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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: SENATORS v DUCKSMay 27, 2007Brian BurkeRandy CarlyleRyan GetzlafJean-Sebastien GiguereScott NiedermayerRob NiedermayerChris ProngerTeemu SelanneANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day FRANK BROWN: Questions. Q. Coach Carlyle, I was wondering if having been able to study Ottawa a little bit if you could talk a little bit about what the key for you is going to be in shutting down their first line? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: Obviously the amount of skill that they possess and the pace of the game that they can play is a challenge for anybody. They're the hottest line in the playoffs. They lead their team and all the offensive categories, plus people have described Alfredsson as probably the best player in the playoffs right now. So for us it will be about trying to take away time and space. It's not necessarily the commitment that we'll make to playing the Pahlsson lineup against them. There might be a little wrinkle thrown here and there. Obviously with match-ups, they play a critical part in our game plan. And we'll try to get our best people who we think can do the job. And Pahlsson and Niedermayer and Moen have so far done that in the playoffs. But this is a new challenge with the group that they're going to face. Q. Brian, this is a pretty even matchup on paper between your team and the other team. Yet a lot of people are picking Ottawa in their predictions. Do you have a sense why that might be? BRIAN BURKE: A lot of predictions. It's a Canadian/U.S. thing. A lot of the Canadian media are going to pick the Canadian team. That's fine. We have more Canadians on our team than Ottawa does. That's fine. But we're content to be the underdog in this. It's clear to us that we are, and we like our team. And we're happy with our group. We're proud of this group and we're happy to be here. Q. Coach, the thought is going into the series that your big three, Beauchemin, Pronger and Niedermayer, will have their hands full playing 30 minutes against the Senators lines, how do you approach that or do you rely on them being savvy veterans and being efficient with their playing time? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: I think it's always easy to categorize ifs before the playoffs. The series start, we're criticized earlier in probably all three playoff rounds, we didn't use our bench doing this, we should be doing this and shouldn't be doing that. We found ways to get through that. I think there's a lot of overemphasize put on four lines versus three lines, and with the amount of timeouts and the amount of breaks you do have in the game, and depending on what type of game and how well you're playing, if you're playing in the offensive zone, I can guarantee you players aren't as taxed physically, if you can enjoy some strong forechecking, some cycle and play a good majority of the hockey game or the period or the time frame in the opposition zone. And those are things you have to gauge. Obviously we'd like to have as many personnel healthy and available to us, and if we feel we have the depth to play four lines we'll do that. We have to play six deep we feel we have a capable group playing it. Q. Brian, last year at this time last year you were doing exit interviews. If you can boil it down, what's the biggest difference or the biggest reason why this year you're in the Stanley Cup as opposed to last year when you weren't? BRIAN BURKE: From a personnel standpoint, it's two things: One is that this group has been there before. Not to this stage, but this group played in three rounds last year. They got valuable experience. Two of those rounds were in Canada, which is I think adds a layer of difficulty that's good for a team to go through. And I think the other biggest difference is that we added a defenseman. Q. Which one? BRIAN BURKE: His name is Pronger. (Laughing). As far as getting there, obviously our goaltender has been special. Q. Brian, I'll ask you about other defenseman you added a couple of years ago. It's well documented New Jersey offered Scott more money to stay there. Can you talk about the recruiting process and how important it was for him to play with Rob? BRIAN BURKE: Well, we first made a determination that we wanted to make sure that Rob Niedermayer stayed with our hockey club. When I first met with him, he said it was his intention at that time to take his qualifying offer and become unrestricted the following summer and maybe go somewhere else. So our first job was to convince Robbie to stay, regardless of what Scott Niedermayer decided. We felt it was a critical priority for us to keep Robbie, regardless. So we did that and then I met with Scott and I said, What's your list? Give me your list. And he said, I want to play in the West. I want to play on a team that has a chance to win. I want some privacy away from the rink. Want to play with my brother. There's only one GM that can check off everything on your list. You're sitting with him. Let's get this done. So we did. He's obviously - players like that make GMs and coaches look smart. He's a marvelous player and a wonderful captain for us. Q. Brian, there was a lot of fluctuations in the first three rounds on the officiating part. Will you and your counterpart sit with the officials and try to get something before the series or have you already addressed that with the officials? BRIAN BURKE: We don't talk to the officials. Randy