NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

May 26, 2003

Pat Burns

PAT BURNS: Well, obviously the challenge they bring is their record. They've proven all the way in the playoffs that they are a team that has earned the respect that they should have, and we will certainly give them that respect.

PAT BURNS: No.

PAT BURNS: I'm not sure I quite understand what you mean about telling people to enjoy it.

PAT BURNS: Well, I think this team has been there three of the last four times, most of the players, they know what it is. They know the importance of it, the hype around it, the excitement. It's obviously changed in the last 14 years. There wasn't that much media 14 years ago. It's something that you will always remember. I think -- but, again, we stress to the players you're not in it just to be part of it; you're in it to win it. That's what you want to do.

PAT BURNS: That is day-to-day with Joe. Treatments are funny. These injuries are things that are on a day-to-day basis. He could wake up tomorrow and be fine, and if I tell you I don't, and he does, then you will say I was hiding something. So I really don't know. I sure hope he does.

PAT BURNS: The perception is there might be that. That's a crystal ball question. I don't know. I think they will be good hockey games. They said Game 7 was supposed to be boring, obviously, it turned out to be a pretty good one. Who knows? I think both teams will be ready. I think we know the importance of it. You can't get too high or low, no matter what happens. I think you'll see some chances on both side.

PAT BURNS: Anybody who is out there and practicing could be an option. We'll see tomorrow.

PAT BURNS: Well, you learn something new every day in coaching. I always said, the day you think you know it all, go home. I think the players have to do that, too. If you walk away from the rink and you don't learn something new, you didn't do anything all day long.

PAT BURNS: It was a great series. I didn't think this series would be about me going back here. It seems to be turning into that. What I remember there, I remember we lost in Game 6. That's what I remember. It hurt to lose. This is the most important thing I kept from it.

PAT BURNS: It's another possibility. We're looking and thinking of it. We'll make that decision later in our meetings tonight. We're not done yet. We didn't have a whole lot of time, like Anaheim did, to go through options. We finished playing Game 7 on Friday, we had a day off on Saturday, a short meeting yesterday, and a good one today, a practice, and we'll sit down and talk about those things tonight.

PAT BURNS: Again, that's all a question of who knows. Some people will say -- I hear too many people saying that the long break hurts a team. It might for the first five minutes of the game. Then it's pretty good. When your players are rested, you don't have bumps and bruises coming off Games 5, 6, 7. Whether it's good or not, we will find out soon enough.

PAT BURNS: Jeff really has fit in. He seemed to have ups and downs this year. He had a great second half with Joe Nieuwendyk. Oleg had a problem this year with an injury -- it was on and off a lot of the times. We had to send him to see a specialist. He had a little trouble coming back from it. Ever since then, we had a lot of veteran defensemen, we're not afraid to use them.

PAT BURNS: It's always tough to try to rise from a high like we just left Friday, and always get back up to that again. When you win an emotional game like we did in Game 7, unfortunately, to have players that have been around for a while, then for the focus to get back to that emotion again, it's very important. It's fresh in our minds. So was that victory, it was fresh in our minds. You've got to erase that and be ready to take on another challenge.

PAT BURNS: Usually the good goaltenders, distractions don't phase them too much, and I know Marty is one of the ones where distractions don't bother him too much and he's very at ease. He doesn't have all these little witchery things that he has to do before a game. He's probably the least guy that I've seen do all these little ceremonies before the game. He goes out there and plays.

PAT BURNS: I would like to see them produce a little bit more. I thought they played well enough in Game 7, get some scoring chances. I thought Gomez had quite a few scoring chances. You got to put those away.

PAT BURNS: Obviously, it's something that we have to try to figure out. That's what the games will tell you. I don't think the game right now, before it's even started, we would tell you how we're going to do that. We have to find a way. That's the main thing. He's very confident right now. He's on top of his game. The team has confidence in front of him, and I think knowing that, because we're in the same situation, we're confident when Marty is playing that way, too. So, you're going to have two teams with two excellent goaltenders and the confidence will be there. Their job and our job is to try to break that confidence.

PAT BURNS: Well, we certainly don't want it to happen, but if it does happen in Game 1, we don't panic about it. That's one thing we can't do. I think they have been on a mission every start of every playoff round, and that's the reason why they had success is because they have been able to accomplish that. I think our job is definitely tomorrow to be ready early and make sure that doesn't happen.

PAT BURNS: Like I said, it's very difficult to answer. I don't know. We have to go out there and play our game. What Anaheim is going to do is going to have to be -- Mike's going to have to answer for them. I know my guys will be ready and coming off of Game 7, like I said, it's trying to re-find that emotion again to throw it back at them again.