NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

June 10, 2000

Jason Arnott

Scott Gomez

Claude Lemieux

CLAUDE LEMIEUX: I have been blessed and there is no two ways about it. I think there are lot of great athletes in this sport that are great people and great athletes and never get the opportunity that I have had, but I think there comes a time when you need to make decisions and it was a hard one leaving Colorado, but with the will of wanting to win again and hoping that New Jersey would be the right place for us, we made the move and thanks to Mr. McMullen and Lou Lamoriello that brought me here and it is just an unbelievable day today. That is one of them. I got four kids and one liked the Stanley Cup so this one is for my little girl that is not here tonight, but they all share a Stanley Cup now, so they are equally blessed and rewarded.

CLAUDE LEMIEUX: There was no doubt that in my mind if we won the Cup that Scotty was going to be our MVP. I think from the first round on he led the way. He punished people. He played the best hockey I have seen him play. He has been around a long time and he's blessed himself with quite a talent and leadership and he was able to help us win another Stanley Cup.

SCOTT GOMEZ: Yeah, it was in the bag (laughs), no, it just -- I don't even know how to explain it. I came into training camp and you think about it, I mean, it is always in your mind winning a Stanley Cup and to finally -- it's happened, I don't know -- I don't even know what to say.

JASON ARNOTT: It feels -- I don't even know how to describe it right now. It is something that I will never forget. I don't know how it happened. I don't know how Patty got the puck, but he made a tremendous pass and I had to roof it in order to beat Eddie Belfour. That is the only way we were going to beat him. After that everything was just a big blur.

JASON ARNOTT: Well, I don't want to tell you what I was thinking of the ref, but he was letting things go the whole game, and I can see if it was maybe in the second or third period, yeah, it might have been a penalty but the way he was letting things go, I didn't think it was a penalty and to call that in overtime it was frustrating. I mean, when you got so much on the line it is tough to deal with, and I didn't want to be the guy who was turned to lose this thing for us and the guys pulled through, the PK and I just felt that I had to go out and do something for taking that penalty.

JASON ARNOTT: To see a player like that go down it is frustrating to see and our hearts went out for him. He has been one of the hearts and souls on our line. He has contributed so much for us and to see him get carried off like that it was tough to see. Especially for Patty, they are so close together and our line is so close, we came in after the period and Patty and I looked at each other and said: We got to do this for our boy, and fortunately it worked out for the best for us, and no question about it, that goal was for him.

JASON ARNOTT: Well, I didn't really know what to say. I didn't want my teammates to jump on me. I think that they knew that I was -- it was a bad penalty to take at that time and I had to prove it to myself to go out and chip in as much as I could. When I came in, I kind of said it was a bad penalty and kill it off for me, boys, and we will see what happens from there.

JASON ARNOTT: Well, all the injuries go away now. I mean, all the teeth that I have lost; all the bumps and bruises, the black eyes, it makes it all sweet right now. It was a tough series, a tough Playoffs and you know, I knew what Sykie was going through when he went off the ice.

JASON ARNOTT: Yeah, I had headaches, you know, when you get hit like that, it is tough to come back from. Through the next game it was rough. I was a little hazy, but there wasn't anything that was going to stop me from playing in these playoffs, so I was going to go through a brick wall if I had to play, nothing was going to keep me out.

JASON ARNOTT: Well, definitely if he still is there, we are definitely taking it there. I will take it there myself if I have to. You know, it is tough to see a player go out and he can't be here to celebrate with us, hopefully he is watching this or he can watch it, and we are definitely going to make him a part of it and go to him.