does during the games, but we're not allowed access to the officials during the playoffs. Which is probably a good thing (laughter). The officiating, if you go back, we have not complained about - the management team or coaches have not complained about officiating in any of the series we've played so far. We think the officiating has been performed in a very high level. And it hasn't been a concern for us. There's certain calls you'd like differently. The other team feels the same way. There are calls in every game that you prefer weren't made and the opposing GM, calls that Muck would like to see not made. But overall this is no different than the teams knocking each other out. The officials have worked through a process where the last four are the ones that have been rated the highest and we don't anticipate that that's going to be a problem. Q. Brian, at the trade deadline you chose guys you developed over plugging in a big name. And can you tell us a little bit about your second line, which has been so important and your decision making at the deadline to go with your chemistry guys over a big name? BRIAN BURKE: Well, I said this at the time, that our group of GMs, we make more mistakes at the trade deadline than we make the whole rest of the year. The pressure to win and add guys is tremendous. We added Brad May who we've had before and we've had real good luck with May-Day. He's a leader, a hard-nosed player, a factor in several of the victories. But other than that we kicked a bunch of tires. It wasn't for lack of trying to see if something fit. But what's made the difference, as you mention, is that our second line has gone from - to go back to Christmastime, there were probably six, seven minutes a game, and now Getzlaf is pushing 18, 19 minutes. You have to arrest that ice time away from somebody. Coach isn't going to give you that ice time. You have to grab it by virtue of playing well. They've done that, they've been terrific. Corey Perry and Dustin Penner, Getzlaf gets most of the headlines because he's the best player, but the other are good players too. As I said, I've never talked about those kids once without mentioning I didn't draft any of them. I didn't sign any of them. Those are Bryan Murray's decision to have them here and he deserves credit for them being here. Q. Brian, can you describe your relationship with Muck and some of your thoughts about him getting here. BRIAN BURKE: My relationship with him, I would describe it as excellent. A tremendous amount of respect I have for John Muckler for what he's done in the game. I think he was the youngest head coach in the history of the league when he first became head coach. He's had success as a coach and manager. I think he made real good changes to his club in the last two years. Some gutsy ones, some ones that weren't easy. And I have a great deal of respect for him and for Bryan Murray. My friendship for Bryan goes back - I met Bryan when I was playing in the American hockey league with his brother Terry and he would come down and watch games. That was the first time I met him, '77, '78. We've been friends ever since. We'll put it on hold for a couple of weeks. They're good guys, both of them. Q. Randy, Giggy has obviously been in this particular environment before and Emery hasn't. Do you feel that's an advantage at all for your side? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: I don't know if it's an advantage. I think everybody would like to call back on their experiences at some point or another to push them through some adversity, if it is presented. We're comfortable with Giguere. He's played outstanding. He's probably been one of the most overlooked assets of our hockey club in the playoffs this year. As far as their goaltender, he seems to be taking on another step of maturing into a high-level goaltender. They're very, very confident. I think the thing that you have to look at from their standpoint - and I don't think that they really thought that Emery would be their goaltender at this point in the season. And he's earned it. And it's a tribute to the player and their organization for developing that player. Q. Brian, obviously you've been a GM in the Canadian market, could you talk about the focus that's on the Senators now and do you think that gives you guys an advantage? BRIAN BURKE: It's an advantage - I mean hockey is not a sport in Canada. Everyone knows that. It's a religion. It's not going to change. The coverage, if you look at the newspapers here today we've got excellent coverage and the people that cover our team are thorough and professional and we have excellent coverage. But you also see how it gets obscured by both baseball teams, as luck would have it, they're in first place. UCLA football. I've been here two years I think they've lost two games. UCLA basketball. You know, these are all things that we compete with. There's two NBA teams. NFL is probably coming back at some point. So the coverage we get, while it's excellent, is obscure, camouflaged and often lost. It's different in Canada. And first off there's not this plethora of other teams to cover, and there's that cult following of the game of hockey, which is a great thing for our league. Does it put more pressure on Ottawa? I don't know. I think in general the Canadian teams, the pressure that's placed by the fans and the media is a helpful factor it makes your team and manager perform. Certainly at this point in the year I don't think it's a factor. Q. Coach, in terms of the time change, this series, you look at it clearly set up for an Eastern audience. Do you consider that when you prepare your team for this 5:00 start? