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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BRUINS v CANUCKS

June 8, 2011

Tim Thomas

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Four

Boston Â– 4
Vancouver - 0

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Tim.

Q. Not a big play, not one that's going to stand out, but talk about the back-check that Michael Ryder had beginning of the third period. It could have become 3-1.
TIM THOMAS: Yeah, at any time in the game, it's important. That's what's given us success over the last couple games, is guys putting in that effort, doing the tough work that doesn't necessarily, you know, lead to goals right away, but are necessary for us to win.
You know, every play like that throughout the game, when you add them all up, they become so important.

Q. Can you talk about the love affair between you and this city. I'd be shocked if you ever had to buy a drink in this town.
TIM THOMAS: I've been so focused on playing the playoffs that I'm a little bit removed from, you know, what's happening inside the city right now. I felt that it was the best way to approach these playoffs and the finals, the best way to keep my feet on the ground is to kind of isolate myself. That's what I've kind of done. I've stayed away from reading the media and watching the media and stuff like that.
I can't comment on that one.

Q. What was the reaction like in the room after the game when Nathan Horton was in there? What did you think of Rich Peverley's job replacing him?
TIM THOMAS: Well, first of all, I was very, very happy to see Nathan up and around in the locker room. I wasn't exactly sure of his status. You know, I'd heard that he was okay, but then I heard it was a severe concussion. I didn't know if 'okay' meant he's going to live or...
When I personally got to see him in the locker room, you know, I was incredibly happy and it gave me a big boost. He was there to pass the jacket on. We didn't pass the jacket on the last game with him gone. I think the team would have been happy leaving it with Horty for the rest of this series, but he wanted to give it away and keep the tradition going that we'd started.
So actually he gave it to Peverley, the guy who replaced him on the line. He was obviously great for us tonight. He got the first goal and the last goal. That first goal and the fourth goal are very important goals. We wouldn't have won without the way he played.
I think he did a great job stepping into Horty's spot on the line. I'm very happy for Pevs, too.

Q. You've had great success in your career against Vancouver, like three shutouts in seven games. What is the secret? Is there an explanation for it?
TIM THOMAS: There's no secret. That's another one of those stats that really doesn't have too much of a bearing because one of 'em is from at least a couple years ago or three years ago, one of the games I played against them. One of them is from two years ago. I only played one against them during the regular season this year. If you look at lineups, there were some similarities between the two teams. But I bet you more than half of each team was different.
There's no secret to it. Well, I can tell you any success I've had in this series against them is because I've worked extremely hard, and that's the way I approach it.

Q. Can you take us through the slash at Burrows and what got that going?
TIM THOMAS: They'd been getting the butt end of my stick actually. They did it a couple of times on the power-play in the first period also. I don't know who it was, I was focused on the puck. That was like the third time that he'd hit my butt end on that power-play. On 6-4, we were up 4-0, the game was getting down toward the end, so I thought I'd give him a little love tap and let him know, I know what you're doing, but I'm not going to let you do it forever.
So that's all that was. It was a typical battle.

Q. Can you talk about the emotion in the building tonight with Orr and Horton and yourself. You probably didn't hear this on the bench, when Luongo was replaced, the crowd back in Vancouver was cheering. Is there a sense that you could turn that into a hostile environment in Game 5?
TIM THOMAS: What was the first part of your question (laughter)?

Q. The emotion in the building.
TIM THOMAS: Our crowd has been phenomenal, especially in these playoffs. During the regular season, sometimes I'm not sure how much energy home crowds really add to games. But I know playing at home in these playoffs has been a big advantage for us and it's helped us.
They were extremely loud. We played well. We rewarded the fans that have stuck with us. So that's helpful. I think I saw once up on the screen something about 118 decibels, a Stanley Cup record for noise. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what I think I saw.
To the second part of your question, we're not focused on anything that's transpiring between Luongo and his home crowd. We're focusing on what we have to do to have success. I think we've done a pretty good job of that the last two games. That's what we're going to focus on going forward.

Q. You mentioned you've isolated yourself. You're in a nice rhythm here. How do you get yourself into that? Am I putting words in your mouth or do you feel you're on one of those rolls that great goaltenders get on?
TIM THOMAS: I felt like that for a lot of this year, to be honest with you. I have felt so good in the finals so far. I'm just going to keep doing the same thing that I've been doing to, you know, try to have the same success that I've had.
Just between games I try to get as much rest as I possibly can and keep my body as maintained as possible.

Q. While respecting your privacy, can you give us maybe a little glimpses of what you're isolating yourself with at home? Are you playing bridge, watching the Discovery Channel?
TIM THOMAS: Spend some time with my kids. Spend some time by the pool with this nice weather that we've had. That's really about it of the all we've had time for. Isn't like we've had a ton of time at home. That's pretty much all that transpires there.
My little boy is trying to get me to play hockey. I'm like, I'm a little bit too tired, wait till this summer (laughter).

Q. The arguments that went on prior to this game, I don't know to what extent you were made aware of them regarding when you go out of your net to make a save, whether or not you're entitled to a free path back to your crease. It didn't seem to be any kind of an issue for all the talk about it. Didn't seem to materialize in this game at all. Was that something you did as a group?
TIM THOMAS: I don't think it was ever an issue to begin with. I think it was made an issue by the people that were talking about it. But in reality, it never was an issue.

Q. There were fans chanting 'Nathan Horton' throughout the evening, 'Win this for Nathan.' How much do you think his loss and that hit has had an impact on your win in the last two games?
TIM THOMAS: It's had some impact because Horty is a great guy and he's very well loved on this team. Watching him going down, we want to finish what we started, you know, for him. To be honest with you, we want to do it all for ourselves and for each other.
You have to have that drive or you probably wouldn't have arrived in the finals where we're at right now. So it's had some impact, but it would be hard to put a number on a percentage of how much of an impact it's had.

Q. After the two difficult, painful losses in Vancouver, the way they ended, probably talk around the country was this series probably isn't going to go long. What were you able to do to make it not go the other way?
TIM THOMAS: Well, we learned the lessons throughout the season that you have to put like the games that we lost behind you. I think we did a good job between Game 2 and 3 in that. I think actually we did a good job of that between Game 3 and 4. Just because we won Game 3 didn't mean we were going to go out there and have it be a cakewalk, and it wasn't. I think that's one of the things we've done.
But every time this year that we've faced adversity as a team, we've rose to the challenge. We needed to do it one more time because we were down 2-0. Now we've done that for two games. The challenge for us will be to keep doing that.

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