NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

June 9, 2003

Mike Babcock

COACH BABCOCK: Well, I don't really know that for sure. This is going to sink in. You know, I've only been in the League, this is my first year, and so as much as it's painful, as much as I've coached 16 years, you know that you're opportunity will be back, but for guys like Adam Oates and Steve Thomas and Murray, I thought we were going to get it done for them today, I really did. I believed that in my heart and that's how the mind works anyway. And right now it's an empty feeling. I'm real proud of our guys who came in this year, and people didn't know we were alive at the start of the year and we're alive now. We know that we have to have a much better team to be back here again.

COACH BABCOCK: It was interesting, I thought we had stage fright earlier. Even though the shots were fairly close, I thought we had a little stage fright. They got the puck to the net and they hit something and it went in, and what can you say about that? And then, obviously, in the third, we were pressing in the ends obviously. It was an interesting emotion, when you get behind, now your execution, you're pressing hard and you're not executing as well as you normally would. But you've got to give them credit, Mr. Lamoriello here does an unbelievable job here. He's built an organization that's come back time and time again. Scott Stevens is one of the great competitors of the game and obviously his leadership and direction, and they have a lot of good people here. And obviously, Pat has done a great job.

COACH BABCOCK: I never talked to him about the Conn Smythe. He was interested in one trophy, and I'm sure just like when Ron Hextall won it, I'm sure he's going to be very proud of the fact that happened for him. Right now, it's pretty tough for him. We all came here with one thing in mind and we thought we were going to have the Cup when we went back to Anaheim. As much as our families would be on the flight, it's still going to be a pretty empty plane.

COACH BABCOCK: I think the first two games, I don't know how much they had to do with anything, just because with our layoff. But I really thought they played great in here. They worked hard. I thought they had an excellent game today. They played hard and they used their people and they had big bodies, and their Devils managed the puck better than any team we played. They are a solid team. They have good depth, they had four good lines and worked hard. I thought Turner Stevenson coming back helped them a lot. I thought they suddenly had more depth and more wear and tear.

COACH BABCOCK: I don't know if that's bizarre. Everybody has an opportunity when they are out there and he was just doing what he does. You know, sometimes the guys -- and you see it all the time, guys like that, they don't try to do too much. They just do their job. Sometimes the key guys are trying to do so much that they get themselves in trouble. They play a simple system and he fit in and worked real hard and did a good job for them.

COACH BABCOCK: Well, I said this already, this isn't the trophy he's looking for. I mean, you get this opportunity in Game 7 and it's an opportunity of a lifetime and you want to make good on it, when you don't, the Conn Smythe is something that he should be very proud of, and his team battled hard and he battled hard to earn the right to hoist that trophy. Yet, right now, it's not what he's looking for.

COACH BABCOCK: The reason he's such a surprise is because our games must be on too late in the East. Because anybody who has been watching him for two years knows how good he is. There's no surprise for that. The only surprise is suddenly somebody watched us play, and I'm not talking about our local people or people that see us play, but let's be honest, I lived in Cincinnati; I had a hard time out there. I was the foreign team. I had a hard time watching them play. If you don't get an opporrtunity, he's a big surprise. Thank you very much for your coverage. Appreciate your help.