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: We've played home games all year at 5:00 on Sunday afternoon. Obviously it's a little different from the standpoint of preparation. The time frame in which you have to work the day of the game changes, but it only changes about an hour or so. So it's not really that drastic from a rest standpoint. We always try to make sure we allow our players the proper time, the proper amount of time for rest. And our preparation starts right after the game that we've just completed. And I think that's the most important steps that you can implement in your program is to make sure that your players are doing the things that are necessary to replenish the fluids, to removing the lactic acid. It's become famous for the Ottawa hockey club to do their interviews while their players are on the bikes. That's one of the steps they're taking. They've implemented that a number of years and it seems to be working for them. Q. Brian, back to the Canadian for a second. Talked to a number of people yesterday supportive of the Ducks and glad you're here but had no idea where to watch the game or when the series started. Any ideas of how to compete with the Angels and Dodgers and USC and kind of give hockey a bigger presence in this community? BRIAN BURKE: I think our players are doing that. I think there's three factors to building the base here. One is winning. The other is marquee players. I think you need marquee names in Southern California. And the third is you gotta play a distinctive style. And I think the fans like the way we play. And the response has been terrific. I will tell you this: I will put our building - tomorrow night I'll put our building up against any building in the NHL for noise. We've got great fans here. Q. Brian, do you remember the time when you drafted Chris Pronger into Hartford, what your plan would have been, plan B, had the Senators drafted Chris Pronger instead of Alex Daigle? BRIAN BURKE: They signed him the night before so it would have been hard to sign Chris Pronger. Q. I mean before that. BRIAN BURKE: That's the only player - that was a great draft. There were a lot of good players in that draft, but that was the only guy I was interested in. We paid a high price to move up. Lombardi was the GM in San Jose. We paid a high price to move up. I think our judgment has been rewarded in the way - took me 13 years to get him to play a game for me, but we're pretty happen with him (laughter). Q. You talked about rolling four lines if you need to, is that why it looks like you may move Marchant down and Miller down to the first line, are you looking at some changes? COACH RANDY CARLYLE: What we're looking at is present ourselves with options. Obviously it's a tall task to put an untested American hockey league graduate into Stanley Cup Finals. But we have confidence in our kids and we think we have a group of them, that could include Carter, Motzko, Mark Hartigan, we have some options and I thought through this week's practice we could give it a trial. We think the Miller kid has great intelligence, great hockey sense. Can skate. He's a confident young player. He's not a flashy player but he gets the job done. If it's so needed, we think he has the capabilities to go in there. FRANK BROWN: Thank you, gentlemen. Questions for the players. Q. This is for Scott and for Chris. In terms of the Senators' rolling four line, the big story is you play so much out there in terms of ice time that in the end a long series would be a disadvantage for you guys. Is it just about being veteran players, being efficient out there as far as your ice time? SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Obviously it's intense out there. You gotta work hard. It's not easy, and I think obviously we have to be smart with our ice time. Obviously when we're out there, when we're tired, get off, get your rest. If that means getting off earlier on a power play, stuff like that, those are decisions we have to make to try and stay fresh, when we get back on the ice, we're ready to go. Because it is tough and I think that there's a lot of responsibility on our shoulders to be smart about it. CHRIS PRONGER: Yes, I think that's the biggest thing, just being smart about your minutes. But at the end of the day it seems to be the same old song and dance: When are you going to get tired? Aren't you supposed to be tired? I heard the same thing last year and the year before that and the year before that. You adapt, your body adapts to playing those types of minutes. You get used to it. But as Scott said, you've got to manage your game. Q. This is for Scott and Rob. Can I ask the two of you what you remember about the Game 7 handshake when he won the game and you hadn't? Can you explain what happened and what was said? SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: I can't remember exactly what was said. But obviously it was a different time. It was - obviously I was happy that our team had won but then you get in the lineup to do the handshakes and your brother's on the other side. You want to see the best for him as well. So it was a different situation. And we're now going to have a lot of fun obviously competing together on the same side. ROB NIEDERMAYER: Yeah, I can't really remember what was said either, but it was a tough time. Especially after you go through the