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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: OILERS v HURRICANESJune 19, 2006Glen WesleyRALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: Game Seven Q. Thinking back to the early part of your career with the Bruins you skated with the likes of Ray Bourque. Put that in perspective going to your younger guys and being able to his it now? GLEN WESLEY: Still surreal to me. But just looking back at my first few years in Boston, obviously broke out into the league and had some -- surrounded by some great players, some great leaders that really taught me really how to play the game. I think that was the biggest thing that I took from probably the likes of Ray and obviously Cam, you know, even Rick MIddleton was a big influence. Terry O'Reilly (ph), really helped teach me how to play the game with intensity and play with hunger night in night out. That's one of the things that I wanted to do throughout my whole career is to be a consistent player and show up every night. Q. When Rod gets the Cup and he takes it to you, did you know he was going to do that immediately? And what were you thinking when you finally got to touch it and lift it over your head? GLEN WESLEY: Oh, boy. Roddy told me he was giving it to me next, but it's an incredible feeling. I guess to wait 18 years and be able to obviously experience it, you know, it was never, never about me. I truly believe that. It was about every guy in the locker room and it wasn't about one individual. It was about Roddy's leadership. It was about Bret Hedican, Doug Weight who have never experienced it and played over 100 games each obviously in the Playoffs. So in saying that, it was -- it's incredible. I still can't believe it. It honestly feels like a dream to me. Just throughout the whole afternoon I couldn't sleep, just thinking about preparing for Game 7. And I know my wife back here made the kids watch a movie this afternoon so they stayed quiet. They watched Rocky and told me they would come home with a lot of intensity. I got a chuckle out of that. I give a lot of credit to my wife and my kids just for just the greatness that they have really supported me throughout this whole year and my whole career. Q. Looking back when this franchise first came to Carolina, is this just unbelievable relating to how things were then? GLEN WESLEY: Oh, it's -- it was a longer road coming from Greensboro, you know, having 6, 7,000 people in the stands. But hard-core fans supported us, you know, driving from Raleigh to go to the games and, you know, going through some bumpy roads. But I think really when we arrived here in Raleigh I think that the game was really embraced here and obviously we had a lot of work to do. But just incredible fans. Just to see how far you know, coming from 2002 and really was in New Jersey, probably a big stepping stone for us. This year was just an incredible ride right from the start of the season to really instilling the belief and the trust and going out there day in day out and making it a belief that we would get it done night in night out. I think that's one of the things that, you know, a lot of people counted us out tonight. And I think to a man in the locker room we had to go out there and prove it and I think that just showed how much character and resilience we had in the locker room for guys to be able to bounce back after really stinking up the joint in Game 6. Q. Along those lines, just kind of a two part, but what was about this group that you didn't start pointing fingers, you didn't start doubting after a Game 5 and 6 that would tear a lot of teams apart? And what kind of charge did you get when you walked out on that ice today and the crowd was so intense and so behind you it really looked like it surged you to that early goal that you never relinquished the lead? GLEN WESLEY: I tell you what, after last Game 6 Roddy stood up in the locker room. I never elaborated on what was said in the locker room, but he said something that we were like glue, we had to stay like glue. Nobody ever wavered or doubted what we were capable of doing. We had meetings all morning long and the trust and the belief that we in each other. I tell you what, Game 7 in our building there was no way that we were going to lose. No way. Just with our fans, how tough we have been in our home ice all season long and into the Playoffs, and it was incredible effort by everybody. Every single guy in the locker room and there was never a doubt. Never a doubt in anybody's mind.
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