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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v RED WINGS

May 27, 2009

Chris Osgood

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Five

Detroit Â– 2
Chicago - 1

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mike Babcock.

Q. Can you comment on Darren Helm's play, particularly the spot late in the second period where he just sort of killed that penalty almost single-handedly.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, he did a great job. He's played with great tempo all series. He's gotten better each and every game. Obviously with people we've had out, he's got more and more opportunity.
You know, I think he's the kind of player that the people in Michigan here, in Detroit in particular, can really relate to. He's a blue-collar guy. Goes out there and works hard. Gives an honest day's work every time he's out there. He's like the Energizer Bunny. He hits the ice, his feet are going full out.

Q. Seems like you guys keep getting blindsided by adversity. First Pav, Nik, Ericsson. What are you doing to keep overcoming this stuff?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, today was a bit of a shocker, to say the least.
But, I mean, it's just one of those things. You know, without (indiscernible) and without E and without Nik, obviously we're stretched on the back end. But I thought Cheli and Meechy and Lebs did a great job today to support the other guys. You know, we were able to get through it and get a win.
Hopefully you're gonna get some guys back. Normally when you win in five games, you get this little break normally. But I think we're trying to jam. I don't know if we're making up for lost time in the previous three series by jamming this all in in 10 days or whatever we're doing. They don't ask me these questions.

Q. Can you talk about the goaltending duel between both goaltenders tonight.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I thought Huet in particular was outstanding in the first period. We had some great looks. He did a great job. But I thought Ozzie made some great saves at the start of, I don't know if it was the second or third period. There was five minutes where they took over the game there totally, and Ozzie made some great saves and kept us in it.
Then, I mean, down the stretch in those games, anytime it's tight like that, obviously anything can happen. So both goalies were outstanding.

Q. Talk about what it means to you and this franchise to get back to the Cup finals.
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I think the last team that had this opportunity, if I'm not mistaken, since the Red Wings did it, didn't Dallas have a shot?

Q. New Jersey.
MIKE BABCOCK: New Jersey had a shot?
Obviously it's not very easy in the cap world today. It's very difficult. But to have the opportunity with Pittsburgh again should be a lot of fun. There should be a lot of hype about the series.

Q. There's going to be a lot of talk with Pittsburgh surrounding Marian Hossa. Do you worry about that attention becoming a distraction for him?
MIKE BABCOCK: I hope not. If he's mentally tough, there will be no distraction. I don't know why he'd let it be a distraction. Kind of like Kronwall, he hits Havlat, every time he touches the puck, they boo him. To me, that energizes you. When he made a decision to come to our team, I think he's very happy with his decision he made. I know we're happy to have him. All the power to him.

Q. Mike, throughout the series you said a lot of great things about that team. Did they really show you just how good they're gonna be in the future?
MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I think they're a good team. I think going ahead in the future, they have a chance with their pieces to become a real good team. Now, how they manage the cap is gonna determine a lot of that.
So it will be tough decisions that they have to make here coming up. I don't think they got tough decisions next year. It's the year after that that's gonna start getting ugly for them.

Q. Along those lines, what did you see from the Blackhawks over the course of the season and this series?
MIKE BABCOCK: I just think the last couple years in particular, they've really come a long, long way. Guys you didn't even know their name, now are household names. Legitimate NHL players.
I think Kane is a great player, don't get me wrong. But to me the guy you build the franchise around is the Toews kid. He's a will machine, he just keeps coming and keeps coming. I'm very impressed with both Keith and Seabrook on the back end. I think they're as good a matchup pair as you're gonna have.
You know, they'll sort out their goaltending thing, which guy they want to keep, whatever. But I like their team. I think they got a lot of players. I think their role players are good players, as well.

Q. Talk about Bylsma, he played for you in Anaheim.
MIKE BABCOCK: Danny's a good guy. He's honest, hard working, quality guy who brought energy on a regular basis. I don't know how many games he played in the league, but he played lots. He played it on will and determination. He was a great shot blocker. He was a good team guy. Had a positive attitude all the time. Is a good family guy. Obviously a real good coach.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
Questions for Darren Helm, Chris Osgood and Dan Cleary.

Q. Darren, could you talk about the goal, particularly seeing it there, what you felt?
DARREN HELM: Well, I thought our line was doing a good job keeping the puck in, putting a lot of pressure on them. Sammy was holding onto the puck pretty well. Lebs got a good shot through. Homer got a whack at it. I just sat there, got a good whack on it, just made sure it went in.

Q. Chris, you want to talk about the goaltending battle. Quite a battle between both of you tonight. Obviously excited about the outcome.
CHRIS OSGOOD: I knew we'd bounce back from Chicago. Kind of got his feet wet in that game. Hadn't played for a while. I knew he was going to come back with a big effort tonight. I knew I had to match him, be solid, give our team a good opportunity to try and win the game.
Wasn't happy going to overtime. We've had enough of those. But I was glad it ended early, for sure.

Q. Darren, you spent the last two seasons and the regular season in Grand Rapids, past few years you come up here and play in big games. Talk about the last two years.
DARREN HELM: I think being in Grand Rapids gave me a pretty big opportunity to go down there and develop as a player. You know, coming up here, getting a chance to play, it's been a great experience for me. You know, I try to pride myself on being a big player in the playoffs. That's what I tried to do last year's run, and this year's run, as well.

Q. Dan, starting to run out of bodies here. With all the guys out, you find a way. What does it say about the character of this team.
DAN CLEARY: I thought tonight especially, different guys stepped up again. Lebda really played a great game for us. Played a lot of minutes. Was in on both goals. You know, Homer has been -- what can you say, short of amazing? He's been great for us. A huge void. Fil has played great in the absence of Pavel. Ozzie was terrific again tonight.

