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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: FLYERS v LIGHTNING

May 19, 2004

John Tortorella

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day

Q. How hard is it to take a little step back, seeing that you're one game away from being in the finals?
JOHN TORTORELLA: We're not going to look at it that way. I don't think we can look at it that way. We're going to get ready for Game 6. The way this series has gone, with all the changes of momentums, we're going to prepare to play another game in a tough building, and try to grab some momentum and hopefully keep it -- keep it, and try to get some things done. But as far as what you do after, that cannot be something we need to think about. We just need to get ready for Game 6. That's all we can handle right now.
Q. How about from a hockey standpoint, you guys have been incredibly successful against their power play; what are you doing to shut them down?
JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, power plays are a funny thing. They get streaky. There's no particular thing that we are doing. We're just -- we know during the regular season and into the playoffs, they have some quality people and it's a very good power play. We've been fortunate to get some things done and we are going to try to continue to do the same things to stop that.
I think the biggest thing is we need to keep our discipline and not get involved in taking too many penalties because they have got some good people there, so we're just going to go about our way, and if we are down, just try to get the job done.
Q. Nobody wants to go to Game 7, but is there a different mindset for your guys, in terms of you play to win and they have to play not to lose?
JOHN TORTORELLA: I don't know what their mindset is. You can't ask me on their mindset.
As far as our mindset, we are getting ready for another game in a seven-game series. We are going to have to play better, because I think Philadelphia will be better tomorrow. So I'm not going to get into how other people think about it. I know how our team has to think about it and that's continuing to try to get better as you go through this series.
Q. Nothing is over yet, but your team faces a lot of challenges; how proud are you right now, the way they have responded?
JOHN TORTORELLA: Yeah, and I think both teams have gone through that. It's just been a whacky series as far as the momentum changes, not only game-to-game, but within the game itself. So I think both teams have responded very well, and for some of our young core people, it's been a tremendous experience for them to really live through it and find a way to continue to stay within the playoff hunt here.
So I feel good about our team. They have, through the first couple of rounds and now into this tough, tough series here, they have responded through some things that we weren't sure, because they haven't experienced before. So hopefully there will be some more and hopefully we will remain successful.
Q. Did the players talk after the game about your speech that you gave them the night before?
JOHN TORTORELLA: You know, the way I look at that, I don't think you win hockey games with speeches and words; I think you win hockey games with players and their actions. That's, again, as I've said right from the get-go, this is about the players.
Words are very easy to say. It's a matter of the players going out and doing it. So, you know, that was a pretty important game for both teams. We found a way to get it done. Again, it's a very close game. It could go either way. We found a way to get it done last night. Now we'll prepare again and hopefully get some early momentum and see what we can do tomorrow night.
Q. With that said, you try to cultivate a mindset with your team. You've said many times it's a mental game here on out. Can you share a little of what mindset you're trying to get them in at this point and how special of a time this is in their career that may not come again?
JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, you talk about mindset. It's a pretty extensive thing that we talk about. So to go into it, I don't know, I think a mindset is just, it's a matter of believing in one another, believing in yourself as an individual and collectively as a team. I think all teams, if you're going to be successful, you need to feel you can win.
I think one of the -- and we've talked about with all of our guys in Tampa, one area where our team has matured into the regular season and now this playoff here is that they believe they can win. That's a big one to jump over because the history that we've had with our organization, it's been a long road to get to where we're at. So you believe you can win; then you need to learn how to win. We're still in the process of doing that, and we're going to continue working on that road and trying to do it consistently.
Q. Why has it been so tough in this series to win two in a row, for either team?
JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, I'll say about both teams, I think the two teams are two resilient groups of men. That's the only way I can put it.
Again, I'll speak for my team, I think we have responded at key times, when things may be shifted the other way. For any team, for any team to still be playing in the Final Four, all four of these teams have needed to come through at certain times when there's been some adversity, some things going against you. It's never going to be an easy road. This is the toughest thing to do in all of the major sports is to compete for a couple of months to get where you want to be. You're going to have some ups and you're going to have some lows. It's how you respond. It's not so much dwelling on what happened, especially when it's in a negative fashion. It's how you respond after. That's the way we go about it. We don't do a lot of dissecting as each game goes by. You need to move on and find a way and try to stay consistent with it.
Q. Your special teams have been good, especially the power play last night. Is it concerning you at all about the lack of goals over the past two games?
JOHN TORTORELLA: As a coach, you're concerned about everything all the time, whether it's going good or it's going bad. I think we are always -- we do a lot of tape. We watch a lot of tape. We are always monitoring everything within our club.
But again, find a way to score some goals, whether it be on the power play or short-handed goals, whatever it may be, you need to try to score one more than the other team each and every night. We did it last night and that's what we are going to try to do tomorrow.
Q. Walking into the locker rooms last night, I've never seen locker rooms where the Warriors were so beaten up, exhausted and the teams have taken it to the nth degree. Comment on your players and what they have given you, and do you ever get the feeling walking into the room after a game like that that there's no more in the tank?
JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, there has to be. There just simply has to be more in the tank. That's the greatest thing about the National Hockey League playoffs. It's not a one-week thing, it's not a three-game thing; it's a physical and mental grind, and it tests the athlete, it tests the individual athlete and it tests them as a group collectively. It's the greatest thing to be involved in. And this is the furthest our team has ever been into it right now. We're beat up.
But that cannot come into the equation. You have a day in between, sometimes you have a couple of days in between, which I don't think helps. I don't think those couple of days help. I think it may even hurt you a little bit more, but you have a day or so, 24 hours to get ready for the next one. You talk about mindset; that's the mindset you have to have.
These injuries and this, that, the other thing can't come into play. If you're going to be in that lineup and you are hurt, so be it. You have to play and find a way to get it done. That's a mental toughness of a National Hockey League player playing in the playoffs at this stage.
Q. You talk about players, can you just comment on Brad Richards?
JOHN TORTORELLA: Yeah, Brad, he had a good game. He's had a good playoff. Last year was his first whack at it. I thought he did some good things, maybe a long with a number of other guys last year through some of the checking of Jersey, maybe waned a way a little bit, but that's part of the process. And this is their second whack at it. We have talked about someone needed to step up and lead the charge, I guess, and Richie was one of those.
I thought Vinny, although he wasn't on the scoreboard earlier, I thought his game away from the puck and his willingness to be a presence as far as a big man on our club, playing against a very big Flyer team was a big step for him. So this is all a process for some of the young core that we have. So Richie was the guy last night.
I think we're going to probably need two or three guys to lead the charge and everybody else fill in tomorrow night. That's how it goes as you get later on into the series.
Q. You talked about the various times throughout the season, how it almost increases the team's focus when they are playing on the road. Does that not give them an edge but would you rather see a game like this on the road or at home? Technically it doesn't matter, but in terms of giving the team a narrower focus?
JOHN TORTORELLA: I think it's a simple focus. I think you need to be simple. That's what we talked about last night with our game in front of our home crowd. You don't want to get involved into making this a show. I think it's just a matter of keeping it simple, staying within our team concept and use the crowd to your advantage, but also, stay within it and not get too amped up and do some things that you don't ordinarily do, which usually turns into turnovers.
So, on the road, we've been very comfortable on the road. We have, and I think, again, all of the teams that are -- the four teams, especially out West there, I think all of the teams are very comfortable on the road. It's a funny thing, as I said early on in the series, you fight like hell during the regular season to get a home ice and no one wants it. So we're looking forward to the challenge. I think it's going to be a tremendous challenge for us tomorrow night and where there's a challenge, it's just another opportunity for our club, and that's how we are approaching it.

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