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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: OILERS v HURRICANES

June 4, 2006

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: Practice Day

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the Stanley Cup Final pre-series press conference. It's a pleasure to welcome General Manager Jim Rutherford of the Carolina Hurricanes and head coach Peter Laviolette.
Q. For both of you, who is favored and who is the underdog?
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: I clicked on NHL.com and saw that Edmonton was favored 55 to 45 percent, so Edmonton is favored.
Q. How do you prepare for a team that you haven't seen, haven't played all year and the big match-up is your power play to their penalty kill, what do you know about it and how will you combat it?
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: Teams change so much from year-to-year and even from the start of the year to the end of the year, a lot of our work is done through scouting, videotape and we have a lot of that. Chris has done a great job of not only maintaining the focus on the series at hand but also the other series going on and breaking down different teams along the way so.
When we did clinch, we were already well ahead of where we needed to be in preparation purposes for Edmonton. Power play we've gone over, penalty kill we've gone over, we've worked on these things. I'm a big believer, you get the information on the other team and it's how well you play your game, how well you execute your system and so I think it's important to know what Edmonton is doing. We have always believed that if we just worry about the Carolina Hurricanes, we're going to be okay.
Q. Do you get a sense that your hockey team, your whole organization is light years different from 2002?
JIM RUTHERFORD: Yeah, it's a totally different situation. If you recall in 2002, in February of 2002, we were a team that wasn't sure whether we were going to make the playoffs and the team came together at the right time and we got in the playoffs.
You know, there were a lot of people contributing in the playoffs but the fact of the matter the goaltending carried us. Kevin Weekes had the back-to-back saves in the one game here, and we were probably out in the first round. And so then Irbe came in and took it over the rest of the way. The team that we have now has more depth, it's more balanced, it's more skilled and a lot more people can contribute to winning.
Q. Jim, you've been through a bit of a journey with this franchise in this market, can you take us through what you've seen and the changes in the attitude towards hockey in your years here.
JIM RUTHERFORD: We don't have time. (Laughter).
Well, as you know, tailgating is a big thing here, and I don't usually tailgate, but on the way out of the game the other night after Game 7, my wife and I stopped to tailgate on the way out with my assistant, Kelly, and I sat in the chair there and I looked around and remember when I came here, it was just a big pile of dirt there. Wasn't any arena, there wasn't anything, and I did start to reflect a little on what really went on.
I remember when we first came here, you know, you go to different places, you meet different people, and we would actually have to explain to people why we were here, you know, like you would have to take the time and, then, well, why are you here and you're playing your games in Greensboro.
So it was a long journey and a very difficult one. We moved the franchise in a matter of three months, which I think should take 18 to 24 months to move a professional sports team. We moved, we went through those years in Greensboro, and we had a team for the most part over those years that was competitive, but if we didn't make the playoffs, we just missed and then we were picking in the middle of the draft. We could never get to a point where we could get that elite player to get us over the hump.
So we had competitive teams, we had Francis and Brind'Amour and good players, like Jeff O'Neill. We made the playoffs a few years, and then, you know, we had the good run in 2002 and the expectations came higher. I just explained earlier we had the great run in 2002, it wasn't that we had a great team. We were playing for first place the end of November in Tampa, and we were having a great game but we came back to tie it 3-3 and Cory Stillman scored from center ice with Kevin Weekes standing behind the net and things kind of broke down from there. It went from we played bad for a few weeks to injuries and we had a bad year, which has turned into Eric Staal. And then we got a little bit better the following year. We Andrew Ladd. And we didn't win the lottery, but we got a pretty good pick with Jack Johnson. I think for a franchise and a team to get good and have a chance to be good for a period of time, you have to get that impact player. Now we have it, we have a bunch of good, young players and veteran players, and that's why we are here today.
Q. Peter, you've had success going back and forth from Martin to Cam and back and forth, when you make that decision, is that a gut thing for you or do you spend like a day thinking, okay, what are the ramifications if you make a move? What's the thought process?
