both teams are doing that. No one wants to miss any time and so to be fortunate, I don't know. We don't talk too much about it. We're just preparing everyday and if you were playing it doesn't matter what type of injury you have, you need to play and try to find a way to help the team win. Q. I know you don't worry about what is going on in the stands. I am sure you know tonight everybody is going to be wearing white. Have you thought about how that might affect anything, other than maybe the goalies and the background anything like that? COACH TORTORELLA: No, haven't even thought about it. Q. You understand that you are in a rare position now? Not many coaches get to within possibly two wins of the Stanley Cup. Are you able to in your few hours away from the rink separate yourself from this all-encompassing thing? Are you able to relax with your family get your mind off of it -- COACH TORTORELLA: No. Q. It is just completely -- COACH TORTORELLA: No. No. No, in this situation, you want to be here. You want to be consumed by this. If you are not consumed by it, you are not ready to go each and every day. So I am not a big believer in "you need to get away and do this over there." First of all, it's about the players and again we're just trying to guide them. But as far as an organization, Craig Ramsay, this is his first time back to the Finals in 29 years. So this is our first whack at it and my first whack at it and for a number of people in this organization, this is totally consuming and it should be.
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