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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: PENGUINS v RED WINGSJune 12, 2009Sidney CrosbyDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Seven SCHUYLER BAEHMAN: Questions for Sidney Crosby. Q. Is anything that you've done in your hockey career prepare you for this game? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, I think it does. All the big games you've played, and you try to draw on your experience from those, and how you prepare and things like that. I think, you know, all these things you work on whether it's before the season or over the course of the season, this is when it pays off. These are when your good habits and your work ethic, hopefully this is when it shows through as far as individually and as a team. So, the game doesn't change. You know, the stakes are different. But, you know, you've got to play the same way. Q. I just wondered, Detroit had an optional today, most of their guys didn't skate. Your full team was out there. Do you prefer it like that, more like a normal game? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah. Most times I think guys take optionals on our team. That's just the way it's been. Billy Guerin might not like that a whole lot, but most of the guys are out there (smiling). We've always liked to skate on game days unless we're playing back-to-back games or something like that, it's pretty rare for us not to. So we might as well keep it the same. Q. Is there something that maybe was a last morning skate for this team? Was it something that you wouldn't have missed it for the world kind of thing? SIDNEY CROSBY: I mean, at this point you want anybody to do whatever it takes them to get ready. If that means they need to have a skate off, then that's fine. I don't think that was really going through a lot of guys' heads the fact that that was the situation. I think everyone was just preparing. I don't think there's much of that thought going through their mind. But you are right, that's probably the last time this group of guys will be skating together out there for a morning skate. But at this point, I think everyone's pretty focused on what they need to do. Q. What is the challenge for you tonight to make sure that you try to not do too much and put this whole game on your shoulders? SIDNEY CROSBY: I think it's pretty easy to do that at this point. I haven't put that pressure on myself all playoff long, and I'm not going to start in Game 7 of the finals. So we've gotten this far because of the way we've played together. If we're going to pull this one out, it's going to be because of our team. I don't see that being an issue as far as personally trying to push and do too much. I know what I have to do. It's a matter of going out there and contributing. But that's not really something I'm too worried about. Q. Is this fun for you? Or is this all business approach? And will you say anything to your teammates in the room prior to hitting the ice? SIDNEY CROSBY: It's a little bit of mixed emotions, I think. You're excited and at the same time you have to make sure you remind yourself that you have to focus on the same things and keep it as much as routine as you can. Even though, like I said, it's a different situation. But, you know, I'm excited, and I don't think a whole lot needs to be said at this point. We all realize what we have to do as individuals out there. We know what makes our team successful, and we know what it takes. So it's just a matter of going out there and doing it. Q. In the morning skate before Game 7 when you put a puck in the top shelf and it stays there for about 15 minutes, is that any kind of good Omen going into tonight's game? SIDNEY CROSBY: I hope so (laughing). They don't usually go top shelf, so I'll take those ones. But certainly I'd like to see one go in tonight, for sure. Q. As a connoisseur of many Detroit hotels now, are you consulted before the team changes, or is this just Dan? As captain, do you get a say or does Dan say we have to go to a luckier hotel? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, they run it by me and a couple of guys. Not just me but, you know, at this point I don't think we have too many options, so (smiling) I don't think this one needed to be run by anyone. We knew it was probably a good time to switch it up, so we decided to. Q. It was less than four years ago in Ottawa where you were the first overall pick. Now you're in a Game 7 in the Cup Finals. Can you have imagined that kind of journey that quickly for yourself individually? SIDNEY CROSBY: No, I mean, honestly not. I don't think I was even close to looking this far ahead. You know, I think as a young group and the team that's been put together here we've probably accelerated that learning curve more than a lot of people thought. So we've given ourselves an amazing opportunity, and it would be great to be able to accomplish this here tonight. Q. You said earlier you talked about the games in your life that have prepared you for this. We all know about Washington and World Juniors, take us back to before Sid Crosby was famous and the games that were like Game 7's for you when you were making your way? Big games? Anything you really remember? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, tons. You know, there's so many. I was lucky to play on a really good team in Minor Hockey where every year we won our last game. But I remember being nervous before those games and thinking they were everything. Never thinking this might happen. So I can look back there's a tournament in my hometown called the Joe Lamontagne Tournament, that was the big tournament for us. We hosted it. We had won it a couple of years, lost it a couple of years. I remember being especially motivated for that one. End of FastScripts |
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