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: Well, we've relied on our entire lineup throughout the year and picking people to step up at different times. What Jim said is true, one of the greatest points we have is the depth of our attack, whether it's forwards, defense or goaltending.
Both goaltenders have carried us at some point through the course of the season. You know, Marty had an opportunity at the beginning of the playoffs and it didn't go his way. He was battling the flu and had some tough periods, but Martin Gerber is a reason we finished as high as we did and maintained home ice here in the Finals.
Cam came in in a pinch-hit performance that night against Montreal and he played real well, so we went back with Cam and he ran with it. He played extremely well. For a young kid, he came in and gave us everything we needed in order to be successful in the playoffs. Martin had gotten healthier and started to feel better, and he had a relief performance in a couple of series and he looked really good. He looked really good in practice, and I had actually talked to Jim about him prior to that and just saying that I really think Martin is ready, like we watched him in practice, and he agreed because he watches as well.
I think on that particular night in Buffalo, it was more just a gut feeling that he was going to get it done for us. It would just be a break for Cam and it went from there, we would figure it out as we went. But it's never been about one person or one goaltender or one forward. They both, everybody has done the job, both goaltenders have done the job.
Q. What was your concern level like during the lockout about this market, and how confident are you now about this market after the great season you've had and what the future looks like?
JIM RUTHERFORD: Well, we get more confident as each year goes by. We understand the highs and the lows of some of the things that happen here. But actually, my confidence level through the work stoppage was pretty good, because we had a lot of loyal season ticket holders kept their money on with us. They didn't walk away and say, we'll think about it after.
We still have a few hurdles here. We have partial season ticket holders, and because of that, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday nights, they aren't season ticket holders for about a dozen games, and we have those weeknights that we have to work on.
But winning cures a lot of things. I guess I didn't finish my first answer, I started off by saying we had to explain why we were here, but, you know, the interest level is great here. Obviously there's a great buzz, I would say, it's about four times bigger than it was in 2002. The population's growing and I think there's a bright future here for hockey.
Q. Peter, Edmonton has got 54 goals in the playoffs and Pisani has been very opportunistic, skating out the puck, he had that great goal off the offensive faceoff against Anaheim, how important to your Stanley Cup hopes is it to shut down Pisani and how do you figure to do that?
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: Well, he certainly is having a good playoffs. I think I saw his shooting percentage -- I just looked at it today. We went over their lineup yesterday and started breaking down their team and their players and getting more in-depth on them.
We have what I consider to be, again, not only depth on the attack but depth defensively. Obviously there's Rod Brind'Amour and his line, who I feel is capable of shutting down anybody, but our team has never really matched against any one line or any one player. If we had a choice and it hits the rotation or you could make a change in the rotation, then we would do it. But we never pulled -- all year long, we have not pulled people off the ice. Even if somebody is trying to get somebody out there against Eric Staal, we feel that Eric is strong enough and big enough to play against anybody.
To take people off the ice and on the ice through the course of line changes, our team gets out of rhythm and they don't like it and they would rather just play. I guess we have a lot of faith line by line defensively. I think more importantly, our defense in my opinion, is a conglomerate of seven, eight guys, well six, that are in the lineup right now that are veteran defensemen, we play a similar style, they are big and strong and can skate and we don't feel like there's a liability back there.
On any given night, we may feel somebody is hotter or playing a little better and we may make those changes. But for the most part, you know, Rod is a guy that we would put out there in certain situations, but Eric Staal has been a plus player for us this year, played excellent, he's big, he's strong, he can skate and if you're playing offense, you don't have to play defense.
We have a lot of faith in all of them and I will admit that he's having a heck of a playoffs and is somebody that we're going to have to hold in check. You know, we usually get it done by committee here.
