NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

June 2, 2003

Mike Babcock

COACH BABCOCK: I don't know for sure. Obviously, we really believe. We have been in a lot of them all year long. We're pretty comfortable in that situation. I always say it now, because Stump always tells the guys, "I say this is your time. Let's get her done in a hurry." It was good for him. His kids are here. He's been living away from his family. To have that opportunity, and he wasn't very happy with the way he played in the first two games, it was great for this guy.

COACH BABCOCK: They were a lot more organized tonight and there was no room on the ice. There wasn't a lot of speed. It was like chess. It was very calculated and you had to work real hard to penetrate or get shots on net. We thought it was a real patient game. We just battled through.

COACH BABCOCK: You just don't know why he's up there. It's great. We made a point in saying that when we went into overtime, I said, "Don't get confused, there is the gas and there is the brake. Make sure you've got it on the right one."

COACH BABCOCK: He's been a number of things. He's superior. He's a greasy, greasy guy. He's in your face, he's on the puck, he's tenacious, he's hard. He's been around for a long, long time. Never been in this situation, so we can tell people about that. Also, he's excited as any player I've ever seen. He doesn't mind going after guys. He's been great.

COACH BABCOCK: Because of who we had out. We started that line. I assume they thought it was a good matchup. It became a three-line game, not a four-line game. We thought our best bet to win was the matchup we were going to go with.

COACH BABCOCK: It doesn't. I was told today by one of our -- Alex came to me and said, "Hey, they're lobbying the referees and press about cheating." When you cheat, you get kicked out. The reality is, this is something we've focused on all year long. It gives us an opportunity to be on offense rather than defense. You're not letting them attack. I thought it was real important, obviously, again tonight.

COACH BABCOCK: Well, our team hasn't said anything in the playoffs at all, but we have never been down two games to nothing. If somebody doesn't stand up and make a stand, the series is over and you wonder what could have happened. When you do that, you put a ton of pressure on yourself. You have to be able to answer the bell. He's skilled and mentally tough enough and demanding of himself enough, he's able to do that. Obviously, we're here talking about it.

COACH BABCOCK: They jam it in front. We try to get there without the puck. It's almost impossible to get to the net with the puck. You have to get there without the puck, fire it in there. It can go in off them or us. It doesn't matter, as long as it goes in.

COACH BABCOCK: You like to win the game in regulation, but the reality is, in these games when you're tight like they are, you are in overtime a long time before you get to overtime. So, that's just the way this series is. I expected it to be like that from the start. We didn't have our legs at the start and execute, so here we are.

COACH BABCOCK: I don't think that's pressure. I think that's pleasure. It's the pleasure of competing that has to be way greater than the pressure. You're out there. The people are yelling and screaming. It's an unbelievable environment. It's fun to be in. Rob thought he had a light night tonight. He only had 20 minutes, and he thought I benched him. He's been great. We'll get him more ice time next game.