What they were saying Monday night in the aftermath of the Carolina Hurricanes' dramatic seven-game victory in the 2006 Stanley Cup final:
Oilers' coach Craig MacTavish, assessing his team's play: "We'll get over the disappointment, but it's pretty hard to get over that right now. But as I said to the players after the game, we didn't do ourselves a disservice in this game. The one thing I wanted the players to do is to get through the disappointment as quickly as they can, because … when your life's work is to try and win a Stanley Cup and you fall short like we did tonight, it is a disappointment.
"You know, you view the series, the overall series, when you get to this level. you can't leave one on the table. And we might have left one on the table in the first game and it was tough to overcome that. As hard as we worked to get ourselves back in the series, that might have been the game."
Forward Ethan Moreau, on how this team was different from other editions of the Oilers:
"Convincingly, I can say I will never play with a group of guys like that again. It will just never happen. I have played long enough to know how tight our group was and how much everybody cared about each other. Guys would have done anything it took to win. The leadership we had from Gator (Jason Smith) right through. The guys that were new, our young guys were phenomenal. Just our team in general, they're just great people, from top to bottom - our organization, the coaching staff, trainers, players, we'll just never probably ever assemble a group like that again."
Defenceman Chris Pronger on his first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup final:
"I can't say enough about how proud I am of our team the way we played and the never say die attitude. We very easily could have folded the tent at 2-0 and we came out and stormed them and had a number of great opportunities to tie it up but weren't able to … It sucks to lose, man, I don't know what else to say, but it's not a good feeling."
Goaltender Jussi Markkanen, who played so well in relief of the injured Dwayne Roloson:
"I dreamed about (the Stanley Cup), I think when I was eight, nine, ten years old it was starting the prime of Edmonton Oilers and there were always the Finnish players there so you kind of watched them play and obviously you dream about that, but coming this close, it's pretty tough to take right now, but hopefully in a few days it's kind of. 'get your heads up and be proud of our couple-months run.'
Carolina coach Peter Laviolette called winning the Stanley Cup: "Probably the greatest feeling of my live. For me, long after I hold the Cup tonight and have my time with it in the summer, I will remember where this team came from and how hard they fought for each other. As a coach it's probably the most rewarding and fulfilling thing that could happen. To watch those guys hold the Cup over their head tonight is what I will remember."
Centre Rod Brind'Amour, after finally winning the Stanley Cup in his 16th NHL season: "Since Game 5 there was a great big lump in my chest. You know what's at stake. When you have so many guys that just deserve it and you just you want it so bad, not just for yourself, but for the guys sitting beside you, your dad and your kids, guys that have been with you, your friends, there's so many people that you are thinking about that are pulling for you. It's exhausting really. I just can't be happier for all these people that deserve it."
Goaltender Cam Ward, after winning the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP as a 22-year-old first-year player: "People say that it's your rookie season and chances are it will come again, but you just never know. You can't predict the future. You've got to take care of the present and take advantage of that opportunity. As for Wes (Glen Wesley) and Roddy and all those veteran guys, Whit (Ray Whitney), Dougie (Weight), I couldn't be happier for them. They have put in many hard years, and it's just great to see it pay-off for them in the end."
Forward Erik Cole, who played the last two games after missing three-and-a-half months recovering from a broken neck: "I've been to the Finals before and I know how tough it is to get here, so I know what the guys were going through and how hard they had to work and how hard they had to battle to keep playing. I am thankful that they played long enough to give me an opportunity to come back."
Defenceman Glen Wesley, who won his first Stanley Cup in his 18th season after losing three previous times in the Cup final and was the first player to receive the Cup from Brind'Amour after Brind'Amour got it from commissioner Gary Bettman: "Roddy told me he was giving it to me next, but it's an incredible feeling … I still can't believe it. It honestly feels like a dream to me. The whole afternoon I couldn't sleep, just thinking about preparing for Game 7. I know my wife made the kids watch a movie this afternoon so they stayed quiet. They watched Rocky and told me they would come home with a lot of intensity. I got a chuckle out of that."
- Compiled by Eric Duhatschek
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