Q. Cory Stillman was a guy that the Lightning walked away from in an arbitration award in August 2004 and you signed him a year after the lockout ended, when did you start thinking about him and why did you think he would be such a great fit that he's turned out to be?
JIM RUTHERFORD: Well, he's a great fit for any team. We've had interest in Cory Stillman a number of times and we were never able to acquire him. But, you know, it was our good fortune that he didn't fit in to Tampa's salary structure. They were concerned, as you pointed out, about going to arbitration, what he would be awarded. And then with the work stoppage, we jumped on it pretty early. It's my understanding that I was told, you know, agents tell you different things, but I was told that there were five or six other teams that were very interested in him. We made our best offer, and one of the things he said, he wanted to come to a market that was good for his family, which for people that have been around here for a few weeks and getting to know the market a little better, it's a great place to live and a very family-oriented market. So that was important to him.
And he wanted to come to a team that he felt he had a chance to win again. So it's our good fortune that we got him. But we've liked him for a number of years prior to even him playing in Tampa.
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: He's an underrated player, too. In my opinion, not only is he underrated through the league, even on our team, he never gets enough recognition for what he does. I think right now he's the second or third in scoring in the playoffs. You hear about Eric Staal, Rod Brind'Amour, our young goaltender and Cory always seems to slide. He's not underrated, and I think in mine or Jim's mind, or the team for that matter, he's a very important piece to the puzzle.
Q. About Eric Staal, he had a great first two playoff rounds and then he seemed to have leveled off a little in the Buffalo series, is that a matter of concern for you or is that something normal for a young player?
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: No, I mean, I think in talking with Eric, he had one tough game. He's a very honest player is what he is. But there was lots of opportunities. He still put up points. There was lots of opportunities. Even the game-winning goal in the last game, Game 7, he's not on the score sheet but he's the one that gets the puck through and gets it down to the crease.
It didn't get on to him for a goal or an assist and somehow you always translate that to how somebody is playing. I think he's played excellent in the playoffs. For a young kid to come in and continue on from his regular season, which was excellent, and be the leading scorer in the playoffs, I think says a lot about him. And not every game I think goes -- you heard Rod Brind'Amour say that he didn't like his game in Game 7. I thought he played pretty good but by his account he didn't like it.
I think Eric has been consistent in the regular season. A lot of times consistency in the regular season doesn't always transfer to the playoffs, and for Eric Staal it has, and at a very young age, too.
Q. Most forwards in the playoffs play 20, 21 minutes if they are the star player and you play Rod about 24. Is there a tendency to say, why not, he does everything, or do you worry about overworking him?
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: Well, if he's not getting 24 to 25, he's going to turn around and give me the hairy eyeball. (Laughter).
It just ends up working out that way. He is, in my opinion, a multi-purpose player. He's power play, penalty kill, five-on-three, four-and-against, faceoff man, four-on-four guy, last minute of the game, last minute of the period, and the minutes just add up. And Justin Williams, he's fitting into that role now as well for us and you'll notice that his minutes have gone up. He might be, and I think he is, the second leading minute forward for us, and it's because they do so many things for us and they do it well.
Q. A lot of teams handled the post-lockout era (inaudible) and the decisions you've had to make and your abiding faith in your core as the foundation?
JIM RUTHERFORD: It was pretty easy for us. We positioned ourselves to have flexibility coming out of the work stoppage. We knew there were going to be a lot of players available because of the last couple of years that we struggled and we were a non-playoff team. We were patient with our players that we wanted to keep, our core players, the Coles and Williams and Brind'Amours and players like that. We felt we had a good structure there, but we had quite a few pieces to fill in.
So with the flexibility that we had and the fact that we now have revenue sharing, it was really not that difficult.
I know it's easy for me to sit here and say that now, but with the number of players that were out there, we needed to add some skill and we needed to add some mobile and puck-moving defensemen, and we knew there were enough available that we were going to be able to do that.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Jim. Thanks, Peter.

End of FastScripts...

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