NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

May 29, 2000

Ed Belfour

Derian Hatcher

Ken Hitchcock

Brett Hull

Mike Modano

COACH KEN HITCHCOCK: Well, I think that from our standpoint this is a different scenario for our group. We haven't faced this scenario for a little while starting on the road. I think that trying to win road games knowing that that is the only way you can keep the series alive is a big challenge for us. So I think the sense of urgency from our group is important. I think we are going to have to right it off the bat.

COACH KEN HITCHCOCK: I think both teams are going to recognize that that -- there is a lot of similarities with the teams. I think we expect that both teams are going to play a strong positional game. I don't think that -- I think both teams have got here because of their positional play and I don't see that changing.

COACH HITCHCOCK: Well, you have probably been watching the wrong media presentation than I have. I said this before that as a team one of the games that did the biggest damage to our team was the 2-1 overtime win early in the season because. I think our players recognize the level that was out there and we maybe thought it would be a little bit easier. That game did a lot of damage to us because we felt that after that game we had a big drop. We played a great game but we had a big drop after that and I think that that game in particular showed us the level of commitment that New Jersey had and we both went through ups and downs as organizations, but we knew at that time how good that team was. I don't think where they are surprises anybody. I think we should be the favorites because we are the defending champions. That is what makes us the favorites, but that all goes out the way in the first period when two teams compete against each other.

COACH HITCHCOCK: They are similar and they are different. They play a little bit different style, but they are both very good at moving the puck. Brodeur moves the puck more distances than Eddie does. He is able to eliminate pressure because of the way he moves it, but Martin moves it a lot from himself to forwards whereas Eddie does a lot of interchanges with him and the defensemen.

COACH HITCHCOCK: I thought until the new year, the season was going, like I am sure the players felt the same way, the season was going forever. It is just that October, November, December seemed like such a long period of time for our team. We had so much adversity we were going through. It was a big struggle. Since then the group has really come together. It has been a lot of fun. The Playoffs themselves, we have not felt the burden of emotion that we did last year. Last year we carried it because had a lot of people: Can you win; the Belfour situation; can you win there; can Modano win; can Hull win. We carried that with us from the start to the end, but we didn't carry that this year so I think right now we are fresher mentally. We are fresher than we have ever been and really looking forward to it.

COACH KEN HITCHCOCK: Not really. I think that our situation is really unique because we have got teams like Detroit and Colorado who are past champions who are right in our conference. And so there was a lot attention paid to those two teams but it really got tilted towards Colorado when Bourque and Andreychuk came. It just seemed that everything was tilted towards Colorado and there was the win one for Ray; then Andreychuk situation came in there and their team all of a sudden got on a huge roll. It seemed that when we started the Playoffs there was little or no attention paid to our group because it was all put on that Colorado situation and in St. Louis I was involved in that side too. Then when Detroit and Colorado played each other, little or no attention was again paid to our quarterfinal. But I think our series with Colorado really gave us a lot of confidence. I think that we gained a lot of confidence as the series went on, that emotionally we could play for the same reasons, you know, with Manson and Cote and our situation - wanted to win one for those guys. I thought we got better as it went on.

COACH HITCHCOCK: I don't think there was one thing that turned it around for us. There was a lot of situations. I think something that really helped was when we added Muller and Thornton and Manson and Cote. They were great adds. Everybody talks about the Bourque situation in Colorado and Andreychuk, but there isn't enough attention, I don't think, that was paid to what Bob did for our team. What he did for our team was give us four great players to really add that depth that we needed to compete at a high level.

BRETT HULL: I am still working on it.

COACH HITCHCOCK: We have no relationship. Our situation is that Brett is one of the most unique people I have ever met in my life. I like the music that he likes. I like that he is great at crossword puzzles. We still pretty much disagree on everything hockey-wise, yeah, pretty much disagree everything on hockey-wise. He is like me; he wants to win, so he has got -- plus I am the last guy that puts him on the ice, so, he either plays my way or doesn't go on the ice and he knows that.

COACH HITCHCOCK: Tamed Brett Hull? No. Not at all. The only time that you tame Hull -- he is at his best when he is scoring because he is quiet. He is at his worst when he is not scoring because then he is all over the map, and I like his opinions pretty much on everything. We are a little bit different on some areas of the game, but he has got great opinions on the game. They're a little bit strong at times. And I like the way he chirps. He has got a great sense of humor, just comes out all the time, that is the problem.

COACH HITCHCOCK: The two teams are similar, their defensive philosophy but I think we differ a little bit in the way that we move the puck. There is little differences in the way each team moves the puck and does those things. I think that both teams are committed to positional play with and without the puck. I think that is one of the strengths of both organizations. Both organizations are very determined to be not only strong without it but strong with it, and when you see a team like New Jersey who changes the series in Philadelphia just by what they did with the puck, you can see that they have the attention to detail. We have learned our lessons along the way and we have -- you can talk about this 'til you are blue in the face but until you go through processes, like our series against Edmonton a few years back where mistakes were made that they capitalized on by what we did with the puck, you have to go through some of those hardships. Both organizations have gone through it and learned from it and I think we are both better because of it.

MIKE MODANO: Well, I think it's always and ongoing battle with peoples' opinions about how I play and how it's come full circle, I think, when I first came in the League. You have certain perceptions people make about you and those are hard to change. It's taken a long time to do that. I have grown to enjoy the physical part of the game and know that it's coming every game that I play in because people are keying in on certain individuals. I know I am probably one of them and that is going to come. I just have to deal with it and work through it. It's made it more enjoyable knowing that I can get through it and still play my game. (inaudible). Kind of had a stick got me in the jaw a little bit. I was a bit stunned. I needed some time to get off the ice and get regrouped and once I got in the locker room kind of settled down a little. I felt better.

