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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: OILERS v MIGHTY DUCKSMay 18, 2006Ethan MoreauChris ProngerDwayne RolosonJason SmithRyan SmythANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day Q. Chris, how much did you play, if at all, on the same pair with Scott Niedermayer in Salt Lake City? CHRIS PRONGER: We started out as partners in the first game in Salt Lake, and then right after that, we changed partners around. And then I played with Al and I think he played with [] brew I think he played with footer. Q. How much fun has this been for you going through this run in Canada, is it different, the fun, the excitement? How much different is it. CHRIS PRONGER: Absolutely, it's a lot different. There's a lot more fanfare, a lot more scrutiny and in what do, and it's obviously a bigger stage. You're playing in your home country. We're in Canada where hockey is kind of like your life blood and everybody's into the games and excited. You saw the atmosphere in the building last night. It was unbelievable. Q. Ryan, can you talk a little bit about what it's going to be like for 15 oiler who played with Marchant to now play against him in an entire series? RYAN SMITH: Well, obviously, he's an enemy now. He's played really well. Obviously in the last year, and seeing the highlights and stuff, he's played excellent. He's at the top of his game right now. It's a matter of us, you know, focusing in on him, too. You know, obviously, he's on the other side now, so it's a little different. Q. Ethan, if you and Gator can answer this one. Just about the quick turnaround and how you've played so many games in so many nights and your back at it in less than 48 hours between series. They go seven days. They're rested, yet you guys are still in game mode, is it an advance to either team? ETHAN MOREAU: I hope it's an advantage. I think, you know, we're on a high right now, and we can't wait to get back to the rink. We're at the top of our game. A lot of guys individually are at the top of their game, so we look at it as an advantage that we can get right back to the rink where we're playing well. JASON SMITH: What Ethan said, we're excited about getting going, looking forward to the next challenge. We're healthy as a team and just looking to get things going and play at a high level. Q. Chris, you were so effective in shutting down Joe in the last series, can you just talk a little bit about the offensive threats that the Ducks have? CHRIS PRONGER: Well, I think when you look at their team, they've got four pretty balanced lines, obviously, the top line of Kunitz, McDonald, and Selanne, they scored a lot of their goals in the regular season, but if you look through all the playoffs, they've had a lot of contributions all the way up and down their lineup. Lupul had a great series, that line had a great series against Colorado. But, you know, I think in shutting down that Number 1 line, they've obviously got a lot of speed and create a lot off the rush, and it's up to us, obviously me and Gator, to limit their chances off the rush and in cycling the puck and making sure they're playing where they don't want to be and that's in their defensive zone. Q. When you're playing as well as you have lately, you almost have to be colorblind in the sense that it doesn't matter who your opposition is, you're more concerned with doing what you've done, particularly in the last four games like you have just focus on yourselves and not worry so much about the opposition? RYAN SMITH: Yeah, I think the big thing is you're playing a good solid team game, and it's not who you're playing against so much as far as eliminating your own mistakes. And I think the least amount of mistakes wins the hockey game. In this instance, we're at the top of our game right now and we want to continue that whoever it is, and obviously this is Anaheim. Q. Ryan and Ethan, you're facing a pretty good goaltender. Can you take a little bit about, you never played him during the regular season. Does that make any special challenges? What do you know about him? Going into this game, what are your thoughts? ETHAN MOREAU: I think you're probably better equipped to answer that, Smitty. RYAN SMITH: I honestly don't know a whole lot about him. Obviously a few clips here and there, and obviously seeing some of the playoff games. Big goaltender, obviously covers a lot of the net, so it's -- no goalie likes traffic and, you know, hopefully we can create a little bit more and get traffic to the net and get the pucks to him and through him. Q. Ryan, do you see guys see a lot yourselves in the Ducks in the way you guys are made up personnel-wise and even just the situation on how you guys have gotten to this point? I mean, do you sort of see a lot of yourselves in them? RYAN SMITH: Just like Prong touched on there, they've got for balanced lines, solid defensive men back there. We've got that on our team and we've got the goaltending. Obviously Rollie's been holding the fort for us, and starting from your best player, your goaltender right on out, and we're getting that through our lineup and obviously they have, too. Q. Dwayne, Kevin Lowed sat there and talked about the fact that he knew you as a player, knew your style, and knew your stats, but didn't know you as a person. He said he was surprised to find out they were getting another captain. Can you go into a little bit of detail in terms of what kind of role you've had in that regard? DWAYNE ROLOSON: I don't think I really had much of a role, just say some things in the locker room. A lot of it is just feeling comfortable with the guys. And with this locker room, everybody is a captain in here. Everybody is able to speak up whenever they want to speak up as long as they make the right points. And, you know, from Gator all the way down to Brad Winchester and Matt Greene, you know, we're all leaders. And I'm not doing anything different than what I've done anywhere else, except I'm getting a chance to play. Q. Chris, last night after the game, Mac T talked a little bit about how you're at the point in the playoffs where it's okay to start talking about and thinking about the Stanley Cup and how close you guys are. Can you maybe talk about the balance of keeping the one eye on the big prize and being motivated by that, but also how to focus on the team that's in front of you? CHRIS PRONGER: Well, I think the biggest thing to realize is you're only halfway there. Obviously, Anaheim stands in the way of getting to the finals, and that's what we're focused on. It's there, but it's not. You've only accomplished half of where you want to get to in getting 16 wins. And, you know, we've eight, and now we've got to go through Anaheim to get to 12, and hopefully we'll do that and we'll see who we play at the end. But we've got to stay focused and not get too far ahead of ourselves in looking past Anaheim, because I think we've seen what they've done to the last couple rounds. Q. Ryan, for years it's been that the Oilers would develop players, then had to trade them away because the economics weren't permitting the team to sign guys to long-term contracts. Now things have changed. Do you see the parity. Do you believe that the collective bargaining agreement, the economic situation has helped Oilers this season? RYAN SMITH: Well, I think there's a balance amongst the league now as far as teams, and, yeah, it gives us an opportunity and a chance to get to where we're at right now. You know, it's still a challenge whether you get guys like Chris Pronger, Mike Peca or Dwayne Roloson. It's always a challenge no matter who you're playing against. But I think there's a lot of balance amongst the league now. Q. Chris, what was your initial reaction last summer when you found out you were being traded to Edmonton? CHRIS PRONGER: I was a little shocked. There were obviously a lot of teams talking to my agent. It kind of came up real quick when the trade happened, and I was a little surprised at first. Obviously hearing that it was Edmonton after seeing so many guys get traded away in previous years, you know, I guess it kind of kicked off the CBA to a rousing start I guess.
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