NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

May 26, 2003

Mike Babcock

MIKE BABCOCK: That's a real good question. I think the thing we talked about when the series was going on between Ottawa and them, we thought Ottawa was more similar to Detroit and the Devils were more similar to Dallas. The thing about the Devils that I like from a distance is just how mentally tough they are, how they don't fluctuate. They seem to do it the same way all the time. They bend but don't break. They seem to be a real resilient group. When I say that, that's how I think we are.

MIKE BABCOCK: I guess the first thing is, he's like all good players: He wants to win. In order to win you have to have everybody on the same page going the same direction. When you're the captain, you've got to be the guy who sets the tone. I think what Paul's done, there has been no questions at all. It's not like we don't talk, but we expect him to set the tone for our hockey club. We expect him to get out there, get involved, be greasy, push the pace, be professional with and without the puck.

MIKE BABCOCK: They think they have been at training camp all over again. One of the real nice things about it was we got a couple days to enjoy it. We tried to get back to work. We worked really hard. We had a scrimmage in between, but there is nothing like the game, but in reality, that's over with. We play a game here tomorrow, and we're going to be ready.

MIKE BABCOCK: The first thing is you don't get to where I am right now unless you've got a guy like Bryan Murray, you ask questions, and I mean, they've all got a good feel for the game. They're good people to talk to as a group, we make decisions. Obviously, Bryan Murray has coached and managed in the league for a long time. From that way we have quite a bit of experience on our staff. We used that to get here.

MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I guess you could say there is going to be a feel-out process. It's like walking out to the end of the dock and you put your toe in the water and see what the temperature is. We know it's boiling, let's race off the end of dock, let's get going. It's a great opportunity for us. We're excited about being here. Let's play.

MIKE BABCOCK: Well, you've got a great opportunity and that's why it's so exciting to be involved at this time of the year. You stretch yourself. Jacques Lemaire is a pretty impressive coach, and now you're having a guy, you're coaching against now. I was reading his bio today, what's interesting, too, is that Pat Burns got to his spot in '89, and now it's '03. It's a long time between opportunities. You want to make good on your opportunities.

MIKE BABCOCK: No, just watching on TV and being a fan and enjoying it.

MIKE BABCOCK: I think the way you look at it is Lou and his group, when they started training camp, they hoped and expected to be here. We hoped that we would be in the playoffs. We hoped to be in the hunt after 20 games is what your goal was, and to get better. Things went better than expected. Bryan Murray did a real good job acquiring players that fit in and helped our team. We improved our team. You don't get here by luck. You have to earn the right to get here. Detroit was pretty good, and so was Dallas, and so was Minnesota -- a really good team -- and our guys have earned the right to be here and now we're going to find out what it's all about.

MIKE BABCOCK: No, I don't see the similarities there. The Wild got off to a good start. I thought Detroit did the same thing. I thought we got off to a real good start in Dallas. We know what the game is. We'll get ourselves ready to go. We've got to come out and try to establish our game first. It's always a race to see who can establish their game first.

MIKE BABCOCK: Well, Bryan was really excited to get him. He knew him. He had him before. He thought he was a big time player. The times that we had played against him, he was excellent, so we were excited to get a guy who could skate, who was physical enough to handle the rough going, who had some experience, and yet was a young guy and excited about getting better and having an opportunity. So he's been phenomenal for us. He's been everything we could are hoped and more.

MIKE BABCOCK: No, this isn't something that happened this week or anything. They have been working together for -- from hockey school, and the last three years building what he is. Just like myself as a coach, or Frank as a coach, it is the player who does the work. He's mentally tough. He's got the athletic ability. He puts in the time. He's done a great job. He's technically very sound.

MIKE BABCOCK: I thought that would be the next question, as soon as I said that. Well, what we do is we skate and manage the puck, and that's what we have to do to be successful. That's what I said to the guys when we were playing Dallas, and they were trying to run us out of the rink. We could go outside and fight them in the alley, and they would win for sure, or we could do what we do and win ourselves. That's what we're going to do. We're going to do what we do. We'll be prepared for the nuances of them. We have to do what we do and make adjustments as time goes.

MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I expect Joe to play so we're not going to spend any time on the other part of that whatsoever. The first question I was asked about this team is when Joe Nieuwendyk went down, they had every excuse in Game 7 and it didn't make one bit of difference. They played hard. They left the sweater on. They played for the team. You've got to find a way. That's what they do. That's what we have to do.

MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I'm not going to use any of the names of the people I called. The way I look at it is the more people and the more experience you can gain and talk to, the better opportunity you have to maybe someone gives you a hint, or thought, or something that happened to them, so you're looking to gain some experience. The other thing about it is somebody probably -- some of those people probably wouldn't return my calls if we weren't in this situation.

MIKE BABCOCK: Before the season started Mike expected to be a dominant player on our team. The way things went for him, he was averaging 19 minutes a game for us at the start, and then the wheels came off. He couldn't battle through it and it didn't work well for him, and then he would get healthy, come back and get hurt again. What's happened, he knows at this time of the year everybody is hurt anyway, you just play. He'll have the summer. He's a big body like Niedermayer and Rucchin. He works well around the net, gets to the net. He can be physical, but he has a good touch, too. He can make plays.

MIKE BABCOCK: This is what I saw when I watched the games: I saw Niedermayer beat their defensemen to waive off an icing. So, this premise that everyone has about defense, defense means, from what I understand is, when you don't have the puck, you're professional without the thing. They attack like crazy, where Niedermayer can really skate. Stevens, I think, is way better offensively than people ever talk about. I think he once scored 20 goals in the league, didn't he? So, I mean, I don't know if it's all about defense. I think it's about getting on offense as fast as you possibly can. The way you do that is you're professional without the puck, and you're in a good situation, and then you get on to offense. I think that's how both teams play. They don't give you much for free normally. I remember telling the guys one time, we went to a Canadian college national championship -- this was years and years ago -- I remember talking to the media the day before, we would have to play a nice tight checking game, and we get them end up with a 9-7 score. Who knows what happens. It was the Final 4 for Canadian College Hockey against Acadia. I was at the University of Lethbridge.

MIKE BABCOCK: On ice, you can tell. You read the stats, and that part has been important, but I think the part more than that is just his presence, his understanding, his professionalism. This guy is real interested. There is nobody who watches more teams than this guy. He tries to learn all the time, understands the game at a high, high level and is very professional. He's made us a faceoff team by his professionalism there. The powerplay, the same thing, even though our powerplay hasn't been great statistically in the playoffs, it's won us some games. Anytime you get a guy who loves the game as much as he does and wants to be in the game, and it's a young man's game, I think it's a good message to the other guys.

MIKE BABCOCK: That's a real good question. I think we're a real good team. I really believe that, and we have an opportunity right now that doesn't come very often in your lifetime, and we're just going to try to do everything we can to be the best we can be. That's all we can hope for is to be the best we can possibly be and do the best we can do.

MIKE BABCOCK: I know what you're talking about. I tried to answer the question. I think our goalie is really good. I think their goalie is real good. I think he's been measured at this time of the year and won. What more can you say?

MIKE BABCOCK: I think they're a real good penalty kill team. I think we are, too. I think their powerplay is way better than people think. I think our powerplay is better than people think. You don't get here if you're not good.

MIKE BABCOCK: The start of this is Bryan Murray. You know, it's just like Lou and the job he's done here. I mean, they have been to the conference final four times. They have won the second most games in the '90s. They've built a program with expectations of success. That's what Bryan Murray's done is he's set a standard that we have to live up to, but also what he's done -- it was interesting, I was skating around before, I said to Stumpy, "You were here, how was it?" He said, "They make you feel great, they make you feel good about yourself, treat you like $1 million. That's what happened in Anaheim. Bryan Murray has been able to do the same thing. He's created the demand and expectation for success.

MIKE BABCOCK: I think he got 32 goals or something like that, and, I mean, he's been a veteran guy in the playoffs that's been through it before. He's greasy enough, he's involved. He plays pretty well. He's been a big part of our team.

MIKE BABCOCK: Beating Detroit was absolutely great. The confidence comes from not beating them in the first round; it comes from playing Dallas next, and everyone saying now we'll see, and you find out halfway through the series, when they supposedly break your bubble, no, that doesn't happen. Then you play, I think, an outstanding team in Minnesota. You find a way to win that, too. We have been efficient. We've got through them quick, we've gotten rested and gotten ready to go. I don't think the first round tells you as much as what's happened through the process.

MIKE BABCOCK: I like to think that we're a greasy team, and what I mean by that is we want the puck more. It's a simple, simple game. If you want the puck more than the other guy, and you're greasy, you've got a chance to be successful.

MIKE BABCOCK: I don't know the answer to that question. I know each game, and I say this all the time, the most important game we play this year is tomorrow, and we have to prepare like that is, and that's what we're going to do. And, now, it's great when you win that game and it's a springboard for something else. When you don't win the game, though, the next game is the best game of the year because that's what you're playing. I don't think there is any better way at this time of year to survive. If you can live in the present and do that, you can be successful.