whole round to get to the Finals and come up a bit short. It was disappointing. But happy to see your brother win, I guess. Q. I have a question for Chris and then Scott. About Ottawa's big line, how do you go about neutralizing them? Do you key on one particular player? What's the game plan for that line of Ottawa's? SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: I think playing good defense is pretty much going to be the same thing against most good offensive players. You know, they're a talented line. You give them time they're going to make plays, they're going to make plays even if you don't give them time. So you really have to be smart about your positioning. Obviously you need all five guys to be playing smart and doing their jobs defensively because they're great at finding open players. Relying on the goaltender to make some saves when they do get the opportunities or you do give them one from bad angles. It's the same old story of just playing good team defense against a good line like that. CHRIS PRONGER: I think that's the biggest thing is your five man groupings out there. You might have matchups defensive pairings playing against certain lines. But you'll have five guys on the ice. Everybody has to play solid team defense. When you have the opportunity to get a lick on them, you get a lick on them. If you limit their time and space, as Scott said, they're going to make some plays but keep them to the perimeter and allow the goalie to see all the shots and hopefully he can do his job as well. Q. Chris, playing in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals like you have in the last 12 months, and doing it on different teams, how does that rank in terms of that accomplishment personally for yourself and your list of career accomplishments, the fact that it must be very difficult to do and make the adjustments? CHRIS PRONGER: Yeah, but I'm not really looking at it as an accomplishment yet. There's still a lot of work to be done here in this series. And obviously the prize is at the end. And to be honest with you, I haven't really thought about it that much. Q. Chris, you're on the flip side of last year. You were on the Canadian team and a whole country behind you, now you're on the flip side of that. Wondering looking back if you think it will add a little extra pressure on you guys, knowing so many people are excited about maybe Canada finally getting a Cup. Now you're on the flip side of that. Maybe it will add pressure to the Senators? CHRIS PRONGER: I don't think it added that much pressure to us. I think everybody in that locker room, it was pretty much playing for one another. And not really worrying about what was said, good or bad. And we got down 3-1 and everybody wrote us off. We were able to climb back with a Game 5 win, a Game 6 win. Get to Game 7, never know what's going to happen. We weren't worried about what was being said around Canada. We were worried about what was being said in the locker room amongst ourselves, and I'm sure they're doing the same thing. Q. Scott and Rob, can you talk about what it's been like to finally play together after so long and what's the biggest difference is between the two of you off the ice? ROB NIEDERMAYER: As far as playing together, it's been a lot of fun. Competing on the ice has been great. But I think just spending a lot of time and seeing his family off the ice, being able to go to practice together and just seeing his kids grow up has meant a lot more than anything else. SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Not much more I can add to that. It's been fun. We've been apart since I went to play junior hockey since I was 16 and he was 15. We've been apart every winter since then. To get together and spend more time together has been great on and off the ice for sure. Q. This is for any of you guys, you've all played in considerable big hockey markets I guess around the country, is the perception. Compare the support you guys have gotten here from this city or, more specifically, the fans compared to maybe the other cities you've played in. CHRIS PRONGER: The fans here have been great. It's obviously been a process since new ownership has taken over. They've really tried to get into the community and get to more fans and we're certainly drawing a lot better this year as a product of a lot of hard work last year. And it's always going to be a process. And hopefully we can continue to - on the buzz we have right now and the energy that's in the building and the excitement amongst the fans and more and more people seem to know who you are around the community. That's what's exciting about this market. Just waiting to find a winner and waiting to find a team to root for and hopefully we'll be that team. Q. Question for Scott. You won almost everything that is winnable in hockey. Have you ever won the Calder Cup? That's probably the only one. Beside that fight with your younger brother or an argument with your wife, was there something that you lost that you still remember as a hockey player, a big deception? SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Yeah. I've probably lost almost everything as well. You don't win things by not sticking your nose in there and taking your licks and getting beat at different times. I've been in the Finals. I've been in World Juniors, Memorial Cups, come out on the wrong end of those, come out basically on the wrong end of everything as well. I've been fortunate and excited obviously now, just this is where