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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: OILERS v HURRICANESJune 12, 2006Peter LavioletteEDMONTON, ALBERTA: Game Four Q. Craig, Mac said that they are surprised at your team's ability to withstand the physical punishment. Do you think coming into this series Edmonton may have taken your team lightly physically? COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think we're made up a little bit different, but in saying that and their series prior to ours seemed physical. There was a lot of scrums after the whistle, you know, we're not going to get into that, that type of a game. In saying that, we have got some pretty good hitters. We feel like our defensemen are good hitters, we have got some guys that can get in on the forecheck. I'd think most importantly we have got a lot of veteran players, I don't think that we're going to be afraid of physical play. I think in Game 2 we outhit them. If I am not mistaken and they outhit us last game. To me, physical play puts you on the puck and so we could use a little bit more of that tonight. Q. If your doctor said Erik Cole could play, would you play him? COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: Erik Cole is not playing. The doctors have said that Erik Cole, about three weeks ago, said that based on the X-rays that he saw, that the doctors saw at that time, that he will not play. Q. Anytime whether it be Cole or whether it be a fourth line guy who played hard for you all season, is there any time for a coach at this time of year to have some loyalty to say, geez, this guy deserves to play? Is there any thought process there at all or is it all about X's and O's and who is your best guy? COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: Play who? Q. If Cole's healthy, him -- COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: I just answered that question. Erik Cole is not healthy based on the report from the doctor three weeks ago. I don't want to sit here and have you -- I don't have a crystal ball to see the future. We got a report from the doctors that were very up front the day that we got it, Erik Cole's season was over. Could Dwayne Roloson play tonight? I guess there's always the chance and the possibility but I don't want to send that message. Erik Cole's season, based on the report that we got three weeks ago from a couple of doctors, his season is over. Q. This year your team tends to play best when sort of under pressure, challenged a little bit, behind in the third period or starts to get behind in the series, is there a certain quality to this team that it needs a little element of desperation or something to get it going? COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think we have won a lot of games without desperation. Like I said prior to the loss in Game 3, our record was 5-1, so there wasn't Game 7 desperation that you are talking about. So I think that we have won a lot of games based on the way that the guys have played and there hasn't necessarily been that desperation level involved. I think what is impressive, and to answer your question about the players in the room, is that they are honest and they know when they don't play well, they usually perform the next game to a standard that they like and that I like and that we're accustomed to as far as winning goes. So I think that we have -- I think that, yes, to answer your question, yes, I think that we do respond a lot of times, but it's not something that we have had to rely on. We have won a lot of games without having to have our back against the wall and have played well. Q. Playoff series are all about adjustments. The Oilers had their turn to make those after Game 2. Is it your turn? Is that the way you look at it going into Game 4 that there are a lot of adjustments that have to be made, the way you look at it? COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: No, I don't think there are a lot of adjustments that have to be made and I don't think they adjusted their game plan quite that much either. I think they made aggressive adjustments in their penalty kill and just minor things, but they have gotten to this point playing a certain brand of hockey and a certain style of hockey and to be honest, they executed it better and played it a little bit harder than we did in Game 3. I thought we did the flip-side of that in Game 2. Sounds so simple, but for me, hockey is about execution and effort, of your system, your system doesn't change a whole lot. I am not saying that we're not going back into our penalty kill meeting or our power play meeting or how to defend their five-on-three better, there's minor adjustments that you can make, but the best way to success is effort and execution.
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