NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

June 7, 2003

Pat Burns

COACH BURNS: I have been satisfied with Brian pretty much all year. He's been a guy that's been put in a lot of positions. We've put him on defense and offense and killing penalties and on powerplay situations. He's always answered well. He's a very hard worker. His size probably is not the most intimidating, but as you know, he doesn't back down from anything.

COACH BURNS: I haven't even seen Joe today. If Joe wants to take warmup, he'll take warmup. I don't anticipate many changes, no.

COACH BURNS: By the time we got in last night, there was no time to skate. We had a workout, though. This morning, it was tough. It doesn't give you much time to really get -- I don't think skating is going to make a difference now.

COACH BURNS: They have to tell me if they're fine or not. If Joe Nieuwendyk came off warmup and said, "Coach, I feel 100 percent," would you not play them? I would play them. We're not there. I don't know why we're really talking about it.

COACH BURNS: We'll go game by game. This is the game tonight we want to play. We'll try to end it tonight. If not, we'll worry about that after.

COACH BURNS: I think so. I think that rest is very important. It's not only a one-man decision; we sit down and all talk about it, whether it be the general manager or the coaching staff. We all talk about it. We even talk to the captains and assistant captains and see how they feel. I don't go up and stand up and pound my chest and say nobody's skating today. Their skate is a little more advantageous for them. They can get the ice at any time they want. If I would have had the ice at 9:00, I would have loved to skate. But we don't have the option.

COACH BURNS: If you sneak into the dressing room before the game, you'll hear it all.

COACH BURNS: You have to have permission from the other team. I doubt very much if they would give us that option. I know I wouldn't.

COACH BURNS: We just want to get it done. How the team's pulse is, you can feel good about it. I feel good about it today. You can't answer these questions until the game is over. You don't know what's going to happen. We have to play the game. And that's why we have these -- you've got to win four games. I could sit here and tell you how the pulse of the team is, I can be completely off stride with it. They're the ones out there playing the game. They will know how the feeling is.