NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: RED WINGS v FLYERS

June 2, 1997

Scotty Bowman

Q. Does Philadelphia's goalie change make any difference in your preparation for Game 2?

SCOTTY BOWMAN: Not -- we can't -- not really. I mean, you know, we don't get into a lot of the stuff with the goalies. Goalies today are -- they can handle the puck. I mean, I don't think we want to have to say we have any information that we can use differently, no.

SCOTTY BOWMAN: First of all, my reaction is there is nothing that we can do about it, you know, I mean, we can do something, maybe, if we react. We don't know a lot about -- I don't know if the players -- somebody mentioned Colin Forbes. I saw a game in here at the end of the season. He looked like a pretty good looking player at that time. I mean, that is in the American League. But, I think, you know, we have to worry about our team, obviously. You know, when you don't win, it is tough to make changes. But, when you don't win the first game -- I mean, we have, you know, we have five players that are ready to go in at any time. We try to keep them ready to play. There is two defensemen and three forwards. But, it is tough for me to, you know, the only people knowing about it are the people who run the team. The rest is speculation. I mean, you know, we coaches have to make the first move. And then after that, people say, "Well, it is not a good move." I don't know. I mean, I say, with Garth Snow, he has won two series. He is not like a guy coming in that has never played or anything like that. Obviously, they have confidence in him or they wouldn't have made the change. We have two goalies too. We have got Chris Osgood that we try to get ready. It is always more difficult as the Playoffs go on because he has only played in about 1 or 2 games to mop up in Colorado in Game 5, I think we put him in. But, you know, I think goalies can play under any circumstance - depends on the individual. I mean, if somebody said he hasn't played for a month, I have seen goalies go in stone cold, haven't played for five weeks and have the game of their lives. As far as the changes are concerned, you know, we are going -- our team is healthy from the last game. So, we are obviously going to have our same lineup. We are not going to make any changes. We are going to try to play as close as we can to that game.

SCOTTY BOWMAN: No, I mean, I think sometimes you have to look at your whole team, too. Maybe the team - you don't know the reasons. Maybe they are trying -- I have tried it myself. I mean, as I said before, one year we were going to make a goalie change and it was even more dramatic than that. We were going to -- in Montreal we were going to change after losing the first game to the Rangers. It was a big change because Dryden had never missed a Playoff game. But we get -- we had to send a message to our team and we were going to put in the other goalie who was a good goalie, Maracle. He got injured in the warmup and Dryden played the next four games and won. So all of a sudden, everybody, you know, was thinking that it was by design. It wasn't. We were trying to get a message to the team. Our team didn't play well enough and, you know, we were going probably gamble a lot in that game. But, we were. That is what happened.

SCOTTY BOWMAN: Well, experienced defensemen. As you know, we had endeavored to get Mike Ramsey ready for the Playoffs and, you know, Mike came in and we had, you know, a good agreement with him. He was going to try and then make -- I mean, we were going to make our decision based on what we saw and he was going to make his decision on -- then he really, you know, didn't think to do it. And, he didn't want to see us going into the trading period thinking that he was going to be able to do it. He didn't think he could do it. So, we were looking for an experienced defensemen. When Larry's name came up, talks with Toronto late, late, -- just before the trading deadline, and they were trying to get ready and change their team around for next year. So, it was, you know, it was mainly an opportunity to get a good experienced defensemen who we knew and also we felt could help us some offensively. He was very strong with the puck, makes good plays and had been with two good teams in Pittsburgh and some other teams as well. So, you know, we knew enough about them. We were fortunate that we knew him, I think, and we knew that Toronto was going to make a lot of changes. And, he was -- he was -- he had a good attitude because I think he had to approve any trade that he was going to go to a team. He had a no-trade clause because of his age in his contract. And, Larry felt that in Toronto, you know, they did boo, but he felt that they weren't going to boo some of the other players and he had pretty good rationale that he had a pretty high salary; the team wasn't winning. So, I don't think it real -- nobody likes to get booed. But, that is how we got him.