Q. Dan, your eight playoff goals this year are more than your previous playoff experience combined. What's the biggest reason for that, do you think?
DAN CLEARY: The guys I'm playing with, really. You know, playing with Z and Mule, two A-plus players that are great. Had a good opportunity there. Tonight, you know, went with Hossa and Fil, who have been playing great for us.
Really, I mean, getting an opportunity to play on an offensive line, guys are doing a good job getting me the puck. Really I'm just trying to shoot it on net, stay at the net, get a piece of the pucks. You know, it's not really a big secret.

Q. Ozzie, can you just talk about what it means to get back to the Cup, have another chance to repeat, another matchup with the Penguins?
CHRIS OSGOOD: It will be good. It's been exciting to this point. I think we've had to come up big in big games. We did in Game 3 against Columbus, certain games against Anaheim, obviously in Game 5 and 7. This series, we did blow them out in one game, but by no means was it easy. Every game was tough. They gave us everything we could handle, especially at home.
We look forward to playing Pittsburgh. I mean, we'll be ready. We got a short break. But hopefully we can manage to get some guys healthy, get guys back. We'll be ready. To us, it's fun. We enjoy this time of the year. We enjoy the opportunity to play against Pittsburgh. For us, it's gonna be a lot of fun.

Q. The short break has been mentioned. Is it almost punishment for finishing the series off to start so soon?
CHRIS OSGOOD: I know if we would have lost, it would have started with June 5th, right? It's a little different. It's the exact opposite. I'm not sure why it's starting so early. Probably for television, I would imagine.
I mean, last year was spread out quite a bit between games, even single games. We'll have to deal with it. We've dealt with a lot of things in the playoffs, like you always do. We'll be ready. We'll get rested up tomorrow. We have Friday. It's not like we're playing two days from now, it's three. We'll make sure we get real rested.
Like I said, hopefully we'll get some guys healthy, get some guys back, and we'll be ready, for sure.

Q. When it comes to a championship rematch like we have with the Wings and Penguins, from a mental standpoint, who does it benefit, the team that won it last year or the team that's out for revenge this year?
DAN CLEARY: I don't know. I think Pittsburgh are a more experienced team. They learned from last year. They're playing good hockey. Crosby and Malkin are playing in good form. I think the additions of Kunitz and Guerin have been good, too.
It's going to be a fun matchup. We look forward to playing them. I'm sure they look forward to playing us. It's gonna be pretty fun.

Q. Chris, can you take us through this game a little bit more as far as the retrospective. Apparently it was very warm out there tonight, more so than probably some previous games. How much of a factor was that? Take us through each period as best you can here, what you were experiencing.
CHRIS OSGOOD: Geez, you're auditioning me for a job when I'm done playing (laughter)?
Well, I mean, whenever it's humid in Detroit, you know the rink is going to be really hot. So we get some extra fans in the dressing room, try and cool it down as best we can. Guys will change their underwear between periods, because it gets really wet. Your equipment is constantly getting dried. Things like that. You try and drink a lot of Gatorade and fluids to make sure you don't get dehydrated.
As far as the game, the first period we started out real strong. I thought Huet made some big saves early for them. They came at us pretty good. I think they had a two-on-one, had some chances. Then we shot the puck a ton in the first. Huet was seeing everything. I think some shots just hit him. I think for them to get out of that tied was big.

Q. How about from your perspective?
CHRIS OSGOOD: My perspective? The shots they were putting on me?

Q. Yes.
CHRIS OSGOOD: All right. Well, in the second, they came out pretty quick. They did a lot of passing from behind the net, trying to hit guys in front. The previous game, there were a lot more point shots. I think their puck was deep in the corner. Their defensemen, instead of shooting, driving the net, trying to get pucks in front of me, trying to chip them in, getting a one-timer.
They had some chances early in the second period. I think somebody was a bang-bang play. Hit my shoulder. They had some other chances late. We managed to get out of their 0-0. The third period, they had some chances early. Then we settled down. Played well. Kane made an unbelievable backhander. I know he has a great backhander. Sometimes you just can't do anything about those.
Then the overtime, I was standing there hoping we would score right away, and we did, so I was real happy about that.

Q. Chris, you guys did a good job on Crosby and Malkin last year in the finals. Looks like they're playing at another level so far this year in the playoffs. Even bigger challenge this year?
CHRIS OSGOOD: Yeah, I think that's 'cause they've added some good players. Kunitz and Guerin are experienced guys that can take pressure off that's normally not on them. They've kind of done what our team has done. We have great players, but we don't put extra players on them to be unreal every night. We don't rely on them to win every single game. I don't think they're doing the same with those guys.
What happened last year isn't going to have any bearing on this year, either is the regular-season games. We're completely different teams this year. We've had a lot of different guys step up for both teams. So for us, the rematch will be fun, first and foremost for us, the challenge of playing them, because they're playing at such a high level. It's going to give us an opportunity to see if we can shut them down, which will be a big. Will take a lot of work, but we'll try our best.

Q. Darren, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I'm going to guess that Cheli is almost twice your age. Almost hits the winner before you did. Are you blown away by what he's able to accomplish out there at 47?
DARREN HELM: Yeah, he's a great player. He's in unbelievable shape. You know, there's not a whole lot of guys out there playing at his age. To see him out there each night doing what he's doing, it's fun for us players to watch him, how hard he competes.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts

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