NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: DEVILS v SENATORS

May 23, 2003

Pat Burns

COACH BURNS: How about that. I think this team has done that all year long. It is that kind of team. I think the resiliency of this team showed all year long. We had to battle. We had to win big games at the finish in the first place in our division, and did it. I think that a lot of things happened today. It was a real weird day. Everything was funny. I don't know if you saw the bus we had coming over, it looked like an old bus from the Slapshot movie. Our main bus broke down, our trainers had an accident in the cab coming over, and then they jumped in another cab and got stopped by the police because they were going through the bus lane. This morning when we left, they had some trailers out there. Bobby Carpenter asked what they are for, he said that is for the media for the next round. I stopped the bus right in front of there. I said, you see those trailers, we're going to send those trailers back because there is not going to be a next round. It was a confident day. It was one of those things where everybody -- you are looking for all kinds of things. We lose Joe Nieuwendyk after two shifts, you know, then we ended up missing centers. I remember going in after the first period and I saw Joe sitting in the corner of the training room with a tear running down his eye. That motivated me again. I went back in the room, told the players we have a rangy old veteran on the other side who would love to help you out. I said, he has got a tear running down his eye right now. That seemed to pump up the team. Everybody rallied around each other. There was all kinds of little things that happened. The timeout, I am usually not that vocal in a timeout. I gathered all the troops together in the timeout and I really pumped them on. I said, hey guys, we got them backing up. Now let us not give up. Jeff Friesen on that give-away, on that goal, he came to the bench. I think he was pondering suicide at that point in time. He was banging the stick. I said, just relax. You owe me one. He went and got the goal. So it was a funny day. It was one of those days where everything was just weird. Winning tonight is just that more thing that we wanted.

COACH BURNS: Second one all over, yeah.

COACH BURNS: Well, it's -- you have been to these final fours before, and I have been a couple of times before, too before that. And getting back, it's -- to be the only game in town is something that we worked for at the start of the year. We talked about it. We haven't won nothing . The team we are going to play against is a team that, you know, accomplished so much. If people say, you are the favorite, I am going to have to say excuse me. So was Detroit, so was Dallas, they were all favorites, too. So I don't think anybody is a favorite. They have a kid by the name of Giguere. We are going to have to figure out some way or other how to get passed this kid. He's phenomenal right now. And it's going to be interesting. We have two teams -- I think Mike Babcock, he's a young new coach, the genius style coach. I think Bryan Murray did a great job picking up some super veterans in Adam Oates, you know, and Keith Carney is impressive. When I saw them at the start of the year, the first Playoff, I always recalled because I was out of the game when that happened last year. I watched a little bit closely. I always remember when Paul Kariya had his head down in the dressing room -- I wasn't there -- he said he was tired of losing, and now look at him, and he's a great hockey player too. So it's a good team and we haven't won anything yet. We have to start over again, but every team that I have noticed, you have to get to a certain way -- in the playoffs has to overcome some adversity along the way. You have to. If it's too easy, a lot of times it doesn't happen. You have to have some adversity. I think this was ours tonight. This is what we had to get over the hump tonight and I think we got over that.

COACH BURNS: It's an emotional building and the guys had to feel that. You couldn't hear a whole lot behind that bench, and going up and down the bench, and just pushing these guys on because that's your job. You can't do it for 82 games because it doesn't work. You can sit there and yell and scream all you want for 82 games. It doesn't work. You have to pick a certain time and fine time to do it and I said tonight is the time.

COACH BURNS: I think heart is hard to beat. I had a great team that had a lot of heart in 93 and 93, 94 same year they had a lot of heart. I think talent wise this team is based on -- it's on the team concept. There's not really anybody that's going to go out and put a show on. When you think of our checking line in Madden, Langenbrunner and Pandolfo, probably our best line, a lot of times during the year and during the Playoffs, you know, I think there's a superstar in our team and he's the goaltender. I think that he is the Most Valuable Player in my books. And he's won a lot of games for us. Scotty Stevens is just the old master that glues all this together. He leads by example. He goes out there day in and day out, practices, never says anything. He's just one of those rangy veterans that every team should have. And you saw the way they were really keying in on him and hitting him. He just kept on bouncing back and bouncing back.

COACH BURNS: Well, John has done that. He kills penalties. Sometimes I will throw him on the powerplay. He will match up on the big center, on the other side he will do a lot of things. He's that type of player and seems to thrive on that role. I think some players are like that, when they are given a role, they really thrive on it and it makes them that much better. He did definitely do that again for us tonight. Jamie Langenbrunner was on and off that line. I put him with Nieuwendyk for a while. We started that way. I said, no, I am going to put him back there again. That certainly paid off. One guy we don't mention is Pandolfo, maybe he doesn't get all the attention that the other guys get, but he's a big-hearted player. Sergei Brylin coming back, a guy like Pascal Rheaume, a guy used to playing on the 3rd, 4th line on last place teams, ends up tonight that he has to take on a super role tonight. We lose Joe Nieuwendyk I went over there -- he won his faceoffs; played a helluva game. He's not used to playing this time of year. This is a long time for him. I think now the more they play, the more they want to go on.

COACH BURNS: It's not his back at all. No. No. It's not that at all. He just tried -- we tried it -- we said, hey, go out and if it works fine. It's a bad bruise and in the hip area that's all it is. What do we got to lose? It's not a big deal and it is just one of those things in a couple of days and he will be fine. It's just that tonight he couldn't do it. There wasn't enough hours involved in there. And he went out, and tried, and gave it all; it didn't work. But a couple of days of treatment, he will be back and he will be going.