SCOTTY BOWMAN: It has been a longer stretch than normal when -- you know, there is two ways to look at it. I mean, you take a team on the road. Although we have been away from -- I think been pretty focused because we have even stayed in hotels the night before the -- all of the home games, and at the beginning, it seems to be a long grind. I think now the players feel that it is the right thing to do. That we can get our proper rest and we stay in a hotel not far from the Joe Louis Arena. It does make -- this is a longer trip than normal. We get in here Friday and that extra day -- it is hard to say. I was thinking about it. We have been -- I always feel sometimes when in the season if we do get some stretches, four, five days, that we don't play, or All-Star break, and if you -- if you are on a good note, and you get a chance to get those four, five days, they seem to enjoy them. So, we are not trying to enjoy the days off as much as get ready for the next game. But, there is a risk that we have to talk about. We don't want to sink down and -- because there is a lot of focus on this next game. You have to focus on every game. It is not because it is the second game. It is an important game. Certainly Game 3 will be more important as you go along and try to get as much rest as you can. Keep the practices going with, you know, and look at -- you get a little time to reflect on the games. There is pluses and minuses. I don't know if we had a choice, if we would have wanted to stay an extra day. But, when you win the first game, of course you want to get started into the second game.

SCOTTY BOWMAN: I think Ken has kept up -- I haven't talked to him very much. I have talked to him maybe once every six months for the last couple of years. And, you know, he is well aware of what has gone on in the League, although he hasn't been involved with it at all. And, I think he will be organized. I think he will make decisions based on -- he is a pretty researching person, you know, he didn't practice a lot of law. But, he did go through the process of becoming a lawyer. Took a year off of hockey; stepped back. He has got good focus when he has to. He is a very strong competitor. People don't know him. He is a real tough loser. And, I think that is his strong suit. But, on the surface, it sometimes doesn't show. And, I think he will be very organized and I think he will delegate. I don't think -- I think he will want to be the president and not be the manager and not be the coach. Who he decides to go after, I don't know. He might want to take people that he knows or I am sure he will have a process and he will have a plan.

SCOTTY BOWMAN: Well, they have a lot of big forwards, so they are not going to take out very many of them. Probably the players they are taking out maybe didn't play that much. I mean, if you look at the ice time, they are not going to take out their top guys. And, you know, looking at their offense, I mean, they are pretty -- they have scored a lot of goals in the Playoffs. But, the players they are taking out haven't scored a lot of those goals. So, I don't think it is a big -- I mean, a big maneuver. I mean, players are anxious to get in at this time of the year. Usually any time you put a player in at this time, especially if he is fresh, he is going to give his all, for sure. So, I don't know exactly who the guys are and how much of an impact they are going to have.

SCOTTY BOWMAN: Yeah, they are pretty aggressive. Both goalies are aggressive. They are both good size. All goalies are pretty good size now. But that -- I don't think the League can do much. They are going to try something. I think whatever they do, they should do it in the off-season. I don't think -- I think it was mentioned that it is tough in mid-season. It is a very contentious issue because the goalie is a unique player in sports. The pucks go up to 100 miles an hour. And, if you are going to tell goalies they can't be protected, that is going to be a tough negotiation. I mean, you know, they are unique. I mean, even putting on their goalie's equipment, some -- even the skaters put it on, it is so unusual. So, they are in a unique position. It still comes back to the fact that it is the same for everybody. Everybody can -- I think they are going to take a look at the glove, the catching glove, but -- and I understand they are going to do like the baseball where they have a regulation. They are going to try to put some perimeters in there - I don't think anything to affect the safety of the goalie.

SCOTTY BOWMAN: Then you are saying to the goalie we want you to wear less protection and I think that you could get into some real tough areas. If the goalies are able to play at their level they can and if -- it depends. I don't think the League wants fewer or more goals. But, there is no question there has been less goals this year. But, you know, depends what you are used to. I am used to, in the narrow, where goals are tough to come by and you appreciate when you score them and the good teams can play well defensively. But, you don't want to get in a fact where it is an impossible situation to score goals. But, I think it has changed a bit -- I don't know the reason in the Playoffs -- doesn't seem -- seems to be more goals, you know.