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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: FLAMES v SHARKSMay 17, 2004Darryl SutterCALGARY, ALBERTA: Game Four Q. (Inaudible.) COACH DARRYL SUTTER: One player played 25 games with us, so we're just trying to max them out and put them in situations where they can excel and at the same time where they can add to their profile. I think that I said all along for those young guys to be able to play now it's not only about them getting better, it's about how they handle the experience of it all. I think that basically what we have asked them to do is just max it out. Bring what they have and what they're good at and try and be really good at. And they have done a pretty good job of that. Q. Have they impressed you with their play? COACH DARRYL SUTTER: They give a great effort and that's all you can ask. That's kind of symbol like of our team. We're not in a position to make major lineup changes or talk about reinventing the game or something like that. We're just trying to get the most out of everybody. And I think that those young guys have done a really good job of that. Q. You guys were supposed to have gotten a big boost when Chris Simon was healthy and got back into the lineup, but everybody's been talking about his penalties. Do you get the sense that maybe he's trying to do a little too much? COACH DARRYL SUTTER: I think what's important is as series go along, it doesn't matter who it is or how it's perceived from the outside, as series go along you don't have anything as an individual to prove any more. I think that -- and that sometimes can be a frustrating thing for a player. I think that the concept has to be that it's a whistle to whistle game and you know that there might be an official that's watching for you or something like that, but I think there's being too much made of that, to be quite honest. I mean, if we're just looking at the last two games, I think that regardless of how you want to look at it, the other team took more penalties than our team. And so to isolate players or individual is really not what it's about. Q. When you guys left here after Game Two people were almost, people in the bars and media were penciling you guys in in going to the Stanley Cup. Now you come back and it's swung the other way, the popular opinion goes. Is it almost easier for you guys to be the underdog, because that's the role that you've had? COACH DARRYL SUTTER: It's not easy for us either way. We're a team that's -- we're running on the bare minimum. As I said, we -- our weakest game of this series was Game One, we won it. We felt in 3 and 4 that we gave ourselves opportunities to win games and there was little mistakes that you make. So for -- you talk about people in the bar, people in the media? Well -- (Laughter.) I mean, that really doesn't have much impact on the game itself. I think that, did we expect to beat them four straight? No. So that's kind of where you're at. Q. What about your resiliency? Throughout the playoffs when you've had a bad game, I mean not just Miikka but as a team you guys have really managed to come back and put it behind you and focus. Do you draw on any past games? COACH DARRYL SUTTER: The concentration or the focus or the preparation is not based on wins and losses. It's based on performance. And if -- and it's a game of mistakes. So if you can limit those mistakes, then you give yourself a chance. So it's not based on wins and losses. This series could be 3-1 for them or 3-1 for us. We have done this all season, so we don't really draw on that, on those experiences at all. I think that because of -- I think that adversity always is part of -- you don't get to this position without being able to handle adversity at some point. And it's funny because coming into this series, those people in the bars, those people in the media were telling me, well, geez, you guys have never won in the Shark Tank. You're going to be coming home down 0-2. So there's really no relevance. You can't draw from it, I don't think there's much to draw from it, other than you just -- it's hard on your players the grind that they're going through. And you just try and keep them focused on playing the game. Because that's what it is, it's a game, it's not what everybody wants it to be. It's not what they're trying to build it up to be. You don't get very many opportunities to be in this position, there's a pile of other players and other teams that would love to be in this position, so enjoy it more than dwell on something that might drag you down in it. Q. You've been around Vincent Damphousse, can you talk about how he's been able to elevate his game in the playoffs and what you might be able to do against him? COACH DARRYL SUTTER: Well, he's a great playoff player. He's a big game player and he's a big moment player. There's a lot of guys in the series that have got attention for individual great plays or the goaltenders have got attention in all four games of how well or how they have led their team to victory. But the best player in the series has been Vincent Damphousse. That's for sure. Q. You're playing like your 7-2 on the road, but you have more trouble at home. Do you -- COACH DARRYL SUTTER: I don't base it on wins and losses. I think we have -- other than the very first game we have played at home in the playoffs, I think we played really well. I think that we have played as -- we have given ourselves an opportunity to win every game. I think we have probably won some games in series on the road because the other team thought they were going to win before it started.
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