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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: HURRICANES v RED WINGS


June 3, 2002


Sergei Fedorov

Brett Hull


DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Practice Day

Q. (Inaudible.)

SERGEI FEDOROV: You don't want to have that kind of light because you go out there and you are getting hit and getting crosschecked all the time. You are playing forceful hockey. But you are still getting sort of up and downs too. So as a person you are showing it. It's not like a walk in the park. It's going to be a very intense game. And I think people should give more respect to Carolina. And they really deserve it. I remember I scored in one game on the powerplay. I remember the second one we were playing in Carolina, it was an easy period for us the first period. We were leading 3-0 but we ended up winning 4-3 because they came back in the second and third period and played pretty well. I know Arturs Irbe played well against us. It was a very fast game, very intelligent hockey game like against Colorado, but I remember they were a strong opponent.

Q. Do you expect this to be a fast-tempoed game rather than regular season --

SERGEI FEDOROV: I don't think I expect for ourselves that we are going to control the game or control the way we play because that's the only thing we can control.

Q. Is there things that you can do differently than you have done in 1998?

SERGEI FEDOROV: I have no feelings about that at all. Back then I was trying to get back and play hockey. It doesn't matter who we played. I said lots of things to Carolina and to this organization by stepping up and making an offer and am very appreciative to the owner Karmanos and Jim Rutherford, but that was back then. I was gearing up to play hockey.

Q. Did you get to know Mr. Karmanos?

SERGEI FEDOROV: I didn't get to meet him at all. I think I met him on about five occasions, and two or three times after that time.

Q. Are you happy you stayed in Detroit?

SERGEI FEDOROV: Well, things smooth out and I never really mentally left, but I was trying to get back into the game and try to play hockey. And back then there was a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunications about -- I didn't feel like I was being totally right, I should have probably come out and talked to the media a couple of times, but I was -- and from their sides I didn't get any support to do that.

Q. It's been a while since you guys have been in the Playoffs. Do you have a better understanding or appreciation of how hard it is to get there?

SERGEI FEDOROV: Yeah, it has been a pretty hard three rounds. I thought we had a pretty good chance when we started playing L.A., and then we lost twice in Colorado. But back then we started -- we had a pretty good team -- this year it has been a little bit different. It was more of you know to play throughout the regular season. There was more teammates who understood each other better and play and execute throughout the entire 82 games. That makes our personal expectations very high, but our goal was to get to the Stanley Cup and we were always talking about the present, not the past or the future. And we try to stay focused on what needs to be done. I guess we did a pretty good job and I think the acquisitions that we made in the summer last year, obviously three great players joined the squad and so far so good.

Q. Are you going to break the family record with Stanley Cups?

BRETT HULL: It's very special just to win it and be on there again or have the chance to be on it again, but he loves the game and loves the fact that I am doing well, and can't wait to watch.

Q. You were very young when you played your first Final with Calgary. Can you talk about that experience?

BRETT HULL: I didn't know anything about what was going on, I was coming out of college; I hadn't been through the whole thing. I just stepped in and all of a sudden I am in the Final.

Q. When you won the Cup a few years ago, is that the prime reason why you wanted to come here had you that feeling?

BRETT HULL: I was very fortunate I was able to come here. I just wanted to be able to keep playing, no one else wanted me. But I am glad I have the chance to play.

Q. Is there a difference between Carolina now and when you played them before?

BRETT HULL: That's five months ago when we played them before. They have added some people. I don't think there's a lot difference. They are very well coached. They are big, they are strong, fast, young, enthusiastic and they have got some good leadership. People are playing them down as the David against Goliath. That's kind of ridiculous when you have got a team in the Finals to be thinking that they are --

Q. Do you recognize a lot of what you did in Dallas --

BRETT HULL: I don't know, we don't play them enough to get that opinion. I know what we did in Dallas, but I don't think there's too many teams that play that well -- that play that way. They are a trap team that plays very responsible in the neutral zone. And they are well coached. They do what they are supposed to do, and they do it well.

Q. Can you contrast or compare playing for Ken Hitchcock as opposed to Scotty Bowman?

BRETT HULL: Black and White. That's it. They are far opposite as you could possibly be in personality and in style.

Q. Are they demanding in a different way?

BRETT HULL: Yes. All coaches are demanding in different ways: They have the game plans. You do it or you don't play. That's basically what it comes down to.

Q. We were watching the other day in practice when Scotty was making you do 5 on 3s and line changes and running complex drills on the powerplay.

BRETT HULL: I think he did that for you guys, not us.

Q. Does this team remind you of another Western Conference team like St. Louis? Do you plan for teams?

BRETT HULL: That's what we have coaches for. They decide. They have scouts out there watching, and we play them very early in the year and then right after that. So we haven't seen them for months.

Q. What have they told you so far about their defense?

BRETT HULL: They move the puck very well. They are mobile, big, strong, you have got to be disciplined; you have to be well positioned. It is just like playing any other team. You have got to do those little things to help yourself make scoring chances. All depends on how we want to be positioned against them. That's the only difference between teams.

Q. You played against Chris Chelios. What is that playing against him or seeing a different side of him when he's on your side?

BRETT HULL: Well, playing with him, you finally get to feel actually what is going on in his head and what his thought process is and his motivation towards things. Playing against him he's that scary guy because you never really know what he's going to do or how he's going to do it and that, as a player, that unknown is something that's hard to play against.

End of FastScripts...

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