we're at to be back in the Stanley Cup Finals, which really doesn't get any better than this and to be competing here with a great group of guys in our dressing room is really what I'm focused on right now. Q. Rob, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about what makes your line so successful and the job you guys have been given this year, kind of shutting down other teams' top lines. Do you have an explanation for why it's been one of the best lines at being able to do that? ROB NIEDERMAYER: Well, I think the biggest thing for us is just trust, I think. I think all three of us have that on the ice. I think Randy's - I think we've been the only line that he sort of kept together all year through practice. And he's never broke us up. So just getting so much time to play together, you get to know each other's tendencies. But I think the biggest thing is trust out there. Q. For any one of the three. Obviously Cam Ward did it last year and he was one that was tested in this kind of an environment. But Emery will be in the same position. But with Giggy having been through this, do any of you feel like it's an advantage for you? ROB NIEDERMAYER: Well, I mean, yeah, goaltending can be a huge - I mean, that plays a huge factor in any game. And I think both goalies have - we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the good play of both goalies, I think. And just knowing Giggy, nothing seems to rattle him. And I don't know too much about Ray. He's played great for them. And I'm sure he's going to play great in this series, too. Q. Scott, the thought is you haven't seen the Senators all year. But you're very familiar with the Ottawa Senators in terms of the playoff runs with the Devils as well. What do you see different in this squad versus what you've seen in the past when you competed against them in the post-season? Do you see something different? SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: I haven't watched a lot of their games. I've watched bits and pieces. So to really answer that question well, I probably can't do it. Probably after we play a few games I'd have better answers. But you don't get to the Finals without doing a lot of things well: playing as a team, being committed to your game plan, each other. And obviously they're doing those things. I know, like you said, we had a few playoff series and a lot of tough games. The last one obviously in 2003 was a battle. I remember it as being a tough, tough series to play and it's a fine line when you come down to Game 7 and who wins and loses and obviously you remember the team that wins really gets all the recognition. But when two teams are battling that hard they're both playing very well. Q. Chris, what have you learned playing alongside Scott at the Olympics and this year as a teammate for eight or ten months? CHRIS PRONGER: Well, there's a lot of things. Obviously him being a winner and having won championships in pretty much every category, junior, all the rest, NHL. You learn a lot just from the way he prepares, from the way he's focused before games and preparing for games. We drive to the rink, me, him and Robbie and Giggy. So we get to talk a lot about different things. But really just watching him prepare for the games and how he's focused and interacting with teammates. And I try not to watch too much on the ice just because I get caught watching and not getting ready for the guy coming off and I gotta go on for him. But he's obviously a pleasure to watch out on the ice. You can learn a lot just from that as well. Q. Chris, with Game 1 finally approaching, what's the feeling like with team? Are you guys anxious to get this going, a lot of questions with the media, are you anxious to get the game going or what's the feeling like? CHRIS PRONGER: I think both teams would like to get going. We've had five days now to kind of talk about each other and I think it's about time we got things going and get some more of the rivalries brewing out there. But I think both teams are probably ready to get back at it. FRANK BROWN: Thank you, gentlemen. Questions. Q. Teemu, you had the opportunity to play with Randy, and I wonder if you can talk about what you recall of him as a player in that dressing room and maybe what sort of things have carried over in terms of his personality as a player. TEEMU SELANNE: It's pretty much the same guy. Obviously I knew right away when I played with him that he could be a head coach one day. He has that kind of character. And he's the guy that he's very tough with his players. But when you do what he wants, everything is good. So there's no misunderstanding with him. He's honest, good guy. And we'll always work hard and do what he tells you to do. Everything is great. Funny guy. (Laughter). Q. Teemu and Ryan. Ryan, congratulations your brother, signed with the Ticats. RYAN GETZLAF: Thank you. Q. Lot of talk about the Beauchemin and Niedermayer. But you look at the Ottawa defense core and they have a real solid core. Maybe the toughest challenge you'll face in terms of the defense core in the post season? RYAN GETZLAF: I think they definitely got a lot of depth on their back-end and they got pretty much three good parings that they can play against a lot of our lines. And I think that they're going to be a pretty strong opponent, obviously, in their own zone. TEEMU SELANNE: Yes, they have really good defense, also. Ryan said they have a lot of depth, and so it's a good challenge for us to try to find the - do damage. But it's not really