NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WILD v MIGHTY DUCKS

May 16, 2003

Mike Babcock

MIKE BABCOCK: It's the one we have here today. It's the most important. That's tried to be our focus all year long, to live in the present. We're going to try to do that. Tonight is an interesting situation. Right now they're in a different situation than they've ever been in. So, we would like them not to experience the same thing they've experienced, but it's all about us. We have to play our best game of the playoffs. We want to continue to get better, take a step a day. You know, I'm a hum-drum guy. I say the same thing every single day. It's the biggest game of the year. We're going to take a step a day. That's a wrap, we're done.

MIKE BABCOCK: Well, there is more on the line when you look at it in some ways and other ways. You see, the great thing about the playoffs is you play to play again. It's pretty common sense. That's the approach we've tried all year long. We know we have to play well, and, you know, I guess there is a couple ways to look at it. They've got nothing to lose, and yet they have a lot to lose. They might be the loosest they have been all playoffs. If you can be intense, mentally and physically, that's the way you want to be. That's the way we would like to be; the best we possibly can.

MIKE BABCOCK: Well, before I even became a coach, I told Frank that, "If I ever become a coach in the NHL, the first call I'll make is to you." Simple things: He takes a ton of pride in what he does, and he makes no excuses. He feels terrible when his goalie is not the best. He makes things simple, and what I mean by that is he builds a simple foundation for the goalie to fall back on. That's what you need in life, you need a foundation built for you by your family, and the people that don't have that, when the heat is on, don't react well. When the heat's on, and you work with Frank, you've got a foundation. He's done a masterful job here. Let's not give any coach too much credit. Players play and the coaches watch. Giguere's the guy who makes the decision to be mentally tough enough to work hard enough to build that foundation.

MIKE BABCOCK: Just getting noticed. The reality is how we play, we have been trying to take a step a day all year and trying to get better and better, and defensively we have had the same philosophy since the start of the year, and that is to be professional with the puck. If you play well defensively, you get to play offense a whole lot more and it's a whole lot more fun.

MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I didn't bring anybody in. The general manager did that. Let's get that straight. He knew Niedermayer, he had Niedermayer before. He drafted Niedermayer and knew what he was all about and just felt he needed a change of scenery. Niedermayer played great against us in Calgary, absolutely phenomenal, dominated us, played like a big man. We thought if we could get this guy, he might be able to help us. Stumpy was another situation that we felt we needed some veteran guys who were going to be pumped up, and Brian had a good handle on them and made those decisions. I had nothing to do with any of that, Brian Murray did.

MIKE BABCOCK: What we do is we try to do everything before. Preparation equals opportunity. Everybody is allowed to dream. I'm a big dreamer myself. If you don't dream, you cap your potential. Live in the moment today and do what you have to do. You do more by doing less. There is no time for individuals. It's all about teams. Just play the simple way based on our foundation and things will look after themselves. Don't get caught up in the prize, just the process. Pretty exciting stuff. See you guys.