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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: OILERS v HURRICANESJune 19, 2006Cam WardRALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: Game Seven Q. Does this seem surreal to you to be the rookie and Stanley Cup champion? Your emotions right now? CAM WARD: It's unbelievable. Your childhood dream of winning the Stanley Cup has finally come true and all that work you put forth through minor hockey and junior, it's all paid off from today. Q. Talk about the last five minutes of the game. They put a lot of pressure on you obviously. What was going through your mind, talk about the breakaway this that they had right towards the end? CAM WARD: You got to give Edmonton credit. They didn't give up, and they threw everything at us. When you look at the first goal, it was as a bad rebound on my part. A goal that I wanted to take back. You saw the same situation with the second time around, and I was fortunate to make the save. Q. You just talk about you are a rookie as Patrick Roy was winning a Conn Smythe trophy. Talk about that being in the same company as him? CAM WARD: Obviously, it's a huge honor to win the award. I truly feel that you could have given it to anybody on this hockey team. And to tell you the truth, you know it's completely irrelevant. The Cup -- the trophy that matters the most is that Stanley Cup that you always -- our guys deserved it. Q. You guys lose two straight. A lot of people wrote you guys off. You came back here. The crowd was very intense early, and you rode that to a very early goal. Talk about what the crowd and the atmosphere here. Did that give you guys a lift right off the bat? CAM WARD: Most definitely gave us a lift. You work all season long to get home ice advantage for a Game 7 in the Playoffs, and we were excited today to come back into that building. Our fans have been tremendous all season long. Once again, you saw tonight how loud and loyal they can be. Us as a team deserve it, but the fans truly deserve it also. Q. You know the tradition involved of being able to keep the Cup for a day, all that sort of thing. Your wedding day is what day? And are you putting in bids for it? CAM WARD: July 22. Haven't put much thought into it. But probably would make a nice center piece. Q. Is there any part of you at all that feels bad about doing this to your hometown team? And do you expect to take any crap when you go back home? CAM WARD: I don't feel bad at all. You know, I have been blessed with tremendous support through my family and friends, back in Sherwood Park. I know they were a little bit torn before the series being hard-core Oilers fans, but they stayed loyal and supported me all along, and I am excited to go back and share it with them. Q. How appropriate was it for you the defensmen got the first two goals tonight? CAM WARD: It was great. In Game 6 we didn't generate enough shots, and we really, before the game, wanted to make note that we needed to get more shots in traffic; especially from our D men, and fortunately Ward came up with the big shot to get us -- get the ball rolling. Q. How far do you think you have come as a rookie in the National Hockey League? Do you step back and say how far have I come? CAM WARD: You look at it today -- I'd like to say that I am a better goaltender today than I was at the beginning of the season. That's a reflection of the team also. I mean, I know it's an old cliche, but you can't do it without your teammates. They showed it tonight. They stepped up and, you know, personally for myself, I feel good. I was paired up with a good partner in Martin Gerber. He was a big part of this hockey club also. Q. Guys keep talking about don't assume this will happen all the time. You got it in yours first kick at the camp. Wesley, Brind'Amour, those guys waited so long. Can you compare and contrast? CAM WARD: People say that it's your rookie season and, you know, chances are it will come again, but you just never know. You can't predict the future. You got to take care of the present. And take advantage of that opportunity and as for Wes and Roddy and all those veteran guys, Whit, Dougie, I couldn't be happier for them. They have put in many hard years, and it's just great to see it pay-off for them in the end. Q. Did you at all at some point in the playoff season think back to the first series when the biggest decision you had to make was, what hat you were going to pick out? CAM WARD: (Laughs). Q. A long process to this point. CAM WARD: I guess you know, the hat worked out, you know, that was just something that we joked about with the equipment guys and it got blown up. I guess it was a lucky term.
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