nothing we haven't faced before. It's never easy. So a lot of hard work to do. Q. Teemu, it seems every year there's a veteran guy who's never won the Stanley Cup who kind of becomes the story during the Cup and I guess this year it's you. And could you talk about that and what's it like to be here? TEEMU SELANNE: Makes me feel pretty old (laughing). Obviously there's a lot of players who has never won anything, so it's tough in this league. But I was waiting this 15 years to get this chance and I'm going to enjoy every moment. And obviously we have a good feeling about this. We have a good team. We have the same dream together. So it's going to be very exciting. But like I said earlier, nothing is going to come easy. A lot of hard work ahead. But like I said, this is the time to enjoy, that's what I think. Q. Giggy, can you compare your feelings going into the Finals this year as opposed to 2003? JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE: Well, I'm pretty excited about it. I think 2003 was more of a learning experience where we had nothing to lose. This year is a goal that we set at the beginning of the year that we have a chance to play for. But the excitement is the same. I know I'm going to have a lot of fun playing against Ottawa. It's going to be a great matchup. It should be a very fun game to watch and to play in. And altogether I'm trying to have as much fun as I can, really. Q. Brian Burke said he would put the building, this building against any other building come Monday night when it comes to support. Compared to the other cities - and you guys have played the bulk of your careers here, but compared to the other cities how do you see the support from this city and your fans? JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE: It's been great. It's been great all year. I think our fan support has been tremendous. There's been a lot of tough year here with the team not playing well and not making the playoffs. And fans really stayed behind us. And this year I rarely can go anywhere without people recognizing me and stuff like that. I'm sure it's the same for these guys. And it's been a whole lot of difference. I think with our ownership being from here and being a big part of this community, it really makes the people want to cheer for us and be behind us. And I would be with Burke, it's going to be unbelievable in this building. It was as loud as it's ever been, Game 6 against Detroit. And I have seen this building be pretty wild. But Game 6, I've never seen that, personally, before. Q. Teemu, you're playing against a team that might get a lot of national support. Canada hasn't had a Cup winner in the fourteen years. But you guys have played in Canada in the playoffs the last few years, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver this year. How do you think that experience will help you in terms of playing in a crazed market with that kind of support the other team has? TEEMU SELANNE: Obviously I think that's great. Obviously, hockey in Canada is unbelievable and the fans are really supporting them all the way. So I think it's going to make this series even more special. And I remember last year in Edmonton, it was - the crowd was unbelievable. During the National Anthem, it was just something that I have never seen before. So I would really expect that that building in Ottawa is going to rock the same way. And it's - always make sure you're going to be ready and you're going to show up. Because the whole feeling and the situation is going to make sure that you're going to be ready. Q. Ryan, you remember when joy was unleashed and you brought home the gold medal from the juniors two years ago. I'm curious about the mix of emotions now, because as a native son of Canada you're part of a team that's going to try to keep the Cup out of Canada again this year? RYAN GETZLAF: The World Juniors and stuff was a great experience for me and being able to bring a gold back there was awesome. We're playing in a national league now and it's a whole different story. We're trying to bring a Cup home to our city here now. That's obviously our main focus right now. And the most enjoyable thing would be to bring that back to here. Q. A couple years ago when they downsized the goaltender's equipment, rightly or wrongly, because of your style and you're technically sound, people thought you may be a guy who would suffer from that. I want to ask you how different is your equipment today particularly the shoulders from back then, how the change is. I'd like to ask Teemu, do you notice a difference coming down the wing on goalie from three years ago. JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE: My equipment is 14 percent smaller. I think that was what happened back then when they shrink the equipment. I think it came down about that 14 percent. And so we are all in the same role. We all play with the same - a company is just not allowed to send you in equipment that's not legal and it's gotta go through the league before it gets to you. And so we are all in the same boat. And I think you get to pick as a goalie you get to pick your equipment wisely. You have to pick equipment that's going to fit your style and what you play. And I truly believe that the equipment I have with Reebok is the best out there in the market (laughter). TEEMU SELANNE: How much did you get paid? JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE: My deal is up at the end of the year with Reebok. I'm really comfortable with my equipment. There's really nothing that's changed - not much has changed since the last I played except everything is a little bit smaller. And that's for the most part everything else is pretty much the same. TEEMU SELANNE: Well, I think they're still way too big (laughter). But those guys are so good these days. The way they read the plays and it's so good to know. There's no surprises for those guys. And right now I can tell that the goalies are athletes also. They're really, really good. I still think they're pretty big, especially when you come in the side there's not so much room. You have to have a perfect shot to beat those guys these days. Q. Teemu, Ottawa obviously has its big three. With you guys, with the way that Ryan and Corey and Dustin at times have advanced their game, do you feel like you have maybe a number one - two number one lines and how much will their play make a difference in this series? TEEMU SELANNE: Well, what I really like about our team, I think we have a good depth in the forwards also. A lot of nights the younger lines have been our best line. And that's what we need. We need everybody. Even last year these guys have been a huge part of our success and this year they have been even better. So that's a great sign. And also we have two other lines like Pahlsson's line they can also score big goals when we need them. So I think that's what makes our game very special. Q. I have a question for Jean-Sebastien. Could you talk a little bit about your success in the playoffs? Career-wise, your career record regular season is one thing, but it seems like in the playoffs you take it to another level. Can you explain the success you personally have had in the playoffs? JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE: No, a lot of it comes down to the guys playing - as a goalie you can only have as much success as the guys scoring goals and defending the goals and stuff like that. As for me, I think during the season, the post season you work hard and try to give yourself a good foundation. And if every time you step on the ice during the regular season you try to make saves in practice and games and warm up and stuff like that, these things should transfer into the games and when it matters the most. So I feel that when I get into a situation where it's difficult where there's a lot of adversity, what I did during the season, all those saves I put into the bank. I can use them now and cash them in and try to be ready. Because my foundation should be solid at this time. And that's how I approach every season try to from the beginning to the end. And that's pretty much the only way I guess I can explain that. Q. Teemu, could you talk about your relationship with the younger players, like Ryan? Do they make you feel young again? Because seeing you walk up, joking around, your relationship with the younger players? TEEMU SELANNE: I'm only a couple years older. (Laughing) but I think that's just numbers. Obviously they make me younger also, but I feel I think pretty much the same thing about life as those guys. Some days I feel a little older but most of the days I feel exactly like these puppies here. Q. Teemu and Ryan, in the last two series the other goaltenders you faced, Dominik Hasek and Roberto Luongo, got a lot of attention. Why do you think that is? Because the only guy from the West that is sitting here is your teammate Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Why so much focus, or does Giggy do things to make it look so deceptively easy what he does? TEEMU SELANNE: I think Pronger answered this very well in Detroit. He said that, I think you have to ask that question yourself. And the media here. I think obviously this is not a very big market, but if Giggy were playing in Toronto or somewhere else he would be a god. So I think that's the biggest reason that we are in the market that you guys don't have a chance to see him very often. But that's the reason. RYAN GETZLAF: I definitely agree with Teemu the same way. It's a whole different market out here. And I think that our team game has been really strong and it's hard to really focus on one guy, I think. And I mean obviously Giggy has done his part in our group and contributed a lot to our success. It's the same way, like you said, Giggy makes a lot of saves that look pretty routine, they're not. That's part of his style and the way he's in position all the time. And it helps keep everybody calm, I think. You don't get that excitement level as when he's diving all over the place. Q. Giggy, that's pretty impressive car pool. Do you take turns driving? Do you use the car pool lane, do you talk strategy and has everybody thought it might not be a good idea for the four of you to be in the same car together? JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE: Not when Robbie is driving, that's for sure. No, it's been good. It's fun driving with Pronger and Scotty and Robbie. They're real leaders. And for me it's kind of sitting and listening to them and try to get some good advice. But no it's been a treat all year. It's been fun to do that. And we save a whole lot of time with the traffic around here to go to the rink. So it's been good. Q. You haven't ridden with Teemu? JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE: No, Teemu is a speed car driver. I don't want to go with Teemu. TEEMU SELANNE: I don't have good insurance policy for you guys, so I have to drive by myself (laughter). End of FastScripts |
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