DERIEN HATCHER: As defensemen I guess the size and the speed they have up front. They have a lot of big players that can handle the puck and skate. They like to hit too. Seems like the "D" men are always in there going to get the puck in the corner and (inaudible) there is a lot of physical punishment.

BRETT HULL: We just as a group are focusing on what we have to do and if we play our game and do the right things that we have to do just like Hitch said with the puck, without the puck, and stay at a good emotional level, not too up; not too down, I think we are going to be fine. I think your success comes from worrying about yourselves and not the other team.

MIKE MODANO: I think the teams in general are very similar. I think they both play a similar style as far as the trap. They both rely on good forecheck and a lot of one-on-one play defensively. Our special teams has gotten stronger as the Playoffs has gone on. Hopefully that continues. But as both teams we rely on causing a lot of turnovers as far as their forecheck and both teams are very strong positionally.

ED BELFOUR: I also think the same things what the guys have been saying, tough defensive team with a lot of big forwards. They work hard just like us. We have always had real competitive games against them in the past and I don't think it is going to be any different.

ED BELFOUR: I think Marty places the puck a lot for his defense and he was also a student of Tretiak and plays butterfly style also. I think he is a key player for their team.

BRETT HULL: I think it's got a lot to do with just the overall philosophy on the game and the way you see the game and think the game. And just sitting on the bench together we find ourselves saying the same things as the play is going, move it there, then when you are on the ice together you kind of know where you are going to be. You look to an area that you would go to. Usually the other guy is there because that is the spot when you think alike. But I have been very fortunate over my career, you know, through Adam Oates and even the short time I got to play with Wayne, but nobody in the overall game can hold a candle to Mike from the offensive part right through to his defensive responsibilities he is -- when I first got here last year having played with him in Team USA, but not ever on his line, just watching, but when you finally get a chance to play with him you take so much for granted and it is a joy to be out there with him all the time. Makes my job very easy.

BRETT HULL: Well, it is hard because it is hard to keep up to him he is so fast. So it helps me because I am always coming in late anyway but -- yeah, he passes as good or better than anyone I have ever played with and sees the ice and because of his speed and quickness and stronger than anyone gives him credit for that, he creates a lot of open ice for not only me but himself and everyone else.

MIKE MODANO: I don't spend a lot of time trying. But like he said being around him since when the days in St. Louis and being in Minnesota I think we always had a good feel for one another as far as our thought process on the ice, you know, like he said, we think an awful a lot alike when we are on the ice. I think it's been a real thrill playing with him. His ability to shoot the puck from anywhere and get it off and get it on the net, playing against him when he was in St. Louis and we were in Minnesota, the World Cups and the Olympics, but never having the chance to play with him I think now that once we got together in Vale two years ago it just was -- felt like it was meant to be everything else just kind of came together. We had a great year and it's been a real thrill. I think it has been -- you know, you don't have the opportunity to play with great players throughout your career and in Minnesota and Dallas we really didn't have that type of nucleus to surround us around great players. Now we have had the last four, five years just a phenomenal group of talented players. When we all play our system and thinking defense and creating on the offense, it's been a lot of fun.

COACH HITCHCOCK: Personnel is one issue - I think every team in the NHL that enters the Playoffs has good personnel. I think it is the intangibles that make good penalty killing and the pride factor. Both teams have tremendous pride in their ability to kill penalties. It is the attitude that the four guys are better than the five guys that are on the powerplay. Both teams make the powerplay work so hard for quality opportunities that they really take pride in discouraging the skilled players that go on the powerplay. When you look at our situation in particular with our defensemen, they really defend that second shot tremendously. People like Matty and Hatch and, in particular, Zubov just are able to read angles and lanes as well as anybody in the NHL. I think when you look at New Jersey's situation, they really center that thing around Stevens and he plays a lot. He plays sometimes both minutes and I think that they feed off his passion to defend and it really boils down to pride.

ED BELFOUR: Well, I think fans have always been behind me 100% in Dallas and it's always a real good feeling to hear them chanting my name. That was a new chant that they made up. I kind of wished they would have waited until that last maybe 20 or 30 seconds - little too soon. I am glad they quit after the second goal. (Laughter.)

COACH HITCHCOCK: From our standpoint Ed is a leader and he is a big part of our team. He has a tremendous responsibility, not only as a goaltender but as a leader and I knew at the start of the series that for us to win Ed would have to be a game star a lot of nights because we knew that the roll that Colorado was on, he had to do some extraordinary things and he got it done. I think that his play early in the series gave us a chance to really bring our game to a new level later in the series and I think that he held us together when he had to and then as things moved along, we started to play better and better in front of him.

COACH HITCHCOCK: I have always said that experience is only useful if you have the product on the ice to perform. We have the experience of knowing how important it is for this organization from a respect factor to want that second Cup. There is a certain status that goes with teams that have won two Cups especially two in a row and we want that status badly. But the experience that we have is more on the emotional side of things. We know the level out there emotionally that you have to compete at. Never mind your talent, never mind your skill level, but there is a really, really high emotional level that you have to play with on and on going basis and I think our players understand that commitment and hopefully we are willing to make it again.