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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: FLYERS v LIGHTNINGMay 7, 2004Dave AndreychukMartin St. LouisTAMPA, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q. You're probably tired of hearing about it, but just talk about the fact that because you were so dominant in Round 2, you've had a lot of time and is there anything in the hockey playoffs called "rust" or is that something we've made up because we have nothing to talk about? DAVE ANDREYCHUK: Well, first of all, some type of rest is good for our team, I think for any team. Obviously, it's going to take us a little bit to get back into it and get our intensity back up. I think that's the only thing you're going to lose. I think at this point in the year, your conditioning is going to stay. But we definitely have to get our intensity backup, and I think that's the rust that we are all talking about. But it doesn't take very long. This team, they are going to come at us and we know that. So our intensity level will get back up there quickly. Q. Dave, the Cup has been on a tour and it's in this area right now and Jeremy Roenick was talking about his superstitions and was actually glad that it's here because he doesn't want it in Philadelphia -- DAVE ANDREYCHUK: We are going to send it up there. Q. Just wondering your feelings, if you have the same superstition, you don't want to see it or touch it? DAVE ANDREYCHUK: I've been to the Cup party. I've never touched the Cup. When I was in Toronto, obviously, we did a lot of promotional work around it, but I've never actually touched it. I've never taken one picture with it. I don't know if that's superstitious or not, but I thought I wanted to touch it when it really meant something. Q. Did you guys keep a close eye on the Philadelphia/Toronto series? I know the standard thing is you don't care who you play but there had to have been some type of, well, we think we would be good against these guys, because; what do you feel that perhaps you can expose in Philadelphia or what can you take advantage of, knowing your style of play, for either of you? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Well, personally, I like to watch any hockey when I'm at home, and obviously when we had that much time off, to be able to watch a team that's battling and whoever wins is going to play, that was, for us, it was kind of fun to watch. You know, we are all interested. We were playing, obviously, Toronto or Philly, I don't think it would matter, we still had to go through any teams if you want to move on, and I felt either team is kind of similar in the way they played physical and they have veteran players that are really offensively on both teams. They can move the puck. To me, it was more -- it was which team we are going to play, not which style we are going to play. I think both teams bring the same things, they bring veterans, they play physical, too. It was more fun to watch than anything. Q. Is it too simplistic to say this is a match-up of your speed and their braun and physicality and stuff? DAVE ANDREYCHUK: I think our style is our speed, but obviously they are a big team and they use that to their advantage. I believe that our pressure on the puck and we use our speed and that's our style. I don't know if it's that simple because there's a lot of the things that happen, obviously, teams play a huge part, goaltending. But it is two different styles. Q. The Flyers say that what happened in the regular season is obviously a different time and their personnel has changed so much, especially in the last half and they have got a lot of guys back healthy. Do you treat it differently this series from the regular season, do you draw off anything, or do you say that at this point in the year, you're talking about the elite teams, it really can't factor in? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Well, you know, this is a whole new season. You look at the records that we had in the regular season against the teams we've faced in the playoffs, you can't dwell on that. You can't look at that too much. Obviously we are 1-3 against the Islanders, and that means nothing. Once the series starts, it's 0-0. Obviously they upgraded their team, the Flyers, and I don't think that they are too worried because they lost four games against us in the regular season, and we are not like gung ho because we are 4-0, either. It's 0-0 right now, and this is a whole new ballgame. Q. We talked a lot about the maturity of this team over the last three years or so, now this team is going somewhere it's never been before; how much does a guy like yourself, a guy like Sydor, a guy like Taylor, how much can be said by you guys to get this team ready for something they have never experienced before? DAVE ANDREYCHUK: Well, I guess we could talk about a lot of things. The Final Four that I've been in before, it is a lot different. I think guys are realizing that right now. I mean, they have been realizing that for three or four days now. But still, it comes down to what happens on the ice. It comes down to, you know, we still have to go ahead and play this series. Hopefully these guys can learn through me that 22 years, I've only made it to the Final Four four times. There's a sense of urgency. Nothing more has to be said about seizing this opportunity. Q. What is your style of leadership when you talk to some of the younger players? The Flyers have really -- Keith Primeau has really come along as a leader the last couple of seasons and now in the playoffs. Are you vocal in the dressing room, do you do it by example, do you pull guys aside or do you let them figure it out for themselves? DAVE ANDREYCHUK: I don't think I'm as vocal as some other captains I've been around. Obviously, there are some times that things have to be said, and I believe that, you know, through experience, I'm going to say the right things. I hope that these guys, it's not just me that's leading them. Obviously, things have changed over my time here. We now have other guys that have stepped up to the plate. I've been able to step aside this year especially. Obviously there's guys like Marty and Vinny and Brad Richards, these guys have -- these are the guys that are now leading the team. We are all helping out. It's not just me. Q. Forgive the question, but most games played without a Stanley Cup -- DAVE ANDREYCHUK: I really don't want to be on that stat. Q. Do you view that as a dubious distinction or do you get worked up about it? DAVE ANDREYCHUK: Obviously, the amount of years I've played that I haven't won the Cup, I'm going to get to the top of that list. I look at how many times I've been in the playoffs, I don't know how many games played, what my record is with games played in the playoffs. I know I'm coming up on 150 games played in the playoffs and I think that's what it boils down to. When you get into the playoffs now, you have a chance to win. I think the regular season, there's games played, but, you know, it's what happens in the playoffs. Earlier in my career with Buffalo, we had early exit's my first five or six years. So it was tough to get a chance to play. Q. With the layoff, but now you're here in the now, with the game coming up tomorrow, do you know the feelings that you had when you took that first game against the Islanders, do you know that first game when you went up against the Canadiens in the series, can you tell what's going on inside of you, is it the same thing or is it something different now? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: Well, I think this past week, it's been tough because it's like you're practicing and then it seems the game is so far away. We're practicing and they were still playing. But now, last couple of days, knowing who you're playing against, you feel the excitement again, you feel the emotions building up and you're just getting ready to play for tomorrow. It's been more fun coming to the rink the last two days and just knowing it's around the corner. DAVE ANDREYCHUK: I'm nervous. I think everybody is, what to expect. You're going in, you're in the Final Four, you're going against a good team. I think we're all excited, we're all ready to go. I think it's been a layoff where we sat around and watched; we're ready to play. Q. Hockey people obviously know what you've achieved, but do you look at this opportunity and what lies ahead if you win this series as a chance to announce to the world, people who are just casual hockey fans, because the city isn't the first city people think about when they think of hockey and the success has not been there, do you think about that opportunity that may be in front of you? MARTIN ST. LOUIS: To put the city on the map? Q. To kind of stamp your talent and let everybody know. MARTIN ST. LOUIS: This is not about me, this series, playoffs. It's about our team. A lot of individual stuff gets achieved in the regular season, but I think in the playoffs, it's a team, most likely, and I'm not going to sit here and say I want to win so I can show people that I'm a good player. I think the true hockey people, they know what I can do and they have seen it, and right now, it's to establish ourselves as a team, as guys that want to be winners. And that's the most important thing. It's not how good of a player I'm going to be.
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