NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

June 5, 2001

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I think through this whole Playoffs we have used more people and how had to use more people this year through injuries and what have you. I think that it really is kind of a testament of the depth that Lou has been able to bring in and the guys that have contributed very well in everyone of the series we have had. Guys like Corky and Jimmy Mac and of course Sutsy, but I don't -- O'Donnell has been almost been in almost all of the games so I don't really count him as a spare.

COACH ROBINSON: Only because with Arnott not available on the powerplay, I didn't want to have to over tax Scotty and play him, you know, a lot on the PP and Kenny Sutton is capable of playing the PP. And just the fact that both him and Colin have played together. It was just more of a move because of the absence of Arnott.

COACH ROBINSON: 50 minutes, yeah. Once around and in. No, it was much better. We knew by travelling last night I think some of the families that went down flew back last night; they didn't get until 5 in the morning. So this way we got a good night's rest and good meal and then travelled today.

COACH ROBINSON: That went on and on and on and on.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I wish it was that cut and dried. But it is not. Right now we have got two teams, one that can win it. The other that can be eliminated. So you have a desperate team, one that doesn't want to go back to Colorado and the other one that does. So you are going to have two teams that are going to be playing their best hockey and we will just have to wait and see what happens. But I know that -- I know that we don't want to send it any farther and we will have to be at our best and play our best and if we do, then that's all we can ask for. We will see what happens after that.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I think most of it stems from I think we have more distractions at home than we have on the road. You go on the read and all you got to worry about is getting dressed, going to the rink, coming back to the hotel. I think at home you have family and friends all telling you how great you are and everything else and it is much harder to get focused. So I think that's probably the major reason. We seem to get more focused on the road just because of the distractions.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, both Sykora and Elias are very talented young players. We have got a few guys on our team that have great skills. So really when you see them score goals like that it is something that you have watched in practice and seen all year long, so you just kind of take it for granted. But those are the kind of things that win hockey games for you. They have scored some huge goals for us in this Playoff series.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, it's not that I looked for it. I knew that in order for us to be able to compete against Colorado we had to at least match their work ethic and I think the first game we certainly did not match their work ethic. We got outworked and outhustled. Mistakes are all part of the game and the only thing that I ask of the players is that you know, when it is all said and done, just make sure that we are not being outworked and we are not being outhustled. And if that's the case, then you know, all you can do is say well I gave it my best. But if you are not working hard and you are being outhustled then certainly you are not going to stand a chance out there.

COACH ROBINSON: I think both teams are going to be playing a little tight because there is a lot of pressure. This is the Playoffs. This is Stanley Cup Finals, so I think the best way to face it is when you go out there, you know, try to get a body check in right off the bat and loosen you up a little bit or -- don't try to do things too fancy right off the bat, keep your game simple. Both teams have been very aggressive getting the puck in and chasing it, especially early on in the game, and I am sure that's not going to change. A lot of the times you get into games like that just comes down to who gets the bounce at the right time. Hopefully for us, if we are working hard we will get the bounces.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, a little bit of both. I don't think that you can play in the Playoffs especially in a Finals by playing soft. I think when you get to the Playoffs it's a question of hit or be hit. But at the same time, you have to be smart about it. I think that a lot of teams run around and try to get their hits, but they put themselves out of position. So body contact is great, but you also have to be very smart about it and I think the first game we were not smart about it and we weren't hitting. We weren't finishing our checks, we were turning away and we are not a good team when we circle and turn and don't finish our checks. No team is.

COACH ROBINSON: You probably know as much as I do right now.

COACH ROBINSON: No, I think he has had all the examinations and tests that need to be done. I think it is just a question of how he is going to feel tomorrow.

COACH ROBINSON: I think we all -- we all are in this sport for the reason that is coming up on Thursday night to be in the position that we are going to be in. But really you can't face it any differently than you face any other game. I think that if you look at it as you know, a do-or-die situation then you are going to be at your best. If you look at it as well, if we don't win this one, then we have got another one then, I think you really open yourself up to playing mediocre. At the same time you can't put a lot of pressure on yourself. We are playing a game that you are supposed to have fun at it, really only way you can have fun is by being successful at it. All we can do is just prepare ourselves the same way we have prepared ourselves for the last four games and go out and give it our best.

COACH ROBINSON: Well we are not -- if we are doing the neutral zone trap then so is Colorado because they are forechecking us the same way. But I think the difference for us is that I think in the games that we weren't successful we didn't use our speed; we didn't use our size and we weren't physical and we did a lot of standing around. When you are playing against a team like Colorado that has as much speed as they do and can move the puck as well as they can you are playing right into their hands if you are not getting on top of them and taking away their space. So just a question of you know, we have been able to get a couple of breaks here and there and get the first goal and we really haven't looked upon trying to sit on a lead because I don't think you can sit on a lead against Colorado. You just got to keep coming at them and keep going at them because they can explode and score on you at any time.