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Devils believed the hype

They say good press made them too confident for Game 1 of the final. They say it won't happen again.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2001

DENVER -- It is not uncommon for athletes to say they don't read newspapers, don't watch while highlights of their games are played over and over on ESPN.

Don't believe them.

Coach Larry Robinson said his Devils received so much positive coverage during and after their domination of the Penguins in the Eastern Conference final, it went to their heads.

The result: an embarrassing 5-0 loss to the Avalanche in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.

"Everybody here is such a great writer, and the players read everything that you wrote about them and believed in it, unfortunately," Robinson said. "But I haven't seen an article yet that is going to help you win a hockey game.

"I think we just read how good we were and how we were going to walk all over the Avalanche, and we started to believe our clippings and forgot that the games are still won and lost on the ice."

"Definitely, that was a factor in why we came out like that," goaltender Martin Brodeur said. "It shouldn't happen to a team that's got a lot of experience. We paid the price for it."

So as the defending champions prepare for Game 2 tonight at the Pepsi Center, preparation is mental as well as physical.

This contest is critical. No team has lost its first two Stanley Cup games and rebounded to win the championship since the 1970-71 Canadiens overtook the Blackhawks in seven.

"We expect they will come out for blood," Avalanche right wing Dan Hinote said. But high emotions get a team nowhere if its game plan is not carried out, and the Devils have much to correct.

It starts with getting back to the grinding style that has served them so well. New Jersey threw few effective body checks in Game 1, which enhanced the Avalanche's speed and gave Joe Sakic, who had two goals and an assist, too much room to roam.

Then there was Brodeur, who played well in the first period, in which New Jersey was outshot 14-7, but allowed a couple of goals to go through his legs and was inconsistent with the glove.

It didn't help that defenseman Scott Stevens was minus-3.

"I didn't play as good as I like to play," Stevens said. "Sometimes things happen."

"But this isn't about Scott Stevens," Robinson said. "It is about the New Jersey Devils. Collectively, we did not play our best. If you are not playing your best in the Stanley Cup, you are not going to win games."

This is familiar territory to the Devils. They had similar lapses against the Hurricanes in the conference quarterfinals and the Maple Leafs in the semis. Each time they regrouped. But the speed and skill of the highly motivated Avalanche offer significantly stronger challenges.

New Jersey tried to establish some territory toward the end of Game 1 with heavier body work and scrums along the boards. There even was a fight -- rare in the playoffs -- between New Jersey defenseman Sean O'Donnell and Colorado left wing Chris Dingman.

But there is a fine line between playing physically and taking yourself out of position, so Robinson is preaching restraint. Nobody, he said, should take a run at a Colorado player and take a penalty just to send the message that the Devils will not be intimidated.

"They are going to come out hard for the next game, for sure," Sakic said. "Hopefully we will have our legs. As a team, we want to use our speed and take it in their zone."

Still, expect the desperate Devils to set the tone.

"Give credit where credit is due," New Jersey center Bobby Holik said of the Avalanche. "They came out ready to play, and we didn't. We didn't have enough fear in our game. You have to play like it's the last game of the year, and they did that."

And got to